Antônio Carlos Pedrosa-Soares

The Araçuaı́-West-Congo Orogen in Brazil: an overview of a confined orogen formed during Gondwanaland assembly

Abstract The Neoproterozoic Adamastor-Brazilide Ocean was generated during the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent, and remnants of its oceanic lithosphere have been found in the Brasiliano-Pan African orogenic system that includes the Aracuai, West-Congo, Brasilia, Ribeira, Kaoko, Dom Feliciano, Damara and Gariep belts. The Aracuai and the West-Congo belts are counterparts of the same Neoproterozoic orogen. The first belt comprises two thirds of the Aracuai-West-Congo Orogen. This orogen is rather unique owing to its confined nature within the embayment outlined by the Sao Francisco and Congo cratons. In spite of this, the presence of ophiolitic remnants, and a calc-alkaline magmatic arc, indicate that the basin/orogen evolution comprise both oceanic spreading and consumption. It is assumed that coeval Paramirim and Sangha aulacogens played a key role by making room for the Aracuai-West-Congo Basin. Sedimentary successions record all major stages of a basin that evolved from continental rift, when glaciation-related sedimentation was very significant, to passive margin. Rifting started around 1.0–0.9 Ga. The oceanic stage is constrained by an ophiolitic remnant dated at 0.8 Ga. If the cratonic bridge that once linked the Sao Francisco and Congo palaeocontinental regions did not hinder the opening of an ocean basin, it certainly limited its width. As a consequence, only a narrow oceanic lithosphere was generated, and it was subducted afterwards. This is also suggested by orogenic calc-alkaline granitoids occuping a small area of the orogen. Geochronological data for pre-, syn- and late-collisional granitoids indicate that the orogenic stage lasted from 625 Ma to 570 Ma. A period of magmatic quiescence was followed by intrusion of postcollisional plutons at 535–500 Ma. The features of the Aracuai-West-Congo Orogen suggest the development of a complete Wilson Cycle in a branch of the Adamastor Ocean, which can be interpreted as a gulf with limited generation of oceanic lithosphere.

Late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian granitic magmatism in the Araçuaí orogen (Brazil), the eastern brazilian pegmatite province and related mineral resources.

Abstract The Araçuaí orogen extends from the eastern edge of the São Francisco craton to the Atlantic margin, in southeastern Brazil. Orogenic igneous rocks, formed from c. 630 to c. 480 Ma, cover one third of this huge area, building up the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province and the most important dimension stone province of Brazil. G1 supersuite (630–585 Ma) mainly consists of tonalite to granodiorite, with mafic to dioritic facies and enclaves, representing a continental calc-alkaline magmatic arc. G2 supersuite mostly includes S-type granites formed during the syn-collisional stage (585–560 Ma), from relatively shallow two-mica granites and related gem-rich pegmatites to deep garnet-biotite granites that are the site of yellow dimension stone deposits. The typical G3 rocks (545–525 Ma) are non-foliated garnet-cordierite leucogranites, making up autochthonous patches and veins. At the post-collisional stage (530–480 Ma), G4 and G5 supersuites were generated. The S-type G4 supersuite mostly consists of garnet-bearing two-mica leucogranites that are the source of many pegmatites mined for tourmalines and many other gems, lithium (spodumene) ore and industrial feldspar. G5 supersuite, consisting of high-K–Fe calc-alkaline to alkaline granitic and/or charnockitic to dioritic/noritic intrusions, is the source of aquamarine-topaz-rich pegmatites but mainly of a large dimension stone production.

Similarities and differences between the Brazilian and African counterparts of the Neoproterozoic Araçuaí-West Congo orogen

Abstract The Araçuaí–West Congo orogen encompasses orogenic domains located to the SE of the São Francisco Craton in Brazil, and to the SW of the Congo Craton in Africa. From the opening of the precursor basin to the last orogenic processes, the evolution of the orogen lasted from the very beginning of the Neoproterozoic up to the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary. After the spreading of the South Atlantic Ocean in Cretaceous time, the Araçuaí–West Congo orogen was split into two quite different but complementary counterparts. The Brazilian side (Araçuaí orogen) inherited two thirds of the whole orogenic edifice, including all the Neoproterozoic ophiolite slivers, the entire magmatic arc and syn-collisional to post-collisional magmatism, and the suture zone. The African counterpart (West Congo Belt), a fold–thrust belt free of Neoproterozoic ophiolite and Pan-African orogenic magmatism, inherited the thick pile of bimodal volcanic rocks of the Early Tonian rift stage, implying that the precursor basin was an asymmetrical rift with the thermal–magmatic axis located in the West Congo Belt. Both counterparts of the Araçuaí–West Congo orogen include Neoproterozoic glaciogenic deposits, allowing tentative lithostratigraphic correlations, but identification of the ice ages remains uncertain because the lack of sufficient well-constrained geochronological data.

