Browsing by Author "Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade"

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    Composição química de sulfetos associados à mineralização de ouro orogênico no Greenstone Belt Pitangui : exemplos dos depósitos Pitangui e Papagaios.
    (2022) Maurer, Victor Câmara; Melo, Gustavo Henrique Coelho de; Lana, Cristiano de Carvalho; Melo, Gustavo Henrique Coelho de; Silva, Rosaline Cristina Figueiredo e; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Cipriano, Ricardo Augusto Scholz; Graça, Leonardo Martins
    O greenstone belt Pitangui (GBP) é uma nova fronteira na pesquisa e na exploração de ouro orogênico no Brasil. A utilização de LA-ICP-MS na determinação dos elementos traços, presentes na composição química dos sulfetos, contribui na investigação desse tipo de sistema mineral, entretanto poucos estudos nacionais são encontrados com essa abordagem na região. Existem dois modelos principais para a fonte de metais e fluidos mineralizantes na geração dos depósitos de ouro orogênico no GBP: (i) desidratação do pacote metavulcanossedimentar do greenstone belt; e (ii) contribuições magmáticas de fluidos hidrotermais, metais e calor. Além disso, altas temperaturas têm sido reportadas para a gênese dos depósitos no GBP. No depósito Pitangui, as rochas hospedeiras correspondem a metagrauvacas e metapelitos da Formação Onça do Pitangui e o controle estrutural das zonas de cisalhamento subverticais de direção NW-SE delineiam o depósito quanto à geometria. Veios de quartzo representam a zona mineralizada e a zona proximal apresenta intensa formação de sericita, ambas com pirita e pirrotita. Cinco tipos de pirita (PyI, PyII, PyIII, PyIV e PyV) e dois de pirrotita (PoI e PoII) foram reconhecidas nesse depósito. A PyI apresenta altas concentrações de Co, Bi, Pb, Sb, Te, Se, Ag e Au e somado às características texturais sugerem uma origem singenética. As concentrações de Co, Ni, Pb, Te, Sn, Se, As, Bi, Sb, Ag, Mo e W na pirita epigenética (PyII-IV) sugerem que a desidratação das sequências metavulcanossedimentares do GBP constituem as principais fontes de metais e fluidos. A PyV, por sua vez, só aparece no dique metamáfico pós-orogênico e sua origem permanece incerta. No depósito Papagaios as zonas de cisalhamento subverticais mineralizadas ocorrem predominantemente nas rochas metavulcânicas máficas, com subordinadas lentes de formação ferrífera bandada (BIFs) da Formação Rio Pará. A sulfetação da zona mineralizada é marcada pela presença de quatro tipos de pirita (PyI-IV), quatro de pirrotita (PoI-IV) e três de arsenopirita (ApyI-III). Esses sulfetos constituem quatro assembleias distintas. Elementos traços com afinidade tipicamente de rochas máficas (e.g., Ni, Cu, Co) ou de rochas metassedimentares como as lentes de metaBIF e filito carbonoso (e.g., Sb, Bi, Pb e Sn) indicam as próprias rochas da Formação Rio Pará como fonte de metais que constituem os sulfetos. Por outro lado, os teores de Mo, W e Se nos sulfetos podem indicar alguma contribuição de rochas magmáticas félsicas. As altas temperaturas indicadas pela (i) deformação dúctil; (ii) sincronicidade da alteração hidrotermal e sulfetação com a deformação; (iii) fácies anfibolito inferior das rochas hospedeiras; (iv) assembleia de sulfetos; (v) química mineral dos sulfetos; e (vi) geotermômetro da arsenopirita (568 °C a 610 °C = ApyI; 425 °C a 465 °C = ApyII) sugerem características de depósito hipozonal ou mesozonal formado sob altas temperaturas para a gênese do depósito Papagaios, em que a segunda hipótese deve ser a mais acertiva. O depósito Pitangui parece corresponder a um depósito mesozonal sin- a pós tectônico. Demonstra-se ainda que, quanto maior o teor de Bi, Ag, Pb, Sb, Zn, Co, Ni e Cu nos sulfetos, maior o teor de ouro da zona mineralizada no depósito Papagaios. Enquanto que os elementos Bi, Ag, Pb, Sb e Te são aqueles diretamente proporcionais ao Au quando relacionados à pirita do depósito Pitangui.
