Magnetic fabrics and rock magnetism of Proterozoic dike swarm from the southern São Francisco Craton, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Magnetic fabric and rock magnetism studies were performed on 32 mafic dikes of a Proterozoic dike swarm from the southern São Francisco Craton (SFC; Minas Gerais State, SE Brazil). Magnetic anisotropies were determined by applying anisotropy of low-field magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of remanent magnetization (ARM). The latter was performed imposing both anhysteretic (total (AAR) and partial pAAR)) and isothermal remanence magnetizations (AIRM). Partial anhysteretic remanence anisotropy was performed based on remanent coercivity spectra from a pilot specimen of each site. In most sites, AMS is dominantly carried by ferromagnetic minerals, however, in some sites, the paramagnetic contribution exceeds 70% of bulk susceptibility. Rock magnetism and thin section analysis allow classifying the dikes as non-hydrothermalized and hydrothermalized. Magnetic measurement shows that the mean magnetic susceptibility is usually lower than 5×10⁻³ (SI). Ti-poor titanomagnetites up to pure magnetite pseudo-single-domain (PSD) grain sizes carry the majority of magnetic fabrics for non-hydrothermalized dikes whereas coarse to fine grained Ti-poor titanomagnetites carry the majority of magnetic fabrics for hydrothermalized dikes.Three primary AMS fabrics are recognized which are coaxial with ARM fabric, except for two dikes, from both non-hydrothermalized and hydrothermalized dikes. Normal AMS fabric surprisingly is not dominant (31%). The parallelism between AMS, pAAR_0–30, pAAR_30–60 and pAAR_60–90 fabrics in the hydrothermalized dikes indicates that magnetic grains formed due to late-stage crystallization or to remobilization of iron oxides due to hydrothermal alteration after dike emplacement have acquired a mimetic fabric coaxial with the primary fabric given by coarse-grained early crystallized Ti-poor titanomagnetites. This fabric is interpreted as magma flow in which the analysis of K_max inclination permitted the inference that the dikes were fed by horizontal or subhorizontal fluxes (K_max<30°). Intermediate AMS fabric is the most important (41%) in the investigated swarm. It is interpreted as due to vertical compaction of a static magma column with the minimum stress along the dike strike. ARM determinations for these sites also remained intermediate except for two dikes. In one of them, AIRM fabric resulted in normal AMS fabric while for the other AAR fabric resulted in inverse AMS fabric. A combination of AMS and ARM fabrics suggest that magmatic fabric for both dikes were overprinted by some late local event, probably related to Brasiliano orogenic processes after dike emplacement. InverseInverse AMS fabric is a minority (four dikes). ARM determinations also remained inverse suggesting a primary origin for inverse AMS fabric.     

Magnetic fabrics, rock magnetism, cathodoluminescence and petrography of apparently undeformed Bambui carbonates from São Francisco Basin (Minas Gerais State, SE Brazil): An integrated study

