Narendra Kumar Srivastava

Taxa de soerguimento atual do arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo, Oceano Atlântico Equatorial

The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Islets are situated in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean at the top of a submarine ridge made up of mantle peridotite. It is 90 km long, 25 km wide, and 3,800 m high, and is called the Saint Peter Saint Paul Peridotite Ridge. The submarine morphology is highly rugged with hundreds-of-meters-high scarps, suggesting the occurrence of probably recent active tectonism. The summit level map shows two surfaces of wave-cut benches with respective altitudes of 4~5 m and 7~9 m. The wave-cut benches are observed on three major islets in the same altitude ranges, indicating that no tilting or differential uplifting between the islets has occurred. Considering the upper platform to be formed during the Flandrian Transgression and the lower one developed by a recent erosive process, the mean uplift rate in the last 6.000 years is calculated to be 1.2~1.5 mm/year. The 14C datings for the coral fossils collected from the Belmont Island indicate the uplift rate in the last 6600 years to be 1.5~1.8 mm/year. Therefore, a rate of 1.5 mm/year should be reasonable for the present-day uplifting. Interpreting the peridotite ridge as a tectonically deformed megamullion, the total uplift would be 1500~3000 m and the tectonism should have started at 1~2 Ma. If the Peridotite Ridge is originated from the subcrustal oceanic mantle, the total uplift would be approximately 9000 m and the tectonism would have started close to 6 Ma.

Paleoenvironmental interpretation through the analysis of ostracodes and carbonate microfacies: study of the Jandaíra Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Potiguar Basin

Paleoecological analyses are important tools for the reconstruction of paleoenvironments. This paper had the objective of using analysis of ostracode assemblages and carbonate microfacies of a well (Carbomil) and an outcrop (Quixere) from the Jandaira Formation, Potiguar Basin, in order to verify how they corroborate and complement the other. Two paleoenvironments for Carbomil Well (assemblages 1 and 2, respectively marine and brackish to neritic environments) and one for Quixere Outcrop (assemblage 3, marine environment) were identified through the ostracode assemblage analysis. Thin section analysis allowed the identification of two different facies for Carbomil Well, i.e. bioclastic packstones to wackstones, a marine brackish or restricted marine system; and bioclastic grainstones to packstones, a normal, shallow marine system. High levels of alteration on the samples prevented an adequate analysis of Quixere Outcrop; however, it seems to point towards a low-energy environment. Overall, information provided by the thin sections corroborate and complement data of the ostracode assemblages, which allowed a higher degree of certainty for the paleoenvironmental analysis.