Toward a new tectonic model for the Late Proterozoic Araçuaí (SE Brazil)-West Congolian (SW Africa) Belt

Abstract The Aracuai Belt is a Late Proterozoic (Brasiliano Cycle) geotectonic unit which was developed along the southeastern margin of the Sao Francisco Craton (SE Brazil) and was formerly considered as being an ensialic orogen. It is correlated with the Pan-African West Congolian Belt (SW Africa) in many reports. In the western domain of the belt, the Macaubas Group—the most important supracrustal sequence related to the evolution of the Aracuai Belt —comprises the Terra Branca and Carbonita Formations, which consist of littoral glacial sediments to shelf turbidites. These formations grade upward and eastward to the Salinas Formation, consisting of distal turbidites related to submarine fans, pelagic sediments, and a rock association (the Ribeirao da Folha Facies) typical of an ocean-floor environment. Banded iron formations, metacherts, diopsidites, massive sulfides, graphite schists, hyperaluminous schists, and ortho-amphibolites, intercalated with quartz-mica schists and impure quartzites, characterize the most distinctive and restricted volcano-sedimentary facies yet found within the Salinas Formation. Ultramafic slabs were tectonically emplaced within the Ribeirao da Folha Facies. Eight whole rock samples of meta-ultramafic rocks and ortho-amphibolites yielded a SmNd isochronic age of 793 ± 90 Ma ( ϵ Nd(T) = +4.1 ± 0.6 . MSWD = 1.76 ). The structures of the northern Aracuai Belt are marked by a doen-dip stretching lineation (western domain) related to frontal thrusts which controlled tectonic transport from east to west; stretching lineation rakes decrease in the eastern tectonic domain, indicating dominant oblique to transcurrent motion; the northern arch of the belt is characterized by major high-dip transcurrent shear zones. Our tectonic model starts with marked fracturing, followed by rifting that took place in the Sao Francisco-Congo Craton around 1000 ± 100 Ma (ages of basic intrusions and alkaline anorogenic granites). A sinistral transfer zone was established at the north rn boundary of the belt, controlling the ellargement of the Aracuai-West Congolian rift, with the neighbouring northern cratonic region remaining essentially unaffected by compressional stresses. A period of ocean-floor spreading took place at about 800 Ma. Rift closure started at about 750 Ma and led to the reversal of motion along former extensional structures. The main Brasiliano-Pan-African orogenic period took place between 700 and 550 Ma and was marked by regional metamorphism and deformation related to both thrusting and transcurrent movements, and emplacement of syntectonic grranites derived from anatectic melts trigered by collisional crustal thickening. In this period, ultramafic slabs were emmlaced within the Ribeirao da Folha Facies, and both may represent an ophiolite-type suite. Late- to post-tectonic (500 to 550 Ma) intrusive granites were generated and emplaced in the Brazilian side along a major zone of crustal thickening in response to the last stages of collision.

The hot back-arc zone of the Araçuai Orogen, Eastern Brazil: From sedimentation to granite generation

This article presents new lithochemical and geochronological data obtained from gneisses and granites occurring in the region located to the east of the Rio Doce calc-alkaline arc (630 - 580 Ma), which corresponds to the back-arc basin of the Aracuai orogen. The Nova Venecia Complex, represents the most fertile source of peraluminous granitic melts in the studied back-arc zone. It mostly consists of migmatitic Al-rich paragneisses, ranging from biotite-rich gneisses to biotite-free cordierite-rich granulites, whose main protoliths were graywacky sediments. An EW-oriented section across the northern back-arc region reveals a zone rich in cordierite granulites of the Nova Venecia Complex at the base, followed by migmatites that gradually pass to the Ataleia foliated granites rich in metasedimentary enclaves, which in turn lay beneath the Carlos Chagas batholith. To the south of the Carlos Chagas batholith, orthopyroxene-bearing rocks often occur in both the Nova Venecia Complex and the Ataleia Suite, suggesting a deeper crustal level. Our U-Pb data suggest that melting processes started on the Nova Venecia Complex during the late development of the Rio Doce arc, around 590 Ma, forming autochthonous peraluminous melts related to the Ataleia Suite. Progressive anatexis and melt accumulation attained the climax around 575 Ma, leading to the development of the syn-collisional Carlos Chagas batholith. Around 545 - 530 Ma, a late to post-collisional anatectic episode formed garnet-cordierite leucogranites, mostly from the re-melting of the Ataleia and Carlos Chagas granites. A remarkable post-collisional plutonism caused widesperead re-heating of the back-arc domain from ca. 520 Ma to 480 Ma. This long lasting history (ca. 110 Ma) of granite generation in the back-arc zone requires distinct heat sources, such as asthenosphere ascent under the back-arc region in the pre-collisional stage, thrust stacking of the hot arc onto the back-arc, radiogenic heat release from the collisional thickened crust and, finally, asthenosphere uprising during the gravitational collapse of the Aracuai orogen.