Magnetic measurements were performed on apparently undeformed limestones and carbonate shales from 44 sites in nearly horizontal stratigraphic layers mainly from the basal units of the Neoproterozoic Bambui Group in the southern part of the São Francisco Basin. Rock magnetism, cathodoluminescence, transmitted and reflected light microscopy analyses reveal that there is a mix of ferromagnetic minerals, mainly magnetite and pyrrhotite, in most sites. In some sites, however, the ferromagnetic minerals are magnetite and hematite. Fine-grained pyrrhotite and pyrite accompany rare fine-grained graphite and probably amorphous carbon in some of stylolites, while pyrrhotite is also present as larger interstitial masses in coarse-grained domains outside, but close to the stylolites. Magnetic fabrics were determined applying both anisotropy of low-field magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of anhysteretic remanence magnetization (AAR). The AAR tensor was less well defined than the AMS fabric due to the low ferromagnetic mineral content. The analysis at the individual-site scale defines three AMS fabric types. The first type (two sites) shows K_min perpendicular to the bedding plane, while K_max and K_int are scattered within bedding plane itself. This fabric is usually interpreted as primary (sedimentary-compactional), typical of totally undeformed sediments. The second type shows the three well-clustered AMS axes with K_min still perpendicular to the bedding plane. This fabric is the most important since it was found in the majority of the sites. The third type (two sites) is characterized by well-clustered K_max in the bedding plane, while K_min and K_int are distributed along a girdle. The second and third fabric types are interpreted as combinations of sedimentary-compactional and tectonic contributions at the earliest, and at a slightly later stage of deformation, respectively. AMS represents the contribution of all the rock-forming minerals, while AAR isolates the contribution of remanence-bearing minerals from the matrix minerals. However, rock magnetism shown that anhysteretic remanence only reaches grains with coercivity < 100 mT because the maximum AF in the majority of the available instruments is 100 mT. Therefore, hematite and pyrrhotite probably do not contribute to AAR, which is due to the shape-preferred orientation of magnetite grains. For some sites, the AMS and AAR fabric orientations are different, mainly with respect to the lineation orientations (K_max and A_max, respectively). In general, K_max is well developed and follows the trend of the main regional thrusts, fold axes and faults generated in the first deformational phase, while A_max follows both this trend and that of structural lineaments formed during the second deformational phase. These deformation phases arose from the compression, which occurred during the evolution of the Brasília fold belt during the last stages of the Brasiliano event. The magnetic fabrics of the apparently undeformed Bambui limestones are typical of very weakly deformed sediments, in which the depositional-compaction fabric has been partly overprinted by a tectonic one, with minimum susceptibility direction remaining perpendicular to bedding. This result is in agreement with the textures given by the petrographic observations.     

Geochemistry and origin of lower crustal granulite facies rocks in the Serra do Caparaó region, Espirito Santo/Minas Gerais, Brazil

Rocks of the Serra do Caparaó region, on the border between the Brazilian states of Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais, comprise granulitic (charnockitic) sequences that have undergone Brasiliano-aged metamorphism (586 ± 2 Ma.). Thermobarometric results document pressures between 8.1 kb and 10.6 kb and temperatures up to 700 ± 50°C. Chemical analysis show a calc-alkaline (CAC) trend with granodioritic, tonalitic-trondhjemitic chemistry. K₂O/Rb data represent low- to mid-pressure charnockites corresponding to the undepleted granulite types. Discriminant analyses and diagrams indicate a source rock characteristic of sedimentary origin. REE patterns show slight to moderate fractionation and also slight negative as well as positive Eu anomalies. REE trends and the total amounts of REE of the acidic to basic rock series are similar to those of North American and Australian post-Archaean shales. The granulite facies rock series in the Serro do Caparaó region are interpreted as having originated from supracrustal rock series—i.e., graywackes, which represent sedimentary sequences derived from a Lower Proterozoic bimodal magmatic suite.     

The evolution of refertilized lithospheric mantle beneath the northeastern Siberian craton: Links between mantle metasomatism,thermal state and diamond potential

