Geobotanical and biogeochemical associations of SNAPPY GUM (Eucalyptus Brevifolia): Tanami region, W.A.

INTRODUCTION The landscape in the Tanami Region in northern Australia (approximately 600 km northwest of Alice Springs) is complex and comprised of a variety of regolith materials overlying two major Precambrian tectonic units (Granites-Tanami block and the Birrindudu Basin) (Wilford, 2003). There is little outcrop in the region (Wygralak et al. 2001; Worrall & Pillans, 2006), which drives the need to develop strategies for exploring through the regolith. The dominant process for material transport in the region is sheetflow (Wilford, 2000). The extensive cover of sheetflow sediments means that surface materials are of little use in determining the underlying bedrock structure or chemistry.