Sr and Nd Characteristics of Brasiliano/Pan-African Granitoid Plutons of the Araçuaí Orogen, Southeastern Brazil: Tectonic Implications

Nd and Sr isotope data were obtained for three plutonic suites (595–505 Ma) and distinct young granitoid intrusions (503 Ma), from the southern part of the Neoproterozoic Aracuai Orogen. The Sr and Nd isotopes (87Sr/86Sr, eNd) and TDM values from the plutons and distinct basement rocks are used to constrain the magma genesis of the granitoid plutons. These isotopic parameters, with eNd values ranging from −4 to −24 and TDM ages from 1.3 to 2.8 Ga, for the granitoid suites, and −5 to −40 and 3.5 to 1.5 Ga, for the distinct Archean and Proterozoic basement complexes, suggest that the Jequitinhonha Complex metasediments are the main crustal source for most of these plutons, except for the youngest granitoid intrusions, which may have a protolith similar to the Mantiqueira and Guanhaes complexes. Furthermore, the isotope data indicate a minor, but important, participation of Neoproterozoic oceanic lithosphere in the granite genesis, which corroborates with a confined orogenic model and a narrow oceanic consumption (B-subduction) for the Aracuai Orogen.

Quimioestratigrafia da porção basal do Grupo Bambuí no sudoeste do Cráton do São Francisco: implicações para os paleoambientes de Gondwana

