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Characteristics and significance of some humate-cemented sands (humicretes) at Cape Flattery, Queensland, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

K. Pye
K. Pye
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, England
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Summary

Humate-cemented sands (humicretes) are exposed at several locations along the foreshore and in gullies near Cape Flattery, North Queensland, Australia. Three broad types of humate accumulation are recognized: (a) pedogenetic; (b) groundwater; and (c) aquatic. Pedogenetic and groundwater humicretes usually have a grain-supported fabric in which quartz represents > 99% of the framework grains. Hand specimens of humicrete are brittle but disintegrate rapidly in 0.1 N-NaOH. Concentration of humate is considered to have occurred by vertically and laterally migrating groundwater, while induration has probably been caused by irreversible drying of the humic substances during periods of seasonal water-table lowering. Radiocarbon dating of an in situ root embedded in indurated humate near Cape Flattery has indicated a ‘background’ age of > 48000 C–14 years.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 119 , Issue 3 , May 1982 , pp. 229 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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