Further evidence concerning the origin of the western Australian sand plains

Brewer, R.; Bettenay, E.

doi:10.1080/00167617308728821

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The sand plain on the high ground back from the breakaways is composed of rounded quartz grains and kaolinitic spherules, similar to those described by Brewer & Bettenay (1973) and Killigrew & Glassford (1976). In some localities, the uppermost grit layer appears to consist of indurated sand plain.…”

Section: Barr-smith Rangementioning

confidence: 57%

“…The interrelationships of the grit, indurated sand plain and sand plain are unclear. However, the kaolinite of the spherules possibly was derived from an allophane-like precursor, rather than from remnants of the pallid zone, as proposed by Brewer & Bettenay (1973). Similarly, Killigrew & Glassford (1976) suggested that the kaolinite of the spherules was derived from the saprolite, but also recognised the probable presence of an amorphous aluminosilicate matrix.…”

Section: Barr-smith Rangementioning

confidence: 87%

“…The induration is usually due to the presence of introduced cementing materials, such as calcite, dolomite, iron and aluminium oxides, and especially the various forms of secondary silica, namely opal, opal-CT and quartz. Cryptocrystalline quartz (chalcedony) is the cement of some hardpans (Brewer & Bettenay, 1973) and cements consisting of a quartz-anatase-zircon assemblage (QAZ) are present in some silcretes (Milnes & .Hutton, 1974;Hutton et al, 1978). In this paper, induration or partial induration of the regolith by an introduced aluminosilicate cement is described.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Aluminosilicate cementation of saprolites, grits and silcretes in Western Australia

Butt¹

1983

Journal of the Geological Society of Australia

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Amorphous to poorly crystalline aluminosilicates have been found as cementing agents within saprolites, hardpans and silcretes, particularly in granitic terrains in the Yilgarn Block, Western Australia. The cements range mineralogically from siliceous allophane to a kaoIinite-opal-CT assemblage probably derived from the allophane. The allophane is non-crystalline, with no distinctive X-ray or electron diffraction patterns, and has close optical similarities to opaline silica. It is characterised by Al/Si ratios of 0.35-1.0, with small amounts of adsorbed iron and titanium. It occurs as colloform void and vein fillings, and permeating the kaolinitic matrix of saprolites. The kaolinite and opal-CT have a similar occurrence, with the kaolinite oriented parallel to colloform and related banding. The aluminosilicate cements are found in saprolite, usually in the upper zones, and in overlying grits and silcretes. At Gabbin, in the central Yilgarn, the grits are up to 10 m thick and have aluminosilicate as the only cement. Although very hard when in situ, the grits tend to disaggregate on exposure and rarely, if ever, crop out. In profiles exposed in breakaways of the BarrSmith Range in the northern Yilgarn, the saprolite is overlain by silcretes with a quartz-anatase-zircon assemblage as cementing matrix, in turn overlain by aluminosilicate-cemented grits. The contact is gradational, and most silcretes and grits contain both types of cement, with the aluminosilicate increasing in abundance upwards. Kaolinitic spherules in sand plains are possibly derived from similar aluminosilicates.

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Section: Barr-smith Rangementioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Barr-smith Rangementioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Aluminosilicate cementation of saprolites, grits and silcretes in Western Australia

Butt¹

1983

Journal of the Geological Society of Australia

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“…soil survey data). The first of these, the drier yellow sandplain zone, is characterised by subdued crestal laterites flanked by extensive colluvial deposits of deep yellow sandy earths which in turn may yield to paler lateritic sands on lower slopes (see Hingston (1961, 1964); Brewer and Bettenay (1973)). Heath vegetation on crestal laterites in this zone includes members of the Proteaceae but is typically dominated by Allocasuarina campestris (see Beard 1980), a species known to form proteoid root clusters (see Pate and Watt 2001).…”

Section: Climatic and Edaphic Associations In South-western Western Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-occurrence of Proteaceae, laterite and related oligotrophic soils: coincidental associations or causative inter-relationships?

Pate¹,

Verboom²,

Galloway³

2001

Aust. J. Bot.

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C Corresponding author on soil and geomorphological issues; email: wverboom@agric.wa.gov.au D Corresponding author on botanical issues.Abstract. This communication presents the hypothesis that certain Australian lateritic and related oligotrophic soils may have been partly derived biotically from soluble iron-rich complexes generated following secretion of lowmolecular weight organic acids by phosphate-absorbing specialised proteoid (cluster) roots of proteaceous plants. Subsequent precipitation of the iron is then pictured as occurring onto the oxide rinds of developing laterite after consumption of the organic components of the complexes by soil bacteria. The hypothesis is first examined in relation to current theories of origins of laterites and the extent of the coincidences worldwide in past and present times between Proteaceae and oligotrophic soil types of lateritic character. The paper then provides more definitive lines of evidence supporting the hypothesis, based largely on recent studies by the authors in south-western Western Australia. This relates to (a) cases of definitive association in habitats rich in Proteaceae between zones of root proliferation and ferricrete layers in lateritic soils, (b) proximity in soil profiles between ferric deposits and current and ancestral root channels, (c) the recovery of citrate-consuming bacteria from soil profiles and specifically from ferricrete rinds and horizons accumulating sesquioxide organic matter and (d) distribution of iron and phosphorus within plant and soil profile components consistent with ferricrete rinds being generated by rhizosphere-mediated interactions of plants and microbes under conditions of severely limited availability of phosphorus. The mode of functioning of proteoid root clusters is then discussed, especially in relation to exudation of organic acid anions, uptake of phosphorus and the subsequent fate of organic anions and their metal ion complexes in the system. An empirically based scheme is presented indicating flow profiles for phosphorus and iron between soil, ferricrete rinds and bacterial and plant components. We then discuss possible carbon costs to proteaceous plant partners when accessing phosphorus under the nutrient-impoverished conditions typical of heathlands and open woodlands of Mediterranean-type ecosystems of Western Australia. The paper concludes with a critical overview of the hypothesis, particularly its implications regarding possible higher plant: microbial influences shaping soil and landscape evolution in the regions involved. J . S . P a t e , W . H . V e r b o o m a n d P . D . G a l l o w a y B T 0 0 0 8 6 I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n P r o t e a c e a e a n d l a t e r i t e s J . S . P a t e e t a l . e t a l .

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“…These include (a) formation in situ where they represent the remnants of the surface horizons of lateritised profiles (Prider, 1966), (b) formation on colluvium eroded from remnant ferricrete horizons and deposited down-slope (Mulcahy, 1960;Bettenay and Hingston, 1964;Brewer and Bettenay, 1973) or (c) formation on aeolian deposits Glassford and Semeniuk, 1995) with the soils being remnants following the passage of sand from the desert to the west, although this view is controversial (Wyrwoll and King, 1984).…”

Section: Asymmetrical Slope Depositsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Aeolian influences on the soils and landforms of the southern Yilgarn Craton of semi-arid, southwestern Australia

Harper

Gilkes

2004

Geomorphology

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Further evidence concerning the origin of the western Australian sand plains

Cited by 19 publications

References 2 publications

Aluminosilicate cementation of saprolites, grits and silcretes in Western Australia

Aluminosilicate cementation of saprolites, grits and silcretes in Western Australia

Co-occurrence of Proteaceae, laterite and related oligotrophic soils: coincidental associations or causative inter-relationships?

Aeolian influences on the soils and landforms of the southern Yilgarn Craton of semi-arid, southwestern Australia

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