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    Detrital zircon U–Pb analysis constrain the depositional age and provenance of Cryogenian glacial successions of the Macaúbas group in the northeastern Araçuaí orogen, eastern Brazil.
    (2023) Pacheco, Fernando Estevao Rodrigues Crincoli; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Souza, Maria Eugênia Silva de; Bento, Ciro Couto; Soares, Antônio Carlos Pedrosa; Lana, Cristiano de Carvalho
    The precursor basin of the Araçuaí – West Congo Orogenic System (AWCO) formed a large gulf within the São Francisco – Congo Paleocontinent (SFCP), where the diamictite-bearing Macaúbas Group was deposited during the Neoproterozoic. However, the lack of robust age constraints on the Cryogenian glaciogenic successions prevents correlation to one or both of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth glaciations. The present study introduces new field data and new U–Pb detrital zircon data from diamictite-bearing units on the southern margin of the São Francisco Craton, in the northeastern Araçuaí Orogen. This region is much closer to possible EdiacaranCryogenian igneous rocks of the southern São Francisco craton than other regions previously studied for the Macaúbas Group, enhancing the probability of detecting detrital minerals from those rocks, if they were involved as source areas. In the studied region, the Macaúbas Group is composed of metadiamictite with sparse clasts and schistified metagraywacke with bulk mineralogy similar to the quartz-muscovite-feldspar matrix of the metadiamictites. U–Pb (LA-MC-ICP-MS) dating of 182 detrital zircon grains from the Lower Chapada Acauã Formation forming the syn-glacial sequence yielded main age peaks at 939 ± 3 Ma, 1409 ± 10 Ma, 1822 ± 8 Ma, 2044 ± 7 Ma, 2551 ± 9 Ma and 3103 ± 19 Ma. The youngest concordant zircon grain found in this study aged 753 ± 12 Ma. U–Pb (LA-MC-ICP-MS) dating of 104 zircon crystals from a granitic clast recovered from the diamictite exhibits highly discordant data plotting in distinct Discordia lines with upper intercept ages of 2.0 Ga, 2.5 Ga, 2.6 Ga and 3.2 Ga, indicating derivation from the adjacent cratonic basement. The U–Pb age spectra suggests important contribution from the Archean and Paleoproterozoic basement of the São Francisco – Congo paleocontinent and metamorphic complexes, from the Mesoproterozoic intrusive and volcanic rocks of São Francisco Craton, and from the Tonian Salto da Divisa Suite. Despite the relative abundance of Cryogenian zircon grains in the surrounding prospective source areas, the studied rocks lack this interval age. The glaciogenic events in the Macaúbas basin system probably did not sample rocks with these age intervals due to the general characteristics of this type of deposit or because the sources were not exposed. Thus, the lower diamictite-bearing units of the Macaúbas Group in the northeastern São Francisco craton were deposited after ca. 753 Ma, but their correlation to either the Sturtian or Marinoan global glaciations remain speculative.
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    Detrital zircon U–Pb and Lu–Hf constraints on the age, provenance and tectonic setting of arc-related high-grade units of the transition zone of the Araçuaí and Ribeira orogens (SE Brazil).
