Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Oxygen fugacity (ƒO2) conditions were established for Três Ranchos IV (TR-IV, diamond-bearing) and Limeira I (LM-I, barren) kimberlite intrusions, in Alto Paranaíba Alkaline Province, to constrain a possible correlation between fO2 and diamond instability. Temperature and pressure estimates obtained from the xenocryst assemblage composition are compatible up to garnet lherzolite levels. It suggests that both intrusions could cross the diamond-stability field. The ƒO2 of the TR-IV constrained by perovskite oxygen barometry presents an average value of -2.4 for ΔNNO, with standard deviation of 1.30 (n = 120), whereas those calculations for LM-I have an average value of -1.31 for ΔNNO, with standard deviation of 1.38 (n = 81). Considering these uncertainties, there is an important superposition of fO2 values for both intrusions, in which there is higher tendency of more reduced conditions for TR-IV. For the LM-I, an oxybarometer based on the composition of monticellite yielded a similar ΔNNO range: -4.2 and +2.5. Some crystals and samples present trends towards more reduced conditions, while others display more oxidized conditions for each intrusion. Due to the superposition of ranges and absence of a preferential trend, the influence of fO2 for the possible instability of diamonds in the study area remains uncertain.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT: Chemical weathering and soil removal rates are responsible for the Earth’s landscape, composition of surface and groundwater, producing the soils and buffering the composition of the atmosphere. This study aimed to assess the chemical weathering and soil removal rates in the Sorocaba River basin, São Paulo State, Brazil, allowing answering the questions about the dynamics of fluvial transport of dissolved and suspended solids, the chemical weathering processes and associated atmospheric/soil CO2 consumption, and the relationship between chemical weathering and soil erosion rates. The annual specific flux of total suspended solids and total dissolved solids were 49.59 and 60.97 t/km2/yr. The chemical weathering process dominant in the Sorocaba River basin was the monosiallitization (RE = 2.4), with an associated atmospheric/soil CO2 consumption of 2.3 × 105 mol/km2/yr. The chemical weathering and soil removal rates were 7.2 and 29.8 m/Myr, respectively, indicating a soil thickness reduction. Finally, the soil removal rate in the Sorocaba River basin is almost 3-fold higher than the Cenozoic soil removal rates, being this difference related to the current land use which increased the soil removal processes.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Saturated thickness is a vital parameter in the assessment of hydrogeological reserves. By considering thickness variations associated with faults, the present study aimed to evaluate the water reserves of an unconfined aquifer. The study area was the Barreiras Aquifer in the lower course of the Maxaranguape River in Brazil. The methodology involved morphotectonic and lithostratigraphic analysis, well profile correlation, and hydrogeological and geoelectrical analysis (vertical electrical sounding, VES). The morphotectonic analysis employed topographical (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) and hydrographical data to support the structural characterization, considering the lack of outcrops with specific features in the area. The results of these assessments enabled the creation of a morphotectonic lineament map, highlighting the prevailing NE and NW directions. The hydrogeophysical cross sections obtained from geoelectrical inverse models and well data reveal saturated thickness values ranging from 19 to 66 m, featuring some lineaments as faults. The hydrogeological reserve was calculated based on 18 subareas associated with blocks resulting from structural compartmentalization. Based on an area of approximately 250 km2, the average saturated thickness for each subarea, and an average effective porosity of 7.6%, the saturated reserve is estimated to be 8.7 × 108 m3.