Although the diamond potential of cratons is linked mainly to thick and depleted Archean lithospheric keels, there are examples of craton-edge locations and circum-cratonic Proterozoic terranes underlain by diamondiferous mantle. Here, we use the results of comprehensive major and trace-element studies of detrital garnets from diamond-rich Late Triassic (Carnian) sedimentary rocks in the northeastern Siberia to constrain the thermal and chemical state of the pre-Triassic mantle and its ability to sustain the diamond storage. The studied detrital mantle-derived garnets are dominated by low- to medium-Cr lherzolitic (～45%) and low-Cr megacrystic (～39%) chemistries, with a significant proportion of eclogitic garnets (～11%), and only subordinate contribution from harzburgitic garnets (～5%) with variable Cr₂O₃ contents (1.2–8.4 wt.%). Low-Cr megacrysts display uniform, “normal” rare-earth element (REE) patterns with no Eu/Eu* anomalies, systematic Zr and Ti enrichment (mainly within 2.5–5), which are evidence of their crystallization from deep metasomatic melts. Lherzolitic (G9) garnets exhibit normal or humped to MREE-depleted sinusoidal REE patterns and elevated Nd/Y (up to 0.33–0.41) and Zr/Y ratios (up to 7.62). Rare low- to high-Cr harzburgitic (G10) garnets have primarily “depleted”, sinusoidal REE-patterns, low Ti, Y and HREE, but vary significantly in Zr-Hf, Ti and MREE-HREE contents, Nd/Y (within 0.1–2.4) and Zr/Y (1.53–19.9) ratios. The observed trends of chemical enrichment from the most depleted, harzburgitic garnets towards lherzolitic (including high-Ti high-Cr G11-type) garnets and megacrysts result from either voluminous high-temperature metasomatism by plume-derived silicate melts or recurrent mobilization of less voluminous kimberlitic or related carbonated mantle melts, rather than the initially primitive, fertile nature of the Proterozoic SCLM. Calculated Ni-in-garnet temperatures (primarily within ～1150–1250 °C) indicate their derivation from at least ～220 km thick Cr-undersaturated lithosphere at the relevant Devonian to Triassic thermal flow of ～45 mW/m² or cooler. We suggest the existence of rare harzburgitic domains in the primarily lherzolitic diamond-facies SCLM beneath the northeastern Siberian craton at least by Triassic, whereas the abundance of eclogitic garnets, predominance of E-type inclusions in placer diamonds and specific morphologies argue for diamondiferous eclogites occurring within a ～50–65 kbar diamond window of the Olenek province by the same time.     

K–Ar dating of authigenic minerals in siliciclastic sequences: an example from the south Sanfranciscana Basin (Western Minas Gerais,Brazil)

K–Ar dating was applied on authigenic potassic minerals which are abundant in sandstones from the south of the Sanfranciscana Basin, Western Minas Gerais State, central Brazil. The Quintinos Member fluvial sandstones (Três Barras Formation, Areado Group) contain significant amounts of authigenic K‐feldspar as microcrystals of adularia and sanidine habits. The ages of these microcrystals cluster into three groups: 106.1 ± 2.2, 89.9 ± 1.9 and 88.8 ± 1.8 Ma (from Albian to Coniacian). The older age of 106.1 ± 2.2 Ma was obtained from the coarse fraction analysed (10–20 µm) that can contain a mixture of detrital potassic minerals (K‐feldspar, muscovite, biotite and illite) and different authigenesis of K‐feldspar (overgrowths and microcrystals). Thus, only the younger ages were interpreted as precipitation of K‐feldspar microcrystals during the Late Cretaceous into the Quintinos Member sandstones. Moreover, these ages can document the formation of microcrystals within a few million years after deposition of the sandstones. The ages of authigenic illite from the Capacete Formation epiclastic sandstones (Mata da Corda Group) range from 88.5 ± 1.9 to 71.5 ± 1.9 Ma (Coniacian–Campanian). These results suggest the timing of the illitization event in these sandstones as well as a synchrony with K‐feldspar authigenesis in the Quintinos Member sandstones. These results are well constrained and are in agreement with stratigraphic, biostratigraphic and radiometric ages previously reported for the Sanfranciscana Basin. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cranial bones and atlas of titanosaurs (Dinosauria,Sauropoda) from Late Cretaceous (Bauru Group) of Uberaba,Minas Gerais State,Brazil

Isolated left prefrontal, left squamosal and atlas of titanosaur dinosaurs are described and compared. They come from the Late Cretaceous Serra da Galga Member of the Marília Formation at the Serra do Veadinho region, Peirópolis (Uberaba County, Minas Gerais State, Brazil). Due to the sparse cranial elements of titanosaurs already known from Brazil, these specimens are noticeable to be presented. In addition, the atlas vertebra is described for the first time for Brazilian titanosaurs. The morphology of the cranial bones closely resembles lithostratian titanosaurs, such as Rapetosaurus, rather than basal titanosaurs. The atlas is similar to that of other titanosaurs, suggesting that the anatomy of this element seems to be more conservative than other vertebral elements, in which vertebral laminae play an important rule in titanosaur taxonomy.     

