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This paper presents the geomorphological features of four areas of subtropical, southernmost Brazil displaying striking landforms developed upon Precambrian Camaquã Basin conglomerates in the southern Brazilian shield areas. The distinctive and unique features of the Serra do Segredo cuesta, the Rincão do Inferno canyon, the Casa de Pedra inselberg, and the Pedra da Cruz cap-shaped hills are important examples of such conglomerate geomorphology in South America and in Brazil, where few occurrences were available so far. They are the first documented conglomerate landforms in southernmost Brazil, widening the distribution of such terrains in South America and in the subtropical, southern hemisphere areas, considering recent global reviews. Besides the high scientific relevance for geomorphology as a whole, such features are important also for (1) evidencing the decisive role of lithology, structure, and water flows in the formation of such landforms; as well as (2) ecology and tourism, being distributed within and in the vicinity of the Caçapava UNESCO Global Geopark of southernmost Brazil. • Novel description of conglomerate geomorphology developed upon Ediacaran alluvial/fluvial deposits of the Camaquã Basin in subtropical, southernmost Brazil. • Different landforms developed according to bed tilting and arrangement, as well as to tectonic structures "pre-design". • Decisive role of lithology and water in shaping ranges and hills. • Contribution to a global distribution of conglomerate landforms, especially in humid, subtropical areas. • Geological heritage potential, features within and in the surroundings of the Caçapava UNESCO Global Geopark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the investigations that defined the formation of the sedimentary deposits and the chronological sequence of the Foz do Chapecó archaeological area in the Volta Grande of the Upper Uruguay River, Southern Brazil. This research was undertaken to contribute to the definition of the diachronic, sedimentary and stratigraphic context of the archaeological occupations. To achieve these goals a geoarchaeological prospection by land and water was conducted, focusing on the valley bottoms, in the whole Volta Grande area. It comprehended the characterization of surface sedimentary deposits, the exposure and analysis of stratigraphic profiles, and sedimentological analysis. Four superficially exposed deposits were identified: i.e., fluvial conglomerates, fine sediments with sandy texture, clay colluviums and current and recent alluvial deposits. Six interesting points for the opening of stratigraphic profiles were identified, and subsequently resulted in the identification of sedimentary facies associated with river-bed, colluvial and colluvial-alluvial deposits. Three of these points presented a clear sequence of archaeological levels in the stratigraphic context. The results indicated that the local sediments are predominantly composed of a variable mixture of silt and clay, with sands occurring predominantly in an interdigitated form. The stratigraphic structure of the identified layers led to the establishment of 7 sedimentary facies, associated with colluvium (Cm), colluvium-alluvium (Sm) and alluvium and fluvial channels (Sm, Fl, Gms, Gt, Gp, Gh). The radiocarbon dating gives an age between 12.0 and 0.3 cal kBP, indicating that the filling of the local valley occurred during the end of the Pleistocene and throughout the Holocene by means of both fluvial and colluvial systems. Nine distinct archaeological levels, with a clear stratigraphic, chronological, and technological characterization were identified. The pre-ceramic archaeological sequence shows the following chronology: the oldest occupation occurred between 12.0 and 11.0 cal kBP (Cm facies); this was followed by an occupation between 10.5 and 9.5 cal kBP (Cm, Gt, Gp and Gh facies in three archaeological sites with eleven 14C data), then an occupation between 8.7 and 8.5 cal kBP (Cm facies), another between 5.7 and 5.5 cal kBP, one more between 4.8 and 4.6 cal kBP (Cm facies), and the last between 3.4 and 3.3 cal kBP (Cm and Sm facies). The ceramic phase seems to form a single dense component with the anthropogenic soil formation, and was dated between 0.5 and 0.3 cal kBP (Sm facies). These data present a previously unpublished chronostratigraphic sequence that is unique for the context of open-air sites in inner southern Brazil. • This research presents a unique example of a well-documented archaeological settlement in an open-air, multi-component site situated in a riverine setting in inland Southern Brazil. • It marks the first geoarchaeological study in Southern Brazil's subtropical oxidic environments, utilizing an integrated approach that includes sedimentology, stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating, and the spatial distribution of archaeological features. • The study's