    (2022) Mendes, Raíssa Santiago; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Soares, Antônio Carlos Pedrosa; Neves, Aparecida; Calegari, Salomão Silva; Lana, Cristiano de Carvalho
    Sedimentary basins with epiclastic and volcanoclastic components are important geotectonic components for understanding the complex evolution of orogenic systems. The age, provenance and tectonic setting of ancient basins are, however, often hard to constrain, especially in the high-grade core of ancient mountain belts where original sedimentary and stratigraphic relations have been largely obliterated by deformation and metamorphism. In this case, analytical tools such as whole-rock geochemistry and U–Pb and Lu–Hf analyses on detrital zircon grains can be deployed to unravel the provenance and tectonic setting of high-grade metasedimentary and metavolcaniclastic units. Here, we apply these analytical tools on samples from gneissic paleosomes of migmatites found in the eastern transition zone between the Neoproterozoic–Eopaleozoic Araçuaí and Ribeira orogens (southeastern Brazil). The studied paleosomes comprise peraluminous paragneiss rich in biotite, garnet and sillimanite, metaluminous hornblende-bearing gneiss free of peraluminous silicates, and intermediate terms between these compositions, all of them with geochemical characteristics pointing to sources located in magmatic arc systems. Overall, U–Pb data from detrital zircon grains bracket a maximum sedimentation age for all samples between 600 and 627 Ma, while εHf(t): +5.7 to − 18.7 and Hf TDM model ages of 1.0–2.2 Ga suggest moderately juvenile to evolved sources for the gneiss protoliths. However, despite the similarity in age range, the analyzed samples show contrasting isotope data indicating significant variability in the source areas. Sample 7 only has grains with negative εHf (− 5.9 to − 18.7), most of them ranging in age from 708 Ma to 758 Ma, with very few older (1021–1143 Ma) and younger (642–651 Ma) zircons grains, indicating evolved crustal sources of distinct ages (e.g., the Late Tonian – Early Cryogenian South Bahia Alkaline Province, the Early Cryogenian magmatism found in the West Congo Belt, the Stenian to Early Tonian Espinhaço and Matadi-Noqui igneous rocks, and magmatic rocks of the early Rio Doce arc). Conversely, sample 13 has twenty grains with positive εHf values and ages between 602 and 758 Ma, suggesting sourcing from (meta)igneous rocks of the Rio Negro arc and their remelting products, and forty grains with negative εHf values with ages between 591 and 646 Ma suggesting magmatic sources in the Rio Doce arc. Additionally, the two youngest spot ages (553 Ma and 571 Ma) have highly negative εHf values (− 11.1 and − 16.4) suggesting their origin from collisional anatexis. Similarly, sample 12 shows detrital grains within the consistent time interval (ca. 596 Ma – 798 Ma) of the Rio Negro arc and Rio Doce arcs, reinforcing that the fragments of these arcs, or zircons that were inherited from these terranes, are potential sources to the sedimentary protoliths of the paragneisses. The regional scenario together with our field and analytical data, compared with data available in the literature, suggest the sedimentary protoliths of the studied samples filled orogenic basins related to the Rio Doce magmatic arc. Most detrital zircon ages are close to the maximum depositional age, a classical signature of orogenic basins related to magmatic arcs. The studied paragneiss unit correlates with the Nova Ven´ecia Complex, located on the intra-arc to back-arc zones of the Araçuaí orogen, and with the orogenic succession of the distal Andrelândia Group, shared by both the Araçuaí and Ribeira orogens. Furthermore, our data also suggest the juvenile Rio Negro - Serra da Prata arc system was either amalgamated with the Rio Doce arc or that fragments of these arcs were incorporated as unmelted xenoliths and xenocrystals within the Rio Doce arc rocks before ca. 614 Ma, providing key hints to unravel the evolution of the Araçuaí - Ribeira orogenic system (AROS) and its role in the Gondwana assembly.
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    Implications for the refinement of the São Francisco Craton magmatic barcode and the North China link.
    (2022) Mendes, Mônica de Cássia Oliveira; Lobato, Lydia Maria; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Rosière, Carlos Alberto; Lana, Cristiano de Carvalho; Silva, Rosaline Cristina Figueiredo e
