CLAY MINERALS AND GEOMORPHOLOGY 1N FOUR CARIBBEAN ISLANDS

ABSTRACT: Clay mineral analyses of Caribbean soils illustrate the differences in composition that can arise from differences in topography and parent material, and emphasize the differences between the groups of proposed new engineering classifications of the soils based on these factors. Within one set of environmental conditions the clay mineral assemblage was reasonably constant. Examples are given of local differences in clay type which were correlated with variations in climate and mode of formation. In preparing engineering soil surveys it has been found that the geomorphological units of a region can be used as a basis for the classification and mapping of in-formation required by the engineer. This is because soil type (including mineralogical composition) is the product of the parent material and the environmental conditions experienced in the particular geomorphological unit in which it occurs, and both the soil type and environmental nd topographical conditions influence the engineer-ing use of the soil. Soil samples have been collected from four Caribbean islands covering a wid