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Alta Floresta Gold Province occurs in the center-south portion of the Amazon Craton. Trairão gold deposit, which is located in the Alta Floresta Gold Province, is hosted by 1878 to 1854 Ma arc-related granites. Two important Au deposits take place in the region, the Trairão and Chumbo Grosso, which are structurally controlled by N80°W/S80°E trending lineament and associated with quartz veins and disseminated sulfides in a strong phyllic alteration zone of the host granite. Hydrothermal monazite grains formed during the Au mineralization event occur as fine anhedral crystals filling fractures or as isolated grains associated with Ag, Au, molybdenite, barite, pyrite, galena, and sphalerite. The hydrothermal monazite grains contain very low U, relatively low Th, and moderate Nd and La contents. SHRIMP U-Th-Pb dating of these crystals yielded an age of 1798 ± 12 Ma for Trairão and 1805 ± 22 Ma for Chumbo Grosso Au-deposits, whereas magmatic zircon grains of the granitic host rocks yielded an age of 1854 ± 8 Ma. The ages obtained in this paper are similar to those reported by Assis (2015), who studied Pé Quente (Re-Os in molybdenite, 1792 ± 9 Ma and 1784 ± 11) and Francisco deposits (40Ar-39Ar ages from sericitic halo: 1779 ± 6.2 and 1777 ± 6.3 Ma). Serrato et al. (2014) acquired Re-Os dating in pyrite and molybdenite from Juruena gold deposit. The results show isochronous ages at 1786 ± 1 Ma, with a model age at 1787 ± 3.2 Ma, suggesting a major Statherian gold metallogenic event at the Alta Floresta Gold Province region. Regional fluids-flow has a close relationship with the generation and concentration of several important economic deposits in the Eastern border of Alta Floresta Gold Province, including Pé Quente, Francisco, Juruena, Chumbo Grosso, and Trairão Au-deposits.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The origin of the soft ore at the S11D iron mine in Carajás was investigated using 20 samples from a diamond drill hole. The methods of analyses were X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy, whole-rock chemistry, and scanning electron microscope coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The drill hole presents a profile through the substratum (protore, a banded iron formation - BIF) and three weathering horizons, defined from the base to the top, saprolite (coarse and fine), and crust. The soft iron ore occurs distributed along the saprolite horizon, and it is composed mainly of hematite and subordinate magnetite. The amount of quartz decreases upwards, whereas the amount of Fe-Al-(Ti-P)-minerals increases towards the top. The total iron is enriched in the fine saprolite when compared to the protore (42.55 to 97.62 wt.% Fe2O3, respectively). Trace elements such as Zr, Cr, Y, and rare earth elements (REE) show relative enrichment upward because they are generally located in residual minerals (as zircon and anatase). The REEs in iron ore samples exhibit enrichment of light rare earth elements (LREE) and depletion of heavy rare earth elements (HREE), with pronounced positive Eu anomaly, which reaffirms the connection between iron ore and BIF. Based on the mineralogy, chemistry, textures, and structures, a genetic laterite-supergene model is proposed for the origin of soft ore at the S11D deposit.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Small to medium-sized intrusive bodies with ages between 2.1 and 2.0 Ga characterize Piedra Alta terrane and represent the final stabilization of Río de la Plata Craton. A reconnaissance study of petro- and magnetic fabrics based on microscopic observations, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and anhysteretic remanent magnetization, was carried out on 41 sites from 14 intrusive bodies, in order to obtain preliminary information on kinematics of their emplacement, degree of deformation, and regional stress regime during this magmatic event. The magnetic fabrics coupled with the microstructural analysis are interpreted as generally reflecting magma kinematics near solidus temperature, although few cases of tectonically modified fabrics at local levels have been interpreted. Field evidence and magnetic fabrics in most plutons show subvertical to high angle E-W to NE-SW trending foliations and subvertical lineations. These data suggest that plutons were probably intruded under a regional extensional to transtensional regime, which controlled the magma ascent and distribution of the intrusions. Lack of metamorphism and low to null deformation shown by the study plutons suggest a late-orogenic character for this magmatism, which has been associated with crustal stabilization after accretionary processes that led to the formation of Río de la Plata Craton in the Orosirian.