Zoneamento geoambiental como subsídio ao planejamento territorial municipal: estudo de caso para Currais Novos/RN

This paper presents the master plan and geoenvironmental zoning natures as instruments of environmental planning and management. The discussion of territory environmental planning is guided by two directions: at first the environmental elements involved in planning and the another is the implementation of these instruments at the municipal territory. To analyze the planning directed of the municipal territory we consider the fragments of its, represented by country and urban. The master plan inside of the Estatuto da Cidade (City Statute) and the geoenvironmental zoning are directed to territorial environmental planning. Regarding of the master plan the first challenge has been the spacial area that the plan can cover. It is necessary to prepare master plans that could include all the territory. The environmental zoning are directed for the territory totality.In this sense, the geoenvironmental zoning of the Currais Novos was done in the totality of the municipal territory and guided by the environmental physics variables. The geoenvironmental zoning sets in a planning and ordering of the territory instrument based in the landscape analysis. Therefore grounded in the Geosystems‟s Theory this work has like a main objective to propose a geoenvironmental zoning for the Currais Novos Municipality in RN. So, was used an analysis technique suggested for Bardin (2010) and the Currais Novos‟s physical environment characterization through of the fieldwork and cartographic data vectorization, beyond the image‟s treatment SRTM. The geoenvironmental systems definitions were based in the suggestion of Cestaro, et al. (2007) support in Bertrand (1968). For both were identified five geoenvironmental systems: Borborema Plateau, Residual plateau, Chapada da Serra de Santana, semiarid river valley and lagoon valley and eleven geoenvironmental subsystems: Borborema Plateau Western Slope, Isolated Massif of the Borborema Plateau, Residual Crest, Residual Massif, Erosional Scarp of the Chapada, flat top plateau, fluvial plains, temporary river of the semiarid and ornamental water or sluice

A história do intemperismo na Província Borborema Oriental, Nordeste do Brasil: implicações paleoclimáticas e tectônicas

Until some years ago, weathering geochronology was primarily based on the K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar dating of supergene minerals. Recent advances in the analysis of supergene goethite by the (U-Th)/He method expanded the number of suitable minerals for such purpose, as well as the time of application for weathering geochronology. This study represents the first systematic approach in Brazil, combining both the 40Ar/39Ar e (U-Th)/He methodologies to improve the knowledge on the weathering and the age of nonfossiliferous sediments. Supported by geologic and geomorphologic correlations, we identified different types of weathering profiles occurring in the interior and coastal areas of northeastern Brazil. These profiles were correlated to main regional geomorphological domains: the Borborema Plateau , the Sertaneja Depression , and the Coastal Cuestas and Plains, and respective planation surfaces, which study is fundamental to understand the landscape evolution of the northern portion of the eastern Borborema Province. The depth and stratigraphic organization of the weathering profiles in each of the geomorphological domains permitted to establish that: (i) the profiles on the highlands that cap the Borborema Surface are deeper (up to 100 m) and can be considered as typical lateritic profiles; (ii) on the lowlands that form the Sertaneja Surface , the weathering profiles are shallow and poorly developed (2-5 m deep); (iii) the profiles along the coastal area are moderately developed (up to 25 m deep), and are characterized by thick saprolites and mottle zones. Aiming to establish the timing of the evolution of northeastern Brazil, we studied 29 weathering profiles representing distinct topographic levels of the Borborema Province, from the highlands to the coast, through the analysis of 248 grains of supergene manganese oxides using laser step-heating 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. Additionally, we applied the (U-Th)/He method in 20 weathering profiles, by dating 171 grains of supergene iron oxides and hydroxides. Geochronological results for 248 grains of manganese oxides analyzed by the 40Ar/39Ar method indicate that the weathering profiles in the study area record the history of weathering from the Oligocene to the Pleistocene, with ages in the order of 31.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 0.8 ± 0.4 Ma. Dating of 171 grains of goethite by the (U-Th)/He method yielded ages ranging from 43.2 ± 4.3 Ma to 0.8 ± 0.1 Ma, suggesting the weathering processes last from the Eocene to the Pleistocene. The precipitation of supergene goethite in this interval confirms the age of the weathering processes identified from the manganese oxides record. 105 goethite grains from 8 different occurrences of the Barreiras Formation were dated by the (U-Th)/He method. Five grains collected from the cement in the Barreiras Formation sandstones, in the Lagoa Salgada and Rio do Fogo coastal cuestas, yielded ages of 17.6 ± 1.8 Ma, 17.3 ± 1.7 Ma, 16.3 ± 1.6 Ma, 16.2 ± 1.6 Ma and 13.6 ± 1.4 Ma. Results of 69 goethite grains from authigenic pisoliths collected in 7 different localities also yielded concordant ages, varying from 17.8 ± 1.8 to 7.5 ± 0.8 Ma. Results obtained from 31 detrital grains are concordant in 3 distinct localities (Lagoa Salgada, Praia da Garças e Ponta Grossa); they vary in the range of 43.2 ± 4.3 to 21.6 ± 2.2 Ma, and indicate that the maximum age for the Barreiras Formation deposition is around 22 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar results for 15 manganese oxides grains associated with the Barreiras Formation weathering profiles, in 3 different localities, vary from 13.1 ± 0.9 to 7.7 ± 0.4 Ma, in the same range of ages obtained by the (U-Th)/He method. The systematic application of the 40Ar/39Ar and (U-Th)/He methods, respectively for manganese oxides and goethites, show that the Barreiras Formation sediments were already deposited since ca. 17 Ma, and that the weathering processes were active until ca. 7 Ma ago. The ages obtained from manganese oxides collected in the Cenozoic basalts (Macau Formation) also reveal a weathering history between 19 and 7 Ma, pointing to hot and humid conditions during most of the Miocene. 40Ar/39Ar ages yielded by manganese oxides associated with the Serra do Martins Formation vary from 14.1 ± 0.4 to 10.5 ± 0.3 Ma. On the other hand, (U-Th)/He ages from iron oxides/hydroxides collected in the Serra do Martins Formation mesas vary from 20.0 ± 2.0 to 5.5 ± 0.6 Ma, indicating that those sediments are older than 20 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar and (U-Th)/He results produced in this study are in agreement with paleoclimatic interpretations based on stable isotopes and clay index values measured in the Atlantic Ocean sediments, validating the use of weathering geochronology to investigate paleoclimatic variations. The