The Rio Grande fracture zone in the western South Atlantic and its tectonic implications

A broad zone of linear, mappable basement structures is observed north and northeast of the Rio Grande Rise in the South Atlantic Ocean. These structures lie along the same flow line as the Sa?o Paulo Ridge, the Florianopolis High, and onshore lineaments, suggesting that they all comprise the same tectonic trend: the Rio Grande fracture zone. The morphology developed along this fracture zone during the early opening of the South Atlantic Ocean formed a barrier to open ocean circulation during the Aptian and allowed the formation of extensive evaporite deposits to the north of it.