ABSTRACT
Specific and direct geomorphological effects of subterranean moisture can be considered under several distinct headings. Subterranean water contributes enormously to the development of landforms. The various duricrusts so formed are geomorphologically as well as economically significant in many parts of tropical and subtropical lands. The sandy A horizon of laterites is usually stripped away to expose the pisolitic ferruginous material, though in some areas, such as the Gilberton Plateau of northwest Queensland, it is preserved beneath the eucalypt woodland. The laterite capping the plateau or high plain that occupies the major part of Kangaroo Island is developed on strata of Cambrian and Permian age. Carbonates, silica, iron, alumina and gypsum, in particular, are precipitated out preferentially to form distinct concentrations at the land surface and in weathering profiles. The gypcrete developed on a Pleistocene land surface is associated with Pleistocene fossiliferous sediments and predates the later Pleistocene, but no greater precision is at present possible.