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT: The integrated analysis of geophysical loggings for identifying transmissive fractures has had a limited use in Brazil, although a large number of studies have been conducted so far throughout the world. The application of those tools has gained a crescent importance as they are needed for characterizing groundwater contamination in fractured rock aquifers at a great number of industrial sites worldwide and in Brazil. This paper presents the analysis of data collected by caliper, optical televiewer (OPTV), acoustic televiewer (ATV) and flowmeter loggings in four deep supply wells located in the industrial area of Jurubatuba, city of São Paulo. Five fracture sets (G1 through G5) were identified based on OPTV and ATV borehole loggings. The main fracture set (G1), NE-striking with low to intermediate dip, is subparallel to the foliation, being at great extent the result of the reactivation of this previous discontinuity. Fractures on ATV and OPTV images were visually classified with regard to flow evidence, and a positive correlation between high flow evidence and significant flow rate, measured by a flowmeter, was identified. On the other hand, the majority of fractures with insignificant, low or intermediate flow evidence are located in depth intervals with no significant flow rate. Fractures that belong to G1 are of major importance for flow, as in 9 of the 16 intervals with significant flow, they are the only fractures present. Data were inconclusive regarding transmissivity of high dip fractures, because few of them were intercepted by the well boreholes. However, there is evidence that subvertical fractures of sets G3 and G5, NE and NW striking, respectively, are also transmissive, which corroborates outcrop observations. Although geophysical loggings are essential to identify the most important segments of boreholes for water input and output, and to collect detailed data of low dip fracture sets at greater depths, the structural geology characterization of fractured aquifers cannot rely on borehole geophysical loggings alone. For proposing realistic conceptual models of the fracture network, data from boreholes should be complemented with data from large rock exposures (quarries), in order to describe geometrical parameters, such as spacing, length, and physical connectivity of low, intermediate and high dip fractures, as well as evidence of flow along individual fractures.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The northwestern region of Borborema Province is represented by the Ceara Central and Northwest Ceara crustal blocks connected by an extensive transcurrent shear zone that represents the northern portion of the Transbrasiliano Lineament in a complex geological context, which brings together geological units of nature, origin, and ages of the Archean to the Paleozoic. In this scenario, there is a large amount of granitic bodies, with different natures, age and tectonic environment, but predominantly representing a more intense granitogenesis in the Paleozoic Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic, with plutons emplaced in different stages of the Brazilian Orogeny. In this context, the Chaval Granite corresponds to an isolated body in the extreme northwest of Borborema Province, located near the Atlantic coast, in the northern states of Ceará and Piauí. It is an intrusive batholith housed in Siderian orthogneisses (Granja Complex) and in Neoproterozoic supracrustal rocks (Martinopole Group), but is partly covered by sedimentary rocks from the Parnaíba Paleozoic Basin (Serra Grande Group), and coastal Cenozoic deposits. Field data and petrographic studies highlight the porphyritic texture with microcline megacrystals involved in coarce matrix as a remarkable feature. The predominant petrographic types are granodiorites, with variations for monzogranites and tonalites. The predominant primary mineral constituents are pertitic microcline, oligoclase, and quartz; biotite and rarely hornblende as qualified minerals and additionally titanite, apatite, zircon, alanite, and opaque minerals. Another peculiar characteristic is the deformational features related to the installation of the Santa Rosa Transcurrent Shear Zone along its eastern flank. The effects of the transcurrent shear deformation led to the modification of the original magmatic fabrics in much of the eastern half of the batolith, generating various types of mylonites. Thus, the typically igneous textures preserved in the western half of the pluton were gradually replaced by tectonic fabrics, which initially evolved into proto-mylonites in the central portion of the body, grading to mylonites eastward, highlighting strongly stretching, comminution associated with dynamic recrystallization, highlighting the formation of microcline and plagioclase porphyroclasts in a mylonitic matrix, which are involved by mylonitic foliation. Geochemical studies reveal