Nonsulfide and sulfide-rich zinc mineralizations in the Vazante, Ambrósia and Fagundes deposits, Minas Gerais, Brazil: Mass balance and stable isotope characteristics of the hydrothermal alterations

The Vazante Group hosts the Vazante nonsulfide zinc deposit, which comprises high-grade zinc silicate ore (ZnSiO₄), and late-diagenetic to epigenetic carbonate-hosted sulfide-rich zinc deposits (e.g. Morro Agudo, Fagundes, and Ambrósia). In the sulfide-rich deposits, hydrothermal alteration involving silicification and dolomitization was related with ground preparation of favorable zones for fluid migration (e.g. Fagundes) or with direct interaction with the metalliferous fluid (e.g. Ambrósia). At Vazante, hydrothermal alteration resulted in silicification and dolomite, siderite, jasper, hematite, and chlorite formation. These processes were accompanied by strong relative gains of SiO₂, Fe₂O_3(T), Rb, Sb, V, U, and La, which are typically associated with the nonsulfide zinc mineralization. All sulfide-rich zinc ores in the district display a similar geochemical signature suggesting a common metal source from the underlying sedimentary sequences.Oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of hydrothermally altered rocks reveal a remarkable alteration halo at the Vazante deposit, which is not a notable feature in the sulfide-rich deposits. This pattern could be attributed to fluid mixing processes involving the metalliferous fluid and channelized meteoric water, which may control the precipitation of the Vazante nonsulfide ore. Sulfide deposition resulted from fluid–rock interaction processes and mixing between the ascending metalliferous fluids and sulfur-rich tectonic brines derived from reduced shale units.     

Platinum enrichment at low temperatures and related microstructures,with examples of hongshiite (PtCu) and empirical ‘Pt2HgSe3’ from Itabira,Minas Gerais,Brazil

Low‐temperature Pt enrichment is illustrated with reference to two hypogene platiniferous minerals: (i) a Pd–Cu‐bearing ‘Pt₂HgSe₃’, an unnamed phase; and (ii) hongshiite, PtCu, with up to 0.7 wt% Hg. The former has patches oxidized to a Pt–O species with curvilinear microcracks originated by desiccation. The latter displays parallel sets of Cu‐depleted, Pt–Hg‐enriched patches, along which microfractures occur. Such microstructures are interpreted to arise from two processes: (i) oxidation and formation of a hydrated Pt–O compound, which tends to succumb to a Pt‐rich alloy by deoxygenation and dehydration, leaving behind curvilinear desiccation cracks; (ii) metal leaching conducive to native Pt by removal of Cu from hongshiite via micropores that coalesce along crystallographic planes to result in reticulated microcracks. Platinum enrichment either by oxidation or metal leaching ideally produces characteristic microcracks, which may be indicative of the origin, i.e. detrital vs. supergene, of alluvial and eluvial Pt‐rich alloys.     

Stratigraphic evolution of a fluvial–eolian succession: The example of the Upper Jurassic—Lower Cretaceous Guará and Botucatu formations, Paraná Basin, Southernmost Brazil

The Guará and Botucatu formations comprise an 80 to 120 m thick continental succession that crops out on the western portion of the Rio Grande do Sul State (Southernmost Brazil). The Guará Formation (Upper Jurassic) displays a well-defined facies shift along its outcrop belt. On its northern portion it is characterised by coarse-grained to conglomeratic sandstones with trough and planar cross-bedding, as well as low-angle lamination, which are interpreted to represent braided river deposits. Southwards these fluvial facies thin out and interfinger with fine- to medium-grained sandstones with large-scale cross-stratification and horizontal lamination, interpreted as eolian dune and eolian sand sheets deposits, respectively. The Botucatu Formation is characterised by large-scale cross-strata formed by successive climbing of eolian dunes, without interdune and/or fluvial accumulation (dry eolian system). The contact between the Guará and the Botucatu formations is delineated by a basin-wide deflation surface (supersurface). The abrupt change in the depositional conditions that took place across this supersurface suggests a major climate change, from semi-arid (Upper Jurassic) to hyper-arid (Lower Cretaceous) conditions. A rearrangement of the Paraná Basin depocenters is contemporaneous to this climate change, which seems to have changed from a more restrict accumulation area in the Guará Formation to a wider sedimentary context in the Botucatu Formation.     

