Bauxite deposits in China

Abstract

Bauxite deposits in China, ranging in age from Late Paleozoic to Cenozoic, are distributed mainly in Shanxi, Shandong Henan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan. Based on stratigraphic relations they can be classified as 6 types: inter-system marine, inter-system continental, intra-system marine, intra-system continental, weathering lateritic and weathering accumulation types. But in terms of depositional environments, only four types are distinguished, i.e., the marine deposits, continental deposits, lateritic deposits and weathering-accumulation deposits. These deposits have been formed in two steps: firstly, the depression of paraplatform or front basin margins in paleocontinents and secondly, the development of littoral - lagoons on the eroded surface of karstified carbonate bedrocks. The aluminum may have been derived from the carbonate rocks with which the ores are associated, or from adjacent aluminosilicate rocks.