    Late Archean to Paleoproterozoic dike swarms crosscut the basement and supracrustal sequences of the São Francisco Craton. Their spatial distribution and orientation patterns, as paleomagnetic signature, provide key evidence to the positioning of the cratonic area in ancient paleocontinental reconstructions through the refinement of the “magmatic barcode”. Zircon U–Pb data from dikes in the cratonic domain of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero Mineral Province, in the southern of São Francisco Craton, allowed the recognition of two magmatic stages: a Rhyacian-Orosirian pulse, belonging to the Paraopeba swarm, and a Statherian pulse that belongs to the Pará de Minas II swarm. The Ediacaran Brasiliano Orogeny later affected dikes from both swarms. The Paraopeba swarm consists of pulses related to the Rhyacian-Orosirian orogenic cycle, with dikes providing U–Pb zircon ages of 2019 + 23–11, 1944 ± 29 and 1918 ± 12 Ma. The zircon εHf values from these dikes are predominantly negative, suggesting reworking of preexisting crust, whereas the TDM ages vary from 4000 to 2500 Ma, which can be interpreted as a long period of crustal residence. The Statherian Pará de Minas II swarm, with a U–Pb zircon age of 1717 ± 9 Ma, is chronocorrelated to the lower stratigraphic sequence of the Espinhaço rift basin. Zircon grains from this dike have predominantly positive εHf values and TDM model ages between 3050 and 1950 Ma. Unlike the Paraopeba swarm, the Pará de Minas magmatism is marked by a striking input of juvenile mantle material with minor crustal contamination. The Ediacaran Brasiliano tectono-thermal event caused isotopic disturbance in both Paraopeba and Pará de Minas II swarms, resulting in lower intercepts at 595 ± 65 and 584 ± 27 Ma, respectively. Our data pinpoint dike emplacement related to tectonic events described in the southern of São Francisco. In the final stages of Rhyacian orogenic cycle, at ca. 2019–1918 Ma, data suggests an important crustal contamination. Thereafter, a crustal rifting event at ca. 1717 Ma involved dike swarm emplacement with magmatic source from a mantle plume. The Rhyacian-Orosirian ages obtained here are the first zircon U–Pb geochronological data presented for the Paraopeba dike swarm and allow for a refinement of the São Francisco Craton barcode, reinforcing previous suggestions of proximity with the North China Craton crosscut by the similarly aged Hengshan and Xiwangshan/Xuwujia dike swarms, whether or not those two cratonic pieces were part of the Columbia supercontinent.
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    Metallogenetic Mn-model of the Rhyacian-aged Buritirama Formation, Carajás domain (Amazon Craton).
    (2021) Salgado, Silas Santos; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Silva, Rosaline Cristina Figueiredo e; Uhlein, Gabriel Jubé; Nogueira, Leonardo Brandão; Nalini Júnior, Hermínio Arias; Aranda, Ramon de Oliveira
    The Mn-bearing Buritirama Formation is composed of clastic and chemical metasedimentary rocks representing a Rhyacian platformal basin (ca. 2.18–2.06 Ga) that limits the northern border of the Archean-Paleoproterozoic Caraj ́ as domain with the Paleoproterozoic Bacaj ́ a domain in the southern Amazon Craton, northern Brazil. The Buritirama Formation is divided into three main stratigraphic units. The Lower and Upper units consist of a basal quartzite followed by carbonate–silicate rocks (marls), dolomitic marbles (dolostone) and minor biotite schist while the Intermediate Unit consists of Mn-carbonate rocks topped by a supergene Mn-oxide deposit (Cenozoic age). These rocks were deformed and metamorphosed during the Transamazonian event (ca. 2.06 Ga). Geochemical data from dolomitic marbles (Lower Unit) exhibit negative Ce anomalies, high Y/Ho ratios (ca. 48) and seawater-like REE + Y patterns that reinforce an open platform setting for the Buritirama basin. Positive δ13C values (+3.2‰ to +5.0‰ V-PDB) for dolomitic marbles are considered to be an expression of the Loma- gundi Carbon Isotopic Excursion. The metallogenesis of Mn-carbonate rocks is evaluated based on redox- sensitive trace elements (e.g. Zn and Ni), PAAS-normalized REE + Y patterns and δ13C values (− 2.56‰ to +0.15‰ V-PDB) and point out to a classical multi-stage redox-controlled Mn-model involving: i) a primary hydrothermal fluid source related to ocean vents and/or normal faults; ii) microbially-mediated reduction of Mn- oxides particles at the ocean bottom; and iii) reactions between Mn2+ and CO3 2− (organic matter and seawater related), giving rise to diagenetic Mn-carbonates. The Rhyacian age, Mn deposits, and presence of Lomagundi- like δ13C allows to correlate the Buritirama Formation with the Aguas ́ Claras Formation within the Caraj ́ as domain further south, thus establishing an important metalliferous event that was up to now largely overlooked within the southern Amazon Craton.
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    New U-Pb (SHRIMP) and first Hf isotope constraints on the Tonian (1000-920 Ma) Cariris Velhos event, Borborema Province, NE Brazil.