U–Pb SHRIMP monazite ages of the giant Morro Velho and Cuiabá gold deposits, Rio das Velhas greenstone belt, Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais, Brazil

U–Pb SHRIMP results of 2672 ± 14 Ma obtained on hydrothermal monazite crystals, from ore samples of the giant Morro Velho and Cuiabá Archean orogenic deposits, represent the first reliable and precise age of gold mineralization associated with the Rio das Velhas greenstone belt evolution, in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Brazil. In the basal Nova Lima Group, of the Rio das Velhas greenstone belt, felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks have been dated between 2792 ± 11 and 2751 ± 9 Ma, coeval with the intrusion of syn-tectonic tonalite and granodiorite plutons, and also with the metamorphic overprint of older tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite crust. Since cratonization and stable-shelf sedimentation followed intrusion of Neoarchean granites at 2612 + 3/− 2 Ma, it is clear that like other granite–greenstone terranes in the world, gold mineralization is constrained to the latest stages of greenstone evolution.     

The Serra da Graciosa A-type Granites and Syenites, southern Brazil. Part 3: Magmatic evolution and post-magmatic breakdown of amphiboles of the alkaline association

Amphiboles are the main mafic minerals in most metaluminous to peralkaline alkali-feldspar granites and syenites, and they usually preserve an important record of the compositional evolution of the melts from which they crystallize. In the alkaline association of the Serra da Graciosa A-type Granites and Syenites (southern Brazil), amphibole compositions span a large range, including calcic, sodic–calcic, and sodic amphiboles. Calcic amphiboles are typically observed in the metaluminous rocks, while sodic amphiboles are characteristic of the more strongly peralkaline rocks; sodic–calcic amphiboles are found in intermediate varieties. Compositional variations record the differentiation trends within two petrographic series of the alkaline association. The overall evolution of amphibole compositions is similar in both: they reveal a progressive increase in Na and Fe³⁺ with differentiation (increase in alkalinity of the magmas), a characteristic shared by undersaturated peralkaline (or agpaitic) differentiation trends. In detail, however, the evolutions of the amphibole compositions in the two series are distinct. In Alkaline series 1, the cores of the crystals form a continuum from calcic to sodic compositions, with the exception of a small compositional gap within the sodic–calcic amphiboles. The rims, however, show compositions that diverge from this main trend; this divergence results from increasing amounts of the oxy-amphibole component, and reflects more oxidizing conditions at the final stages of magmatic crystallization. In Alkaline series 2, these oxidation trends are much more subtle and a reverse trend is observed in the sodic amphiboles. Sodic–calcic amphiboles are in several cases replaced by intergrowths of post-magmatic sodic amphibole and Al-poor (“tetrasilicic”) biotite.     

Denudation rates of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero (Minas Gerais, Brazil): Preliminary results from measurements of solute fluxes in rivers and in situ-produced cosmogenic Be

This paper investigates the denudation rates in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais State (Brazil). The aim is to compare chemical weathering rates from measurements of solute fluxes in rivers and long-term mean erosion rates deduced from in situ-produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be concentrations measured in fluvial sediments. Both water samples and sediments were collected in fifteen stations (checkpoints) located in four hydrographic basins with low anthropogenic perturbations.Depending of the type of substratum, three degrees of chemical denudation rates from water samples are observed: (i) high rates in marbles; (ii) medium rates in schists, phyllites, granites, gneisses and migmatites; (iii) low rates in quartzites and itabirites. Preliminary results of long-term erosion rates deduced from in situ-produced ¹⁰Be are comparable with those of chemical rates.     

