Stratigraphic and Paleoenvironmental Context of the Macroinvertebrate Assemblages of the Romualdo Formation, Cretaceous, Araripe Basin, and its Paleogeographic Implications

• Grant number: 17/20803-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Marcello Guimarães Simões
• Grantee: Suzana Aparecida Matos da Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Cretaceous (i.e., Crato and Romualdo formations) of the Araripe Basin, records some of the most spectacular fossil-rich deposits (Konservat-Largestätten) of the Mesozoic, which were generated during the Gondwana break-up and consequently South Atlantic Ocean opening. Because of that, upper units of the Santana Group (i.e., Romualdo Formation) record a main Aptian marine transgression. However, various key issues of this event (i.e., marine transgression extension and direction) are still controversial. The Romualdo Formation is characterized by a transgressive-regressive cycle bounded by two regional unconformities. In this project, the main changes in the benthic paleocommunities tied to the paleoenvironmental fluctuations, during the transgressive-regressive cycle of the Romualdo will be investigated. The project focus in an extensive quantitative paleoecologic analysis based on stratigraphically, well-constrained samples (meter by meter) precisely plotted against the available sequence stratigraphy framework of the Romualdo Formation. To determine the nature of the paleoenvironmental changes, right-resolution facies analyses as well as taphonomic and paleoecologic studies (i.e., faunistic composition, relative abundances, diversity) will be done. The main goal is to demonstrate how the paleocommunities responded to the paleoenvironmental changes tied to the seal level changes. The definition of the paleoecologic character of the Romualdo Formation benthic assemblages is an unexplored issue, which is key to our knowledge of the paleogeography and faunal correlations of the Aptian-Albian interval of the sedimentary basins of the Brazilian NE interior.

Scientific publications

(9)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SOUZA, T. G. L.; MATOS, S. A.; VAREJAO, F. G.; RODRIGUES, M. G.; RIBEIRO, A. C.; FREITAS, B. T.; WARREN, L., V; ASSINE, M. L.; SIMOES, M. G.. High-resolution taphonomy of the Lower Cretaceous "Amargosa Biota", Central Tucano Sub-Basin, Bahia, Brazil: Implications for the paleoenvironmental dynamics of a new Konservat-Lagerstatte. PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY, v. 592, p. 26-pg., 2022-04-15. (17/20803-1)

MATOS, SUZANA APARECIDA; CASTILHO, ANTONIO LEAO; CADEIRA DO PRADO, LUDMILA ALVES; BONDIOLI, JOAO GUEDES; VAREJAO, FILIPE GIOVANINI; CUSTODIO, MICHELE ANDRIOLLI; FUERSICH, FRANZ THEODOR; ASSINE, MARIO LUIS; SIMOES, MARCELLO GUIMARAES. Taphonomy and ontogeny of the brachyuran crab Exucarcinus gonzagai, from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin, NE Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 111, NOV 2021. (14/00519-9, 17/20803-1)

DA SILVA, VICTOR R.; VAREJAO, FILIPE G.; MATOS, SUZANA A.; FUERSICH, FRANZ T.; SKAWINA, ALEKSANDRA; SCHNEIDER, SIMON; WARREN, LUCAS V.; ASSINE, MARIO L.; SIMOES, MARCELLO G.. Cratonaia novaolindensis gen. et sp. nov. (Unionida, Silesunionoidea) from the Aptian of Brazil (Araripe Basin), and its implications for the early evolution of freshwater mussels. CRETACEOUS RESEARCH, v. 107, MAR 2020. (14/00519-9, 16/13214-7, 17/20803-1, 17/22036-8)

FILIPE GIOVANINI VAREJÃO; VICTOR RIBEIRO SILVA; MARIO LUIS ASSINE; LUCAS VERÍSSIMO WARREN; SUZANA APARECIDA MATOS; MARIZA GOMES RODRIGUES; FRANZ THEODOR FÜRSICH; MARCELLO GUIMARÃES SIMÕES. Marine or freshwater? Accessing the paleoenvironmental parameters of the Caldas Bed, a key marker bed in the Crato Formation (Araripe Basin, NE Brazil). BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY, v. 51, n. 1, 2020-12-21. (16/13214-7, 14/00519-9, 17/22036-8, 18/01750-7, 17/20803-1)

RODRIGUES, M. G.; VAREJAO, F. G.; MATOS, S. A.; FUERSICH, F. T.; WARREN, L. V.; ASSINE, M. L.; SIMOES, M. G.. High-resolution taphonomy and sequence stratigraphy of internally complex, bakevelliid-dominated coquinas from the Aptian Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin, NE Brazil. MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, v. 143, p. 22-pg., 2022-07-06. (18/01750-7, 17/20803-1, 16/13214-7, 14/00519-9)

RODRIGUES, M. G.; MATOS, S. A.; VAREJAO, F. G.; FUERSICH, F. T.; WARREN, L. V.; ASSINE, M. L.; SIMOES, M. G.. Short-lived ``Bakevelliid-Sea{''} in the Aptian Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil. CRETACEOUS RESEARCH, v. 115, NOV 2020. (14/00519-9, 16/13214-7, 17/20803-1, 18/01750-7)

VAREJAO, F. G.; FUERSICH, F. T.; WARREN, V, L.; MATOS, S. A.; RODRIGUES, M. G.; ASSINE, M. L.; SALES, A. M. F.; SIMOES, M. G.. Microbialite fields developed in a protected rocky coastline: The shallow carbonate ramp of the Aptian Romualdo Formation (Araripe Basin, NE Brazil). SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY, v. 389, p. 103-120, JUL 1 2019. (14/00519-9, 16/13214-7, 17/20803-1, 18/01750-7)

DA SILVA, VICTOR R.; VAREJAO, FILIPE G.; MATOS, SUZANA A.; RODRIGUES, MARIZA G.; FURSICH, FRANZ T.; SKAWINA, ALEKSANDRA; SCHNEIDER, SIMON; WARREN, V, LUCAS; ASSINE, MARIO L.; SIMOES, MARCELLO G.. New freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionida) with potential trigonioidid and hyriid affinities from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. GEOBIOS, v. 61, p. 41-54, AUG 2020. (14/00519-9, 17/22036-8, 16/13214-7, 18/01750-7, 17/20803-1)

RODRIGUES, M. G.; MATOS, S. A.; VAREJAO, F. G.; FUERSICH, F. T.; WARREN, L. V.; ASSINE, M. L.; SIMOES, M. G.. Short-lived "Bakevelliid-Sea" in the Aptian Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil. CRETACEOUS RESEARCH, v. 115, p. 20-pg., 2020-11-01. (18/01750-7, 17/20803-1, 16/13214-7, 14/00519-9)