The Bambui Group, the most extensive carbonate-siliciclastic cover on the Sao Francisco craton, has been a matter of debate because of its potential correlations to global glacial events. Unfortunately, most available chemostratigraphic data came from samples collected on surface rock exposures, ever susceptible to the aggressive chemical weathering that characterizes the southeastern Brazil. On the other hand, we present here high-resolution chemostratigraphic studies based on C, O and Sr isotopic data from 53 samples collected along a weathering-free, continuous, 175 m thick sedimentary succession. This succession was recovered by borehole drilling in the southwestern Sao Francisco craton, where occur the Carrancas and Sete Lagoas formations, the lowermost units of the Bambui Group. The drill cores reveal extremely irregular contacts between the basal diamictite and its basement, an Archaean foliated granodiorite. Geochronological and sedimentological data strongly suggest that the diamictite represents a lodgement till. This glaciogenic deposit is covered by a limestone succession which starts with impure carbonates showing aragonite pseudomorph fans and thin bands of black shale. The limestone pile grades to a marl-mudstone interval, which turns to a carbonate with biological components, succeeded by stromatolitic dolomite at the top. C and O isotopic signatures (referred to V-PDB) allow to the subdivision of the lower carbonate-pelite section into three intervals. The first isotopic interval corresponds to a cap carbonate, and displays negative values of δ13C (c . -4‰), and a large oscillation of the δ18O (-6 to -15‰). The Interval II shows a striking homogeneity in δ13C and δ18O, around 1‰ and -7‰, respectively. At the top, Interval III shows a large positive excursion of the δ13C (up to 8‰) and δ18O (-8 to -3‰) values. Unaltered 86Sr/87Sr ratios range from 0.7075 to 0.7077, mainly at the top of the section. The geochemistry of the carbonates is controlled by their terrigenous content (mostly quartz and clay minerals) which is concentrated in the lower units. Samples free of terrigenous contamination show Y/Ho ratios ranging from 25 to 50, suggesting a freshwater input during carbonate deposition. It is concluded that the diamictite has a glaciogenic origin and is covered by a cap carbonate. This pair has been identified along the basin and is related to one of the main Neoproterozoic glaciations. Discrepancy between the 86Sr/87Sr values and the global variation curves can be related to freshwater input during the carbonate deposition. Based on the regional tectonic context, the Bambui Basin may have been a restricted marine basin, totally or partially surrounded by mountain ranges within Gondwana, in the Neoproterozoic/Paleozoic boundary. In its early stages, the sedimentation was influenced by a global glacial event, whose melting phase was responsible by freshwater input in the basin. The gradual rise of the temperature was followed by an increase of the biological activity. Finally, a sudden increase in the biological activity could have been driven by paleogeographic changes caused by the active tectonic.Manuscript ID: 30285: Received in: 04/21/2015. Approved in: 02/12/2016. ABSTRACT: The Bambuí Group, the most extensive carbonate-siliciclastic cover on the São Francisco craton, has been a matter of debate because of its potential correlations to global glacial events. Unfortunately, most available chemostratigraphic data came from samples collected on surface rock exposures, ever susceptible to the aggressive chemical weathering that characterizes the southeastern Brazil. On the other hand, we present here high-resolution chemostratigraphic studies based on C, O and Sr isotopic data from 53 samples collected along a weathering-free, continuous, 175 m thick sedimentary succession. This succession was recovered by borehole drilling in the southwestern São Francisco craton, where occur the Carrancas and Sete Lagoas formations, the lowermost units of the Bambuí Group. The drill cores reveal extremely irregular contacts between the basal diamictite and its basement, an Archaean foliated granodiorite. Geochronological and sedimentological data strongly suggest that the diamictite represents a lodgement till. This glaciogenic deposit is covered by a limestone succession which starts with impure carbonates showing aragonite pseudomorph fans and thin bands of black shale. The limestone pile grades to a marl-mudstone interval, which turns to a carbonate with biological components, succeeded by stromatolitic dolomite at the top. C and O isotopic signatures (referred to V-PDB) allow to the subdivision of the lower carbonate-pelite section into three intervals. The first isotopic interval corresponds to a cap carbonate, and displays negative values of δ13C (c. -4‰), and a large oscillation of the δ18O (-6 to -15‰). The Interval II shows a striking homogeRESUMO: O Grupo Bambuí, mais importante unidade de cobertura do Cráton do São Francisco, tem sido alvo de intensos estudos e debates, entre outros motivos, pela possibilidade de correlação com eventos glaciais globais. A maior parte dos dados quimioestratigráficos disponíveis, no entanto, provém de amostras coletadas em afloramentos, sujeitos a expressivo intemperismo químico. Neste trabalho, é apresentado um levantamento quimioestratigráfico de alta resolução, baseado em análises de C, O e Sr realizadas em 53 amostras coletadas em 175 m de sequência sedimentar contínua, livre de intemperismo. Tal sequência foi obtida a partir de testemunhos de sondagem realizada na porção sul do Cráton do São Francisco, onde ocorrem rochas das formações Carrancas e Sete Lagoas, as mais basais do Grupo Bambuí. Os testemunhos revelaram contato extremamente irregular entre uma camada de diamictito e seu embasamento, um granodiorito foliado de idade arqueana. Dados sedimentológicos e geocronológicos indicam que o diamictito representa um tilito de alojamento, que apresenta contato brusco com a sequência carbonática sobrejacente. Essa sequência se inicia com calcário impuro, que exibe leques de cristais pseudomorfos de aragonita e delgadas camadas de folhelho negro. O calcário passa gradacionalmente para um intervalo argiloso, que por sua vez volta a gradar para uma espessa sequência de calcário com laminação microbiana, sucedido por dolomito estromatolítico no topo da coluna. As assinaturas isotópicas de C e O permitem a identificação de três intervalos distintos. O Intervalo I, basal, corresponde a um carbonato de capa, exibindo valores negativos de δ13C (c. -4‰), e grande oscilação nos valores de δ18O (-6 a -15‰). O Intervalo II exibe marcante homogeneidade nos valores de δ13C e δ18O, que se situam em torno de 1‰ e -7‰, respectiChemostratigraphy of the lower Bambuí Group, southwestern São Francisco Craton, Brazil: insights on Gondwana paleoenvironments