The pegmatites of the Nova Era–Itabira–Ferros pegmatite district and the emerald mineralisation of Capoeirana and Belmont (Minas Gerais, Brazil): geochemistry and Rb–Sr dating

The chemical composition and Rb–Sr ages of mica, feldspar, and whole rock samples from the emerald mineralisation of Capoeirana and Belmont, from emerald-barren pegmatites and of the Borrachudos granitic gneiss, Monlevade banded and granitic gneisses from the area of Nova Era–Itabira–Ferros (Minas Gerais, Brazil) as well as from the Guanhães gneiss (Minas Gerais, Brazil) have been determined. The Borrachudos granitic and Monlevade banded gneiss with connected pegmatitic schlieren and pegmatite veins, as well as the Guanhães gneiss, got their actual textures and mineralogical composition at about 1.9 Ga in the context of the Transamazonic tectonothermal event.The Monlevade banded gneiss belongs to a volcano-metasedimentary greenstone belt sequence, which is the typical country rock of the emerald occurrences. The main emerald-forming event at Belmont and Capoeirana was a metasomatic reaction of Be-rich anatectic pegmatites with Cr-rich ultrabasic rocks during the Transamazonic event. At Capoeirana, K–feldspar-bearing Be-rich pegmatites were transformed during the emerald-forming process into plagioclase–quartz rocks. Rb–Sr ages on biotite of about 480 Ma from the emerald mineralisation result from the rejuvenation of Transamazonic biotite by the Brasiliano event.The widespread macroscopically unmetamorphosed pegmatites of the study area formed in the Brasiliano event at 477±14 Ma. These pegmatites resulted to be emerald-barren although the differentiation degree, as given by diagrams such as Cs vs. K/Rb for muscovite and K–feldspar, starts from ceramic and ends with Be pegmatites. Some pegmatites display a marked internal differentiation.

Abstract

Foram determinadas as composições químicas e as idades Rb–Sr de mica branca, feldspato potássico e de rochas totais das mineralizações de esmeraldas de Capoeirana e Belmont, de pegmatitos sem esmeraldas e dos gnaisses Borrachudos, Monlevade e Guanhães da região de Nova Era–Itabira–Ferros (Minas Gerais, Brazil). Os gnaisses graníticos Borrachudos, os gnaisses bandados Monlevade, seus respectivos pegmatitos e veios/schlieren pegmatóides, e os gnaisses Guanhães, adquiriram suas texturas e composições mineralógicas atuais há cerca de 1.9 Ga no contexto do evento Transamazônico.As rochas regionais encaixantes típicas das ocorrências de esmeraldas são os gnaisses Monlevade que pertencem a uma sequência metavulcano-sedimentar de tipo greenstone belt. O evento principal de formação de esmeraldas em Belmont e Capoeirana foi uma reação metassomática dos pegmatitos anatéticos ricos em Be com rochas ultrabásicas ricas em Cr durante o evento Transamazônico em torno de 1.9 Ga. Em Capoeirana nesse contexto os pegmatitos com feldspato potássico ricos em Be foram transformados em rochas de plagioclasio–quartzo. As idades Rb–Sr de cerca de 480 Ma de minerais das mineralizações de esmeralda resultaram da reequilibração de biotitas e feldspatos Transamazônicos durante o evento Brasiliano.Os pegmatitos não-metamórficos e sem esmeralda da região estudada foram formados no evento Brasiliano há 477±14 Ma. O grau de diferenciação dos pegmatitos, estudado em diagramas indicadores específicos como por exemplo Cs vs. K/Rb de micas brancas e feldspatos potássicos, varia desde pegmatitos cerámicos até muscovita-pegmatitos, à pegmatitos de metais raros e até berilíferos. Alguns dos pegmatitos apresentam marcante diferenciação interna.     

