Landscapes and regolith of Weipa, northern Australia

Since its discovery during the 1950s the Weipa bauxite has been considered to be the product of in situ weathering of the rocks or sediments below the deposit. It is the world's largest proven bauxite resource covering some 11 000 km 2 with an average thickness of about 2.5 m. It consists of a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian journal of earth sciences 2008-12, Vol.55 (sup1), p.S3-S16
Main Authors: Taylor, G., Eggleton, R. A., Foster, L. D., Morgan, C. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
pisolith
regolith
weathering history
Weipa
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Since its discovery during the 1950s the Weipa bauxite has been considered to be the product of in situ weathering of the rocks or sediments below the deposit. It is the world's largest proven bauxite resource covering some 11 000 km 2 with an average thickness of about 2.5 m. It consists of a pisolithic bauxite sitting atop a typical lateritic profile about 10-15 m thick. Few, if any researchers have considered genetic scenarios other than the in situ evolution of the deposit. This paper summarises the history of research and outlines the geological setting of the Weipa Bauxite, and provides some evidence for alternative genetic scenarios.
ISSN:0812-0099
1440-0952
1400-0952
DOI:10.1080/08120090802438225