Vinicius Vasconcelos

The Canastra Range: On the Way to São Francisco River Spring

Canastra Range is located in Central Brazil, on the way to Sao Francisco River spring. The geomorphology shows strong structural control and is characterized by inverted relief on a synformal structure. The plateau has a smoother topography with an altitude ranges from 900 to 1,496 m a.s.l. and is supported by quartzite layers of the Canasta Group. Hydrological and soil conditions allow the development of Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) vegetation, mainly as wet grasslands (Campos Umidos) with earth mounds (murundus). This region is a natural water that divides between the Sao Francisco and Parana rivers, two of the major Brazilian watersheds. The boundaries of the Canastra Plateau are controlled by fault zones are developed as steep escarpments , where the main rivers leave the plateau over spectacular waterfalls. Among many waterfalls, the most famous is the 186 m high Casca D’Antas Falls, a symbol of Canastra Range and one of the most visited in the Brazilian territory. The region shows a variety of beautiful landscapes, with mountain ranges, hills, valleys, plateaus, and cliffs, and also shelters important plants and animals of the Cerrado biome, including endemic, rare, and threatened species.