Evolution of Heterogeneous Mantle in the Acampamento Velho and Rodeio Velho Volcanic Events, Camaquã Basin, Southern Brazil

The Camaquã Basin, developed during the last phases of the Brazilian/Pan-African Orogeny and was filled with a thick volcano-sedimentary succesion, in which two volcanic events of alkaline affinity are represented by the Acampamento Velho Alloformation and the Rodeio Velho Member. The Acampamento Velho Alloformation records a bimodal event with a lower association of mafic flows and an upper association of felsic pyroclastic rocks and flows. It was formed during extension, after the subduction of the Adamastor oceanic plate beneath the Rio de La Plata continental plate at the end of the Neoproterozoic III. The second event, the Rodeio Velho Member, represented by mafic flows, intrusions and piroclasts, took place during overall extensional tectonism, probably in the middle Ordovician. Rb, Sr, Sm, and Nd isotopic measurements were carried out on samples from both units. Regardless the event they represent, all the samples display negative values for epsilon Nd, ranging from 2.97 to 10.31 for the Acampamento Velho Alloformation and from 8.39 to 13.92 for the Rodeio Velho Member. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios vary from 0.706 to 0.707 and from 0.704 to 0.707 for the Acampamento Velho Alloformation and Rodeio Velho Member, respectively. Mafic flow deposits in both units show a preferential enrichment in Ba relative to Th. Flow samples from the Rodeio Velho Member also display a distinctive enrichment in the Ba/Th ratio, without a change in the initial Sr, compared to the mafic flow deposits from the Acampamento Velho Alloformation, which show a slight enrichment in those ratios. As for the Acampamento Velho Alloformation, the mafic lavas could be a mixture of depleted mantle-derived basalts plus 20% to 30% of crustal contamination by sediment (probably Neoproterozoic arkosic quartzites). The formation of a magmatic chamber and the separation of the magma into two fractions gave rise initially to the mafic rocks at the base of the Acampamento Velho Alloformation The other magma fraction underwent a significant enrichment in crustal component before the felsic rocks of this Alloformation were formed. The flows from the Rodeio Velho Member originated in a distinct magma chamber, with EM I characteristics that was much more enriched in incompatible elements and depleted in radiogenic Sr.     

Global correlation of the Vazante Group, São Francisco Basin, Brazil: Re–Os and U–Pb radiometric age constraints

The Vazante Group consists of Precambrian carbonate-dominated platform deposits that extend along more than 300 km in the external zone of the Brasilia Fold Belt of the São Francisco Basin in east central Brazil. The sequence is about 4.8 km thick and contains a preserved glaciomarine diamictite unit (containing dropstone) at the top and a lower diamictite unit at the bottom. Previous C- and Sr-isotope profiles suggested the correlation of the upper diamictite unit with the “Sturtian” glacial event (ca. 750–643 Ma). However, new Re–Os isotope data from the shales associated with the upper diamictites yield radiometric age estimates between 993 ± 46 and 1100 ± 77 Ma. U–Pb measurements on a suite of clear euhedral zircon crystals that were separated from the same shales associated with the upper diamictite and from the arkosic sandstone above the lower diamictite yield ages as young as 988 ± 15 and 1000 ± 25 Ma, respectively. Based on the Re–Os and U–Pb ages, the best age estimate of the Vazante Group is constrained to be 1000–1100 Ma and thus the two diamictite units are not correlative with the Sturtian glaciation(s) but most likely are records of glacial events that occurred during the late Mesoproterozoic.     

Timing and role of the Maranhão River Thrust in the evolution of the Neoproterozoic Brasília Belt and Tocantins Province, central Brazil

A low-angle thrust fault places high-PT granulites (hangingwall) of the Internal Zone of the Neoproterozoic Brasília Belt (Tocantins Province, central Brazil) in contact with a lower-grade footwall (External Zone) comprised of nappes of distal passive margin- and back-arc basin-related supracrustals. The footwall units were emplaced at  750 Ma onto proximal sedimentary rocks (Paranoá Group) of the São Francisco paleo-continent passive margin. The high-PT belt is comprised of 645–630 Ma granulite-facies paragneiss and orthogneiss, and mafic–ultramafic complexes that include three major layered intrusions and metavolcanic rocks granulitized at  750 Ma. These complexes occur within lower-grade metasedimentary rocks in the hangingwall of the Maranhão River Thrust, which forms the Internal Zone–External Zone boundary fault to the north of the Pirineus Zone of High Strain. Detailed lithostructural studies carried out in Maranhão River Thrust hangingwall and footwall metasedimentary rocks between the Niquelândia and Barro Alto complexes, and also to the east of these, indicate the same lithotypes and Sm–Nd isotopic signatures, and the same D₁–D₂ progressive deformation and greenschist-facies metamorphism. Additionally, footwall metasedimentary rocks exclusively display a post-D₂ deformation indicating that the Maranhão River Thrust propagated through upper crustal rocks of the Paranoá Group relatively late during the tectonic evolution of the belt. Fault propagation was a consequence of intraplate underthrusting during granulite exhumation. The results allow for a better tectonic understanding of the Brasília Belt and the Tocantins Province, as well as explaining the presence of the Pirineus Zone of High Strain.     

