Geomorphic Controls of the Chittamgondi Bauxite Deposit, Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh

Bauxite cappings occur discontinuously, along a linear stretch amidst the Eastern Ghuts comprising khondalite and charnockite groups of rocks, in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. These cappings/deposits, by virtue of their proximity to the eastern coastline of India, are christened as the East Coast Bauxite deposits.

The East Coast Bauxites of Andhra Pradesh include the Anantagiri, Chintapalli, Gurtedu and Paderu groups of deposits. The Anantagiri group comprises Galikonda, Chittamgondi, Raktakonda and Kutuki deposits. The Chittamgondi bauxite deposit, charucterised by multi-directional slopes, is preserved in a sickle shaped synformal structure. Furthermore, the maximum thickness of bauxite, viz., 54 m, amongst the East Coast Bauxite deposits, investigated so far, has been recorded in it. As has already been established for other East Coast Bauxite deposits, the geomorphological setup and morphometry have played a pivotal role in the formation of the Chittamgondi bauxite deposit.