Near-surface accumulation of pedogenic carbonate (calcrete) is a common and characteristic feature of the landscape of Kuwait City and its suburbs. The principal host material for these calcretes is a thick sequence of unconsolidated quartzose sand. A typical fully developed soil profile can be divided into five zones: in descending order these are (1) a top calcareous aeolian soil; (2) a zone of friable sand with powdery or tightly cemented calcrete lumps (nodules); (3) a massive calcrete zone; (4) a mottled calcrete zone; and (5) unaltered parent material. Episodic formation of calcrete is indicated by the occurrence of multiple profiles in which zones are repeated. Calcrete ooids and pseudo-ooids of accretionary origin are characteristic of the upper calcrete zone. The carbonate fraction in the upper calcrete zone consists dominantly of low-Mg calcite with minor amounts of dolomite. Replacement was a major process in formation of the massive calcrete and the dominant cementing material is largely low-Mg calcite and/or microcrystalline dolomite. Aeolian dust is considered to be the major source of ions for calcrete formation in Kuwait City and suburbs. An earlier-introduced model* is applied to explain the mechanisms of formation and precipitation of low-Mg calcite and dolomite. The calcrete thickness in the study area is explained by episodic deposition of fluviatile sand and calcrete formation during the Oligocene through Lower Miocene period.