sedimentary sequence aids in reconstructing the paleo-environments of the Upper Uruguay River region. • The findings suggest that prehistoric cultural dynamics throughout the Holocene in Southern Brazil were more complex than previously understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karstic areas in Central Brazil show significant depositional and erosive facies placed within abandoned dry valley-systems and associated with fluviokarstic dynamics. These valleys have distinct depositional characteristics that offer sedimentary records of both past climatic events in the region and its current fluviokarstic system. The purpose of this paper is to point out and characterize such sedimentary packages, protected by dry valleys that were deposited up until the fluviokarstic transition, thus enabling the correlation of such sediments to past climatic events. The study is based on a combination of geomorphic and sedimentological analyses through the employment of multiple techniques, such as mineralogy, geochronology, stable isotopes, and granulometry, to the analysis of our case studies. These are the three dry valleys around the Ventura, Pedras and Extrema rivers, which in turn comprise the River Vermelho Basin, northeastern Goiás State. Our results suggest that the valleys contain fluvial deposits remnant from the transition of superficial fluvial flow to the underground karstic system. Records provide a general view of the depositional stages placed before and up until the period of fluvial capture in terms of their morphology, dynamics, and sediment architecture. OSL ages indicate that fluviokarstic processes had been in operation since 23 Ka, when the oldest river capture was found to have occurred. Depositions occurred in a reasonably continuous manner, mainly during the last 3.5 Ka, and concentrated around relatively dry and wet events, exhibiting typical depositional gaps in fluvial environments. Consequently, no relationship between the depositions and paleoclimatic events were observed for the analyzed fluviokarstic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Dom João Stage comprises an interval with variable thickness between 100 and 1200 m, composed of fluvial, eolian and lacustrine deposits of Late Jurassic age, based mainly on the lacustrine ostracod fauna (although the top deposits may extend into the Early Cretaceous). These deposits comprise the so-called Afro-Brazilian Depression, initially characterized as containing the Brotas Group of the Recôncavo Basin (which includes the Aliança and the Sergi Formations) and subsequently extended into the Tucano, Jatobá, Camamu, Almada, Sergipe, Alagoas and Araripe Basins in northeastern Brazil, encompassing the study area of this paper. The large occurrence area of the Dom João Stage gives rise to discussions about the depositional connectivity between the basins, and the real extension of sedimentation. In the first studies of this stratigraphic interval, the Dom João Stage was strictly associated with the rift phase, as an initial stage (decades of 1960–70), but subsequent analyses considered the Dom João as an intracratonic basin or pre-rift phase – without any relation to the active mechanics of a tectonic syn-rift phase (decades of 1980–2000). The present work developed an evolutionary stratigraphic and tectonic model, based on the characterization of depositional sequences, internal flooding surfaces, depositional systems arrangement and paleoflow directions. Several outcrops on the onshore basins were used to build composite sections of each basin, comprising facies, architectural elements, depositional systems, stratigraphic and lithostratigraphic frameworks, and paleocurrents. In addition to that, over a hundred onshore and offshore exploration wells were used (only 21 of which are showed) to map the depositional sequences and generate correlation sections. These show the characteristics and relations of the Dom João Stage in each studied basin, and they were also extended to the Gabon Basin. The results indicate that there were two main phases during the Dom João Stage, in which distinctive sedimentary environments were developed, reflecting depositional system arrangements, paleoflow directions were diverse, and continuous or compartmented basins were developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Most existing models for the evolution of rift basins predict the development of deep-water depositional systems during the stage of greatest tectonic subsidence, when accommodation generation potentially outpaces sedimentation. Despite this, some rift basins do not present deep-water systems, instead being dominated by subaerial deposits. This paper focuses on one of these particular rift basins, the Cambrian Guaritas Rift, Southern Brazil, characterized by more than 1500 m of alluvial and aeolian strata deposited in a 50-km-wide basin. The deposits of the Guaritas Rift can be ascribed to four depositional systems: basin–border alluvial fans, bed-load-dominated ephemeral rivers, mixed-load ephemeral rivers and aeolian dune fields. These four systems are in part coeval and in part succeed each other, forming three stages of basin evolution: (i) Rift Initiation to Early Rift Climax stage, (ii) Mid to Late Rift Climax stage, and (iii) Early Post-Rift stage. The first stage comprises most of the Guaritas Group and is characterized by homogeneous bed-load-dominated river deposits, which do not clearly record the evolution of subsidence rates. The onset of sedimentation of finer-grained deposits occurred as a consequence of a reactivation event that changed the outline of the basin and the distribution of the nearby highlands. This strongly suggests that the capture of the main river system to another depression decreased the sediment supply to the basin. The study of the Guaritas Rift indicates that rift basins in which the sediment supply exceeds the accommodation generation occur as a consequence of moderate subsidence combined with the capture of a major river system to the basin during the initial stages of basin evolution. In these basins, changes in the average discharge of the river system or tectonic modification of the drainage network may be the major control on the stratigraphic architecture. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports the integrated application of petrographic and Sm–Nd isotopic analyses for studying the provenance of the Neoproterozoic Maricá Formation, southern Brazil. This unit encompasses sedimentary rocks of fluvial and marine affiliations. In the lower fluvial succession, sandstones plot in the “craton interior” and “transitional continental” fields of the QFL diagram. Chemical weathering probably caused the decrease of the 147Sm/144Nd ratios to 0.0826 and 0.0960, consequently lowering originally >2.0 Ga T DM ages to 1.76 and 1.81 Ga. 143Nd/144Nd ratios are also low (0.511521 to 0.511633), corresponding to negative ε Nd present-day values (−21.8 and −19.6). In the intermediate marine succession, sandstones plot in the “dissected arc” field, reflecting the input of andesitic clasts. Siltstones and shales reveal low 143Nd/144Nd ratios (0.511429 to 0.511710), ε Nd values of −18.1 and −23.6, and T DM ages of 2.16 and 2.37 Ga. Sandstones of the upper fluvial succession have “dissected arc” and “recycled orogen” provenance. 143Nd/144Nd isotopic ratios are also relatively low, from 0.511487 to 0.511560, corresponding to ε Nd values of −22.4 and −21.0 and T DM of 2.07 Ga. A uniform granite–gneissic basement block of Paleoproterozoic age, with subordinate volcanic rocks, is suggested as the main sediment source of the Maricá Formation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reviews and integrates the knowledge about the tectonosedimentary evolution of the Resende and Volta Redonda basins (Central Segment of the Continental Rift of Southeastern Brazil), in particular the Paleogene tectonic phase. Three tectonic stages are associated to the evolution of these basins: Pre-Rift, related to the deposition of the Ribeirão dos Quatis Formation (braided fluvial); Rift I, main stage, related to the Resende Formation (braided fluvial deposits and alluvial fans associated with fault edges and intercalated basanitic volcanism); Rift II, related to the Pinheiral Formation (braided fluvial), responsible for filling the Paleogene depocenters. The post-rift sedimentation is characterized by the Neogene deposits of the Floriano Formation (meandering fluvial), as Neogene and Quaternary colluvial and alluvial deposits. The Paleogene depocenters consist of NE-SW-trending hemigrabens, with main edges to the north, in the Resende basin, and to the south, in the Volta Redonda basin. The NW-SE segmentation of the depocenters and stress propagation between the basins took place through important local and regional transfer zones. Regarding the neotectonic deformation, three brittle phases are identified: (1) Neogene transcurrent sinistral E-W-trending, responsible for the reactivation of rift faults and NE-SW segmentation of the depocenters; (2) Pleistocene-Holocene transcurrent dextral E-W-trending, responsible for the NW-SE segmentation of the depocenters and important modifications of the drainage networks; (3) Holocene NW-SE extension, responsible for the generation of important Holocene depocenters and reactivation of the rift structures. • Evolution of the Continental Rift of Southeastern Brazil in the Resende and Volta Redonda basins. • Three Paleogene tectonic stages: Pre-rift (Paleocene), Rift I (Eocene), Rift II (Oligocene). • Paleogene filling essentially by deposits of alluvial systems and basanite volcanism. • Structural styles, paleostress and 3D evolutive models of the Resende and Volta Redonda rift basins. • Neotectonic reactivation controls in the Neogene-Quaternary alluvial systems and Modern drainages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]