The Araçuaí Belt

The Aracuai belts extends along the curved southeastern margin of the Sao Francisco craton between the Brazilian coast and Lat 21°S, where it merges with the Ribeira belt. It represents the external, basement-involved fold-thrust belt of the Aracuai-West Congo confined orogen (AWCO), which formed due to the closure of the terminal branch of the Adamastor ocean during the amalgamation of West Gondwana in the Ediacaran and beginning of the Cambrian. Bounded to the east and southeast by the high grade and granitic core of the AWCO, the Aracuai belt involves a basement assemblage older than 1.8 Ga, the 1.7–0.9 Ga rift to rift-sag successions of the Espinhaco Supergroup, the Tonian-Edicaran rift-passive margin Macaubas Group, as well as the syn-orogenic Salinas Formation and crustal derived granitic intrusions. The Macaubas Group, the type unit of the belt, contains a glaciomarine sequence made up of thick diamictites, sandstones and Rapitan-type banded iron formations. The units exposed along the belt were metamorphosed under greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions and affected by thrusts, reverse faults and cratonward verging folds, developed between 575 and 530 Ma. The Aracuai orogenic front propagates into the craton interior and interacts with preexistent rift structures. This chapter describes the stratigraphic framework and overall structure of the Aracuai belt, emphasizing the paleogeographic and tectonic significance of its sedimentary and volcanic assemblages.

Idade, proveniência e ambiente tectônico do Complexo Jequitinhonha de alto grau, Orógeno Araçuaí

The Jequitinhonha Complex of the northeastern Aracuai orogen is an extensive sedimentary unit metamorphosed in the amphibolite-granulite facies transition around 580-545 Ma. The unit consists of Al-rich (kinzigitic) paragneisses with decametric intercalations of graphite gneisses and quartzites, and centimetric to metric lenses of calcsilicate rocks. A new detrital zircon U-Pb age spectrum is reported for a sample of quartzite, and whole-rock geochemical (major and trace elements, 9 samples) and Sm-Nd isotope data (10 samples) for Jequitinhonha Complex paragneiss. Together with published data these show that: (1) the geochemistry of paragneiss samples of the Jequitinhonha Complex are similar to those of passive margin sedimentary protoliths; (2) detrital zircon data yield U-Pb age populations between ca. 0.9 and 2.5 Ga; and (3) Sm-Nd TDM model ages range from 1.6 to 1.8 Ga and eNd(575 Ma) around -7.5. The data reveal a mixture of Cryogenian to Mesoproterozoic rift-related igneous rocks with the Palaeoproterozoic-Archaean basement rocks of the Sao Francisco-Congo palaeocontinent as the main source areas, and also support the correlation between the Jequitinhonha Complex and the passive margin units of the upper Macaubas Group, constituting the precursor basin of the orogen. Our results, with the absence of ophiolites in the Jequitinhonha Complex, reinforce the interpretation that the Sao Francisco-Congo palaeocontinent was not divided to the north of the focused region, suggesting an ensialic termination of a gulf during the Neoproterozoic.2Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. E-mail: stevenson.ross@uqam.ca 3Geological Survey of Brazil, CPRM-SUREG-BH, Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil. E-mail: luiz.silva@cprm.gov.br 4Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Departamento de Geologia, Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto (MG), Brazil. E-mail: alkmim@degeo.ufop.br 5IG-Laboratório de Geocronologia, Universidade de Brasília, Asa Norte, Brasília (DF), Brazil. E-mail: marcio@unb.br, marcio.pimentel@ufrgs.br

Proveniência e análise sedimentar da porção basal do Grupo Bambuí em Arcos (MG)

The origin and evolution of Bambui Basin has been a matter of debate, in much intensified by the recent exploratory efforts carried out by public and private companies looking for natural gas. In the southeastern portion of the basin there are rare opportunities to access the contact between the sedimentary rocks and its basement, whose characteristics are crucial to understanding the processes of basin installation and the early sedimentation. The analysis of drill cores allowed us to describe the lowermost Bambui Group in Arcos (MG) region, including its basement. The sampled section displays as basement an archean granodiorite (ca. 2.8 - 2.9 Ga), fractured at the time of sedimentation. The Bambui Group basal unit is dm-thick, massive lodgment tillite. Grains of zircon separated from the tillite matrix were dated and show a main age peak at ca. 2.8 Ga, indicating provenance from the own basement. On the tillite rests an impure limestone that passes gradually to a muddy unit, in a retrogradational filling trend. Terrigenous fragments in the impure limestone suggests that the basement has continued to be a source of sediments in the bottom of the section. The pelitic rocks that occurs to the top has a litochemical signature compatible with acidic source rocks, and shows Sm-Nd model ages of 1.7 Ga. These data suggests that rocks from the Brasilia Belt have acted as a source for the pelitic rocks, supporting the interpretation of a foreland set for the basin.