    (2020) Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Santos, Lauro Cézar Montefalco de Lira; Uhlein, Alexandre; Dantas, Elton Luiz; Alkmim, Ana Ramalho; Lana, Cristiano de Carvalho
    Orthogneisses associated with metavolcanosedimentary successions related to the 1000 – 920 Ma Cariris Velhos event occur mainly in a ca. 700 km-long sigmoidal-shaped belt that crosscuts the Transversal Zone of the Borborema Province and extends to the fold belts located in its southern or external zone (part of the Riacho do Pontal and Sergipano orogens). Despite its importance, the tectonic setting and the role of those rocks in the geological evolution of the Borborema Province are contentious and not yet well understood. New zircon U-Pb SHRIMP data on an augen-gneiss sill of the Afeição Suite intruding mica-schists mapped as part of the Santa Filomena Complex yielded a Concordia Age of 974 ± 11 Ma, indicating that at least part of the metasedimentary rocks in the internal zone of the Riacho do Pontal Orogen are Tonian or older and possibly related to the Cariris Velhos event. Hf-in-zircon isotope data are presented for the first time for Cariris Velhos-related ortho-derived rocks of the Afeição Suite. Analyzed samples yielded εHf(t) in a narrow range between -1.51 and +2.41, with associated TDMHf of 1.6-1.4 Ga, similar to previously obtained Nd isotope data with εNd(t) = -1.0 to +3.1 and TDMNd of 1.5-1.2 Ga. A possible scenario to explain both the geochemical features and the moderately juvenile to slightly evolved, near-chondritic Hf and Nd isotope signatures is a continental arc setting, where fractionated melts produced in the supra-subduction zone mantle wedge carrying a Tonian juvenile signature became contaminated with discrete amounts of Archean-Paleoproterozoic continental crust during ascent, producing Mesoproterozoic model ages which represent the mixture of those two end-members.
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    Provenance of the Buritirama Formation reveals the Paleoproterozoic assembly of the Bacajá and Carajás blocks (Amazon Craton) and the chronocorrelation of Mn-deposits in the Transamazonian/Birimian system of northern Brazil/West Africa.
    (2019) Salgado, Silas Santos; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Silva, Rosaline Cristina Figueiredo e; Lana, Cristiano de Carvalho
    The Mn-bearing Buritirama Formation along the homonymous ridge consists of a 40 km long by ca. 3 km wide NW-SE trending unit that limits the northern border of the Archean Carajás domain with the Paleoproterozoic Bacajá domain in the southeastern Amazon Craton. The Buritirama Formation type section is arranged in four imbricated thrusts that individualize three main stratigraphic units: Lower Unit, Intermediate Unit and Upper Unit. Detrital U-Pb zircons ages from the Lower Unit and Upper Unit record the prevalence of Neoarchean populations, suggesting the Carajás block as the main sedimentary source for the Buritirama basin. However, minor Paleoproterozoic populations attributed to the Bacajá block are also recognized, defining a maximum depositional age at ca. 2186 Ma. The anorogenic Buritirama metagranite occurs at the local basement, represents a probable precursor stage of the Buritirama rift and yielded a Concordia age of 2549 ± 5.9 Ma (U-Pb). Supported by these new geochronological data, a framework model for the evolution of the Buritirama basin is proposed. Contrary to previous interpretations, the basin was active until at least the Rhyacian, representing a platformal setting fringing the northern margin of the Carajás block. A regional metamorphic event (ca. 2.06 Ga) records the closure of the basin during the Transamazonian Orogeny and the amalgamation of the Bacajá and Carajás blocks. The depositional age bracketed in between 2.3 and 2.1 Ga links the Buritirama Mn deposit (southeastern Amazon Craton) with those of Serra do Navio (Amapá Block, northeastern Amazon Craton) and Nsuta (West African Craton), suggesting: (i) widespread chronocorrelation of Mn-bearing sequences in the continental-scale Rhyacian Transamazonian/Birimian orogenic system, and (ii) formation of the primary carbonate ores under the influence of a major global manganese deposition episode.
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    Stratigraphy, petrography and tectonics of the manganese-bearing Buritirama Formation, Northern Carajás Domain, Amazon Craton.
