Bauxite deposits of British Guiana and Surinam in relation to underlying unconsolidated sediments suggesting two-step origin

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Concludes that the plastic kaolinitic clays and associated sediments which overlie deeply weathered basement granite and underlie bauxite deposits of the coastal plain in Surinam and British Guiana represent transported sedimentary clays rather than products of weathering in place. Bauxitization processes were initiated during a long stillstand following minor uplift of the coastal plain which brought the transported clays into the zone of surface leaching and weathering under tropical climatic conditions. It is noted that the two-step origin here inferred applies only to the bauxite deposits of the coastal plain and not to the plateau bauxites of the highlands, which appear to have been formed in place.