Abstract
The eastern Dundas Tablelands resulted from a series of volcanic events some 400M years ago, and apart from uplift and erosion, has undergone little change since then. It is proposed that reduced conditions inherent in volcanic material remain deep in the landscape, and that deep groundwater flow equilibrates with this. The chemistry of sulphur and reaction with iron is discussed, and it is proposed that sulphate reduction provides a means whereby the reducing capacity can be transmitted in the flowpaths towards the discharge zones. Over time all readily reduced material has been stripped from these flowpaths, so that reduced groundwater is able to reach the surface, typically at sites of preferential flow for deep groundwater (ie cracks and fissures in the regolith). Disturbance of the discharge areas has introduced reducable material into these flowpaths resulting in severe chemical scalding within the overall degradation due to salinity. Novel remediation processes are suggested.
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Gardner, W.K., Fawcett, J.D., Fitzpatrick, R.W. et al. Chemical reduction causing land degradation. I Overview. Plant Soil 267, 51–59 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-005-3967-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-005-3967-8