    (2019) Salgado, Silas Santos; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Queiroga, Gláucia Nascimento; Castro, Marco Paulo de
    The Buritirama Formation (BF) occurs at the extreme north of the Carajás Province, close to the contact with the Bacajá domain, in the southeastern portion of the Amazon Craton (Brazil). The BF consists of a 40 km long, ca. 3 km wide NW-SE trending structure arranged in four imbricated thrusts that individualize three main stratigraphic units. The lower unit is composed of orthoquartzite followed by carbonate-silicate rocks. The intermediate unit hosts a supergene manganese ore deposit formed by weathering of kutnohorite-rich marble. ­Quartzite/­mica-quartz schist followed by carbonate-silicate rocks make up the upper unit. The local basement is constituted by orthogneiss-migmatite (Xingu Complex) and the Buritirama metagranite. Mineral chemistry data and metamorphic textures record high consumption of carbonate and quartz to produce clinopyroxenes. The structural assemblage of the BF records mass transport from NE to SW and the following deformational phases: D1 (compressional ductile), D2 (compressional brittle) and D3 (extensional brittle). The BF is interpreted as part of a platformal depositional system positioned at the border of the Carajás domain, which was probably inverted, deformed and metamorphosed during the Transamazonian event (ca. 2.1 Ga), in a deformation belt related to the amalgamation between the Carajás and Bacajá domains.
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    The fate of a Neoproterozoic intracratonic marine basin : trace elements, TOC and IRON speciation geochemistry of the Bambuí Basin, Brazil.
    (2019) Hippertt, João Pedro Torrezani Martins; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Uhlein, Gabriel Jubé; Nalini Júnior, Hermínio Arias; Sial, Alcides Nóbrega; Abreu, Adriana Trópia de; Nogueira, Leonardo Brandão
    Neoproterozoic marine systems are associated with major paleoecological changes that took place in the Ediacaran and during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. During this timespan, the Bambuí basin located on east Brazil held a peculiar paleoenvironmental scenario. Due to its intracratonic evolution, the basin was partially disconnected from neighboring open marine systems. This setting raises a very interesting opportunity to understand how an isolated Neoproterozoic marine system evolved in contrast with typical (globally connected) open marine systems. To understand the paleoenvironmental changes that took place in the Bambuí basin, we investigate the pre-glaciogenic deposits of the Carrancas Fm and the post-glaciogenic mixed (shale-carbonate) successions of the Bambuí Group. Through the analysis of iron speciation, TOC, trace element and C-O isotope systematics, our study suggests a very complex environmental evolution. Firstly, our samples are marked by strong contamination of detrital continental material that can be related to an increased bioproductivity on both the Carrancas Fm. and lower Bambuí group stratigraphic units, and provenance data show that all studied sediments probably shared common source areas. Iron speciation data, Ce anomalies and RSE enrichments shows that lower Bambuí Group stratigraphic units were likely deposited in an open marine scenario featuring high bioproductivity in shallow waters and euxinic incursions in predominant anoxic/ferruginous bottom waters. On the other hand, upper Bambuí stratigraphic units register a marine evolution in a restricted scenario, where anoxic ferruginous conditions probably reached surface waters. Finally, our data show that the lack of oceanic connection prevented the re-supply of marine sulfate, RSE, bionutrients and ultimately of dissolved oxygen which may have decreased biological activity and probably hindered biological evolution, preventing the rise of a typical modern-like Cambrian ecosystem. In this sense, our data suggest that oceanic connectivity and proper re-supply of inorganic marine input were important features in the development of complex life in the EdiacaranCambrian environment.
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    The Ribeirão da Folha ophiolite-bearing accretionary wedge (Araçuaí orogen, SE Brazil) : new data for Cryogenian plagiogranite and metasedimentary rocks.
