Sedimentology of a distributive fluvial system: The Serra da Galga Formation, a new lithostratigraphic unit (Upper Cretaceous, Bauru Basin, Brazil)

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Soares, Marcus Vinicius Theodoro ; Basilici, Giorgio ; da Silva Marinho, Thiago ; Martinelli, Agustin Guillermo ; Marconato, Andre ; Mountney, Nigel Philip ; Colombera, Luca ; Mesquita, Aquila Ferreira ; Vasques, Julia Tucker ; Junior, Francisco Romero Abrantes ; Ribeiro, Luiz Carlos Borges

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL; v. 56, n. 2, p. 25-pg., 2020-09-14.

Resumo

The Bauru Basin of SE Brazil is a large (ca. 370,000 km(2)) Upper Cretaceous intracratonic feature, important for its fossil remains and of particular value as a source of regional palaeoclimatic information. Historically, lithostratigraphic reconstructions have been performed mainly for successions of the central and southern parts of the basin, resulting in a lithostratigraphic scheme that is not applicable to the northernmost regions. In particular, the northeastern deposits of the Marilia Formation (Serra da Galga and Ponte Alta members) reveal lithological, stratigraphic, and palaeontological differences from southeastern and northwestern counterparts (Echapora Member). Nevertheless, these deposits are considered as a single lithostratigraphic formation in the literature. To address this problem, this study demonstrates how the northeastern deposits of the Marilia Formation do not show affinity to the rest of the unit. A more suitable lithostratigraphic model is proposed for the northeastern succession as a distinct and independent unit. Lithofacies and palaeopedological analysis, combined with lithostratigraphic mapping of the northeastern deposits, reveal 11 distinct lithofacies and three pedotypes over an area of similar to 450 km(2). Sedimentary facies and pedotypes were assigned to six interbedded architectural elements: (a) type 1 channel fill, (b) type 2 channel fill, (c) type 3 channel fill, (d) interchannels, (e) palaeosols, and (f) calcrete beds. The succession is interpreted as a distributive fluvial system with overall direction of flow to the NNW, and which developed under the influence of a semiarid climate regime. This contrasts with deposits of the southeastern and northwestern Marilia Formation, previously suggested to be of fine-grained aeolian affinity with interbedded poorly channelised deposits assigned to an aeolian sand sheet environment. By revising the existing lithostratigraphic scheme for the northeastern deposits, and contrasting them with laterally equivalent strata, this work demonstrates how the previously named Serra da Galga and Ponte Alta members reveal a unique set of lithological, architectural, and genetic signatures that permits to separate them from the Marilia Formation. Finally, a new lithostratigraphic classification for the unit is proposed: the Serra da Galga Formation, whose deposition relates to an ancient distributive fluvial system. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 12/23209-0 - Sedimentos e paleossolos em sistemas deposicionais desérticos do Cretáceo (Grupo Bauru, SE do Brasil, e formação Los Llanos, W da Argentina): proxies para interpretações paleoambientais e uso estratigráfico
• Beneficiário: Giorgio Basilici
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 18/10574-8 - Distribuição de sedimentos e paleossolos em antigos sistemas fluviais distributivos: proxies para interpretações paleoambientais e estratigráficas
• Beneficiário: Marcus Vinícius Theodoro Soares
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado