Tectonic evolution of the Paranoá basin: New evidence from gravimetric and stratigraphic data

Abstract Field gravimetric and stratigraphic surveys were conducted with the aim to constraint the mechanisms responsible for the initiation of the Stenian-Tonian Paranoa basin, central Brazil, a subject not yet studied in detail. The Paranoa Group crops out in the external zone of the Brasilia Belt, a Neoproterozoic orogen in the western margin of the Sao Francisco Craton. Detailed geological mapping confirmed the existence of a regional scale fault that controlled sedimentation of the Paranoa Group during the deposition of its basal formations, revealing important details about basin initiation and early evolution. Gravimetric modeling indicates the existence of paleorift structures beneath the Paranoa sequence in the study area. Results from both stratigraphic and gravimetric surveys show strong evidence of mechanical subsidence by faulting during basin initiation. Unsorted, angular, clasts cut by quartz veins and brecciated boulders present in the basal conglomerate, support this hypothesis. Basin initiation faults coincide with deeper paleorift faults and are thus interpreted as reactivations of the older Statherian Arai Rift. The reactivations favored an initial regime of mechanical subsidence, dominated by the development of epirogenic arches subsiding at different rates. Apart from faulting activity, the post-basal sequence presents no evidence of rift environment in the strict sense. Besides, the great lateral continuity and relatively constant thickness of facies, indicate that an initial mechanic subsidence rapidly gave way to flexural subsidence during subsequent stages of basin evolution. The Paranoa Group do not present reliable characteristics that would allow its strict classification as a passive margin. Its main stratigraphic characteristics, tectonic location and basement architecture, indicate that the Paranoa Group was deposited in a cratonic margin basin, and may have been either connected to a passive margin basin at times of sea level rise, or evolved to a passive margin later in time.