Sediment hosted lead–zinc deposits of the Neoproterozoic Bambuí Group and correlative sequences, São Francisco Craton, Brazil: A review and a possible metallogenic evolution model

The Proterozoic sediment-hosted Zn–(Pb) sulfide and non-sulfide deposits of the São Francisco Craton, Brazil, are partially syn-diagenetic and epigenetic and were probably formed during extensional events. The majority of the deposits occur within shallow water dolomites. The Pb isotopic data of sulfides are relatively homogeneous for individual deposits and plot above the upper crust evolution curve of the Plumbotectonic model. Some of the deposits are characterized by highly radiogenic lead (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ≥ 21) originating from the highly radioactive crust of the São Francisco Craton. Pb and S isotopic data suggest the sources of metal and sulfur for the deposits to be the basement rocks and seawater sulfates in the sediments, respectively. The relatively high temperatures of formation (100 to 250 °C) and moderate salinity (3% to 20% NaCl equiv.) of the primary fluid inclusions in the sphalerite crystals suggest the participation of basinal mineralizing fluids in ore formation. The steep paleo-geothermal gradient generated by the radioactively enriched basement rocks probably assisted in heating up the circulating mineralizing fluids.     

Geochemistry and zircon geochronology of paleoproterozoic granitoids: Further evidence on the magmatic and crustal evolution of the São Luís cratonic fragment, Brazil

The Tromaí Intrusive Suite is the predominant exposed unit of the São Luís cratonic fragment in northern Brazil. The suite forms batholiths and stocks of granitoids that were emplaced between 2168 ± 4 Ma and 2149 ± 4 Ma and intruded a 2240 ± 5 Ma old metavolcano-sedimentary sequence. The batholiths are composed of a variety of petrographic types that have been grouped in three sub-units, based on the predominant petrographic type, and named Cavala Tonalite, Bom Jesus Granodiorite, and Areal Granite, from the more primitive to the more evolved phases, in addition to subordinate shallow felsic intrusions. The Tromaí Suite is an expanded magmatic association comprising minor mafic rocks to predominantly intermediate and felsic, low- to high-K, and metaluminous to weakly peraluminous granitoids that follow a Na-enriched calc-alkaline trend. Combined rock association, geochronology, Nd isotopes, and geochemical signature indicate that the Tromaí Suite formed from magmas derived from juvenile protoliths modified by fractional crystallization. The juvenile protoliths included ocean plate, mantle wedge, and minor sediments. The data also indicate an intra-oceanic arc setting that possibly transitioned to a continental margin and that the Tromaí Intrusive Suite records the main accretionary stage of the Rhyacian orogen (ca. 2.24–2.15 Ma) that culminated with a collision stage at about 2.1 Ga and gave rise to the present day São Luís cratonic fragment. This time interval is coincident with the main period of crustal growth in the South American Platform and in the Paleoproterozoic terranes of the West African Craton. The beginning of this period is also coincident with the end of a period in which only minor amounts of juvenile crust is found worldwide.The Negra Velha Granite is a distinct unit that forms a few stocks that intruded the granitoids of the Tromaí Suite between 2076 and 2056 Ma ago. Negra Velha is an association of monzogranite and subordinate quartz–monzonite and syenogranite with an alkaline signature that shows high Rb–Sr–Ba enrichments, resembling shoshonitic associations. This granite represents the post-orogenic phase of the Rhyacian orogenesis.