Evolution and chronology of the strand plain adjacent to the Rio Doce Delta, northeast of Espirito Santo state (southeast Brazil)

• Grant number: 13/07583-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo César Fonseca Giannini
• Grantee: Carolina Nogueira Mafra
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 11/00995-7 - Interdisciplinary paleoenvironmental studies in the Espirito Santo State coast, AP.PFPMCG.TEM

Abstract

The strand plain between Regência and São Matheus, in the northern Espírito Santo coast, is arranged in successive generations of well-preserved parallel beach and dune ridges. These ridge systems are very appropriate to study the variation of geomorphologic and sedimentary characteristics of coastal sands deposited in programing successions. The major purposes of this work are: to contribute to explain the processes involved in the formation of beach and dune ridges in general; to understand how the different beams of beach ridges in northern Espírito Santo are related to the variation of volume and direction of the coastal sedimentary supply; and to reconstruct the Quaternary evolution of this strand plain along time, in the context of the regional relative sea-level (RSL) and paleoclimate variations. The activities to be developed by the student in this research abroad: bibliographic survey about RSL and paleoclimate variations in this area; remote sensing aiming the distinction of ridge beams or generations; opening, description, and sampling of trenches at each beach ridges beam; and laboratory analysis, including dating by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and study of the variation of textural and mineralogical properties in function of the OSL age. (AU)