Halite and natroalunite as aeolian minerals in the laterite bauxites of Kutch, India

Abstract

abstract: the processes of lateritization and bauxitization in the territory of Hindustan started in the Paleocene and continue up to now. But in the West and North-West of India, as a result of oscillatory tectonic movements, coastal areas were twice flooded by the sea and again drained. The bauxites of the Kutch Peninsula were overlain by alum clays, black shales, lignites, marls and limestones. After the Pleistocene, there was a slow uplift, and bauxites were exposed in the climate of tropical deserts. The Gulf of Great Kutch Rann in the dry season turned into a salt desert. The processes of mineral formation were expressed in the wide development of carbonates, gypsum, natroalunite, alum and halite. The sources of Na and Cl were aerosols of Kutch Rann salts, and the sources of Al, SO4, K were bauxites and weathering products of alum clays. It is established that salinization of bauxite occurred with the participation of microorganisms.