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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Neotectonics in the northern equatorial Brazilian margin

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Author(s):
Rossetti, Dilce F. [1] ; Souza, Lena S. B. [2] ; Prado, Renato [3] ; Elis, Vagner R. [3]
Total Authors: 4
Affiliation:
[1] Inst Nacl Pesquisas Espaciais, Div Sensoriamento Remoto, BR-12245970 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Geociencias, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil
[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Astron Geofis & Ciencias Atmosfer, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 3
Document type: Journal article
Source: Journal of South American Earth Sciences; v. 37, p. 175-190, AUG 2012.
Web of Science Citations: 19
Abstract

An increasing volume of publications has addressed the role of tectonics in inland areas of northern Brazil during the Neogene and Quaternary, despite its location in a passive margin. Hence, northern South America plate in this time interval might have not been as passive as usually regarded. This proposal needs further support, particularly including field data. In this work, we applied an integrated approach to reveal tectonic structures in Miocene and late Quaternary strata in a coastal area of the Amazonas lowland. The investigation, undertaken in Marajo Island, mouth of the Amazonas River, consisted of shallow sub-surface geophysical data including vertical electric sounding and ground penetrating radar. These methods were combined with morphostructural analysis and sedimentological/stratigraphic data from shallow cores and a few outcrops. The results revealed two stratigraphic units, a lower one with Miocene age, and an upper one of Late Pleistocene-Holocene age. An abundance of faults and folds were recorded in the Miocene deposits and, to a minor extent, in overlying Late Pleistocene-Holocene strata. In addition to characterize these structures, we discuss their origin, considering three potential mechanisms: Andean tectonics, gravity tectonics related to sediment loading in the Amazon Fan, and rifting at the continental margin. Amongst these hypotheses, the most likely is that the faults and folds recorded in Marajo Island reflect tectonics associated with the history of continental rifting that gave rise to the South Atlantic Ocean. This study supports sediment deposition influenced by transpression and transtension associated with strike-slip divergence along the northern Equatorial Brazilian margin in the Miocene and Late Pleistocene-Holocene. This work records tectonic evidence only for the uppermost few ten of meters of this sedimentary succession. However, available geological data indicate a thickness of up to 6 km, which is remarkably thick for an area regarded as a passive margin. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)