compositional similarities, compatible with petrographic classifications, in which they mostly present granodioritic composition, followed by monzogranites and tonalites, classified as I-type granites, peraluminous with compatible with the calcium-alkaline series. The geochemical signatures of the Chaval Granite indicate the character of the tectonic magmatic arc environment. U-Pb zircon analysis by Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) indicates crystallization age of 633 Ma, placing it in the Neoproterozoic, late Cryogenic-Early Ediacaran period, being one of the oldest granitoids in northwestern Borborema Province, correlated to the granites of the Santa Quitéria Magmatic Arc in the Ceara Central Domain. Hf-TDM model ages (2.65 to 2.13 Ga) and εHf(t = 633 Ma) values from -9.6 to -18.1 suggest incorporation of neoarchean and paleoproterozoic crustal sources in their formation with a long crustal residence time. Similar Sm-Nd data in whole-rock indicate Nd-TDM model ages of 1.27, 1.72 and 2.04 Ga and negative εNd(t = 633 Ma) values of -2.64 to -9.13, indicating paleoproterozoic and mesoproterozoic sources, with considerable crustal residence time implying a more evolved nature.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Soft-sediment deformation (SSD) structures are widespread in the sedimentary record, and numerous triggering mechanisms can induce its development, including glaciation, earthquakes, overloading, ground-water fluctuations, and wave movement. The Late Cretaceous Uberaba Formation preserves SSD structures as small- and large-scale load casts and associated flame structures, pseudonodules, and convolute laminations observed in the contact of three well-defined intervals among fine- to coarse-grained lithic and conglomeratic sandstone with fine-grained arkose and mudstone beds. Based on the morphology of the SSD structures, sedimentary facies of the Uberaba Formation, and similarities with previous observations in the geological record and laboratory models, these features are assigned to liquefaction-fluidization processes as the major deformational mechanism triggered by seismic and aseismic agents. We propose that a deformation occurred just after the sedimentation triggered by seismic shock waves and overloading, induced by the sudden deposition of coarse-grained sandy debris on fine-grained sediments. Some of these structures can be classified as seismites, providing evidence of intraplate seismicity within the inner part of the South American Platform during the Late Cretaceous. This seismic activity is likely related to the uplift of the Alto Paranaíba High along reactivations of regional structures inherited from Proterozoic crustal discontinuities and coeval explosive magmatism of the Minas-Goiás Alkaline Province.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The Quadrilátero Ferrífero metallogenetic province is located in the southernmost portion of the São Francisco craton, SE Brazil. The Tamanduá and Cambotas ridges stand out topographically in the northeastern portion of Quadrilátero Ferrífero and show NE-SW and N-S directions, respectively. Those ridges involve metasedimentary rocks of the Tamanduá Group bounded by a fault system. Due to stratigraphic and structural complexities, there is little consensus about the maximum sedimentation age and the stratigraphic position in which Tamanduá Group sediments were deposited. In this work, we took advantage of the excellent exposures in the Tamanduá and Cambotas ridges to present detailed stratigraphic observations combined with U-Pb zircon geochronological data from samples of different stratigraphic levels of Tamanduá Group. Furthermore, we provide U-Pb data from samples of the intrusive Pedra Formosa Suite that cut the whole Tamanduá sequence in the study area. Our observations showed that the Tamanduá Group represents a rift-sag basin-fill succession developed along the eastern border of the São Francisco paleoplate. The basal metaconglomerate and metasandstone package grades upward into marine metasandstone and phyllite. Detrital zircon obtained from the basal unit, Antônio dos Santos Formation, reveals maximum depositional ages between ca. 1981 and 1770 Ma. The upper succession, Cambotas Formation, shows a maximum depositional age from 1769 to 1740 Ma. The Pedra Formosa Suite shows zircons that crystallized at ca. 1740 Ma. The stratigraphic framework and the Orosirian-Statherian ages suggest a correlation with the first rifting event within the São Francisco paleoplate, the precursor of Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic Espinhaço basin.