FRENCH GUIANA

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Abstract
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Until the second world war no general work had been published on the geology of French Guiana. Systematic study of the subsoil began only in 1946, under the auspices of the Office of Overseas Scientific Research. In 1949 the first study of the northern part of the country was published (B. Choubert, 1949). The southern part has been explored by M. E. Aubert de la Rüe who has just published the account of his traverses (Aubert de la Rüe, 1953). Starting in 1950, periodical contacts were established between the three Guianas, with the object of establishing correlations between the various formations. One of the results of this collaboration was the presentation, at the Nineteenth International Geological Congress in Algiers, in 1952, of the first geologic map of the three Guianas, on a scale of 1:2,000,000 and accompanied by an explanatory text (Choubert, Schols, and Bracewell, 1954). In 1952 the permanent geologic mission of the Office of Overseas Scientific Research in French Guiana became one of the branches of a multiple research organization: l’Institut Français d’Amerique Tropicale. Finally, in 1953, the preparation of a regular geologic map was begun. The first sheet (Cayenne region) is now in press. GEOLOGY Naturally, in this country covered with almost impenetrable forests, the preparation of a geologic map faces numerous obstacles. The most difficult to surmount is the scarcity of outcrops away from the river valleys. A serious study is nevertheless possible, thanks to complete coverage with vertical aerial photographs geologic mission of

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