    (2020) Amaral, Leandro Silva dos Santos; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Soares, Antônio Carlos Pedrosa; Queiroga, Gláucia Nascimento; Babinski, Marly; Trindade, Ricardo Ivan Ferreira da; Lana, Cristiano de Carvalho; Chemale Júnior, Farid
    The Araçuaí orogen and West Congo belt make up a singular confined orogenic system, embraced by the San Francisco – Congo craton: the AWCO. It includes a southern sector with ophiolite bodies and magmatic arc, and a northern sector free of them, suggesting the precursor basin was an embayment partially floored by oceanic crust. The northernmost ophiolitic rock-assemblage found in the Araçuaí orogen comprises metamafic and meta-ultramafic rocks with signatures of ocean-floor magmas, and associated pelagic to oceanic metasedimentary rocks of the Ribeirão da Folha Formation. Although tectonically dismembered and metamorphosed, those rocks resemble the classical ophiolite pseudostratigraphy. The Ribeirão da Folha Formation comprises rocks expected to be found in the upper units of an ophiolite edifice, like Al-rich micaschist (pelagic pelite), graphite-rich schist (black shale), sulfide-bearing metachert, diopsidite with massive sulfide, and banded iron formations (chemical-exhalative sediments), and sulfide-bearing fine-grained ortho-amphibolite with thin metachert intercalations (mafic volcanic unit). That formation hosts tectonic slices of banded ortho-amphibolite (dolerite) with plagiogranite veins, and coarse-grained massive ortho-amphibolite (gabbro), representing dismembered slivers from deeper mafic units, and slices of meta-ultramafic rocks from the deepest ophiolite units. Zircon crystals from a plagiogranite vein yielded the U-Pb SHRIMP age of 645 ± 10 Ma, providing a new time constraint for ocean-floor emplacement. Micaschist samples show chemical attributes typical of distal passive margin pelites. Among three progressive deformation phases, the main ductile phase (Dn) shows kinematic indicators related to top to SW mass transport, associated with intermediate P-T (St, Ky, Sil) metamorphic zoning. Although the few youngest grains of detrital zircon from three siliciclastic samples have distinct ages (around 599 Ma, 741 Ma, and 816 Ma), their wide-range age spectra and Hf signatures suggest similar sediment sources. The wide lithological variety and stratigraphic complexity along with the intricate tectonic framework of the Ribeirão da Folha region, comprising thrust slices of ophiolitic rocks tectonically interleaved with older rift-related rocks, characterize an accretionary wedge that was scrapped off the subducted slab and involved in collisional tectonics, marking the AWCO suture zone for some 250 km between the Guanhães basement block (lower plate) and Rio Doce magmatic arc (upper plate).
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    Two generations of mafic dyke swarms in the Southeastern Brazilian coast : reactivation of structural lineaments during the gravitational collapse of the Araçuaí-Ribeira Orogen (500 Ma) and West Gondwana breakup (140 Ma).
    (2020) Mendes, Raíssa Santiago; Caxito, Fabrício de Andrade; Neves, Mirna Aparecida; Dantas, Elton Luiz; Medeiros Júnior, Edgar Batista de; Queiroga, Gláucia Nascimento
    Mafic dyke swarms emplaced in regional NW-SE trending structures crosscutting the Precambrian basement in the Southeastern Brazilian coast are commonly interpreted as associated to West Gondwana breakup. Recently, however, U-Pb dating suggested that at least some of those dykes were emplaced earlier, at ca. 500–490 Ma, during the gravitational collapse of the Araçuaí Orogen. In order to clarify this issue, we studied dykes from the southern Espírito Santo State. Our results indicate that dykes emplaced in the same regional lineaments can be separated into two distinct groups, according to petrographic, geochemical, isotopic and geochronological characteristics. Group 1 is tholeiitic, with 87Sr/86Sr(i) of 0.7041–0.7065, εNd(t) of −3.4 to −5.5 and TDM ages between 0.8 and 1.5 Ga. Zircon crystals from a dyke of this group yielded the first robust lower Cretaceous U-Pb age for mafic dykes of SE Brazil with a Concordia age of 141.9 ± 1.9 Ma and εHf(t) in a range of −5.5 to −7.9. Group 2 is alkaline, shows higher 87Sr/86Sr(i) of 0.7064–0.7088, evolved εNd(t) < −12 and older TDM ages of 1.7–1.9 Ga. The youngest zircon crystals from a dyke of this group yielded a Concordia age of 504.7 ± 6.9 Ma and εHf(t) of −18.9. Our results suggest that the regional NW-SE trending lineaments of the Brazilian coast were active in at least three episodes, serving as conduits for mafic magmatism of distinct sources and tectonic settings: First, in the Cambrian, during the Araçuaí-Ribeira Orogen collapse, when they served as conduits for both the post-tectonic G5 Supersuite (530–490 Ma; composed of granitic and mafic plutons) and the alkaline dykes of Group 2; second, during the lower Cretaceous breakup of West Gondwana, when they served as conduits for the tholeiitic dykes of Group 1, synchronous to syn-rift evolution of the Phanerozoic Brazilian coast basins; and third, during the Cenozoic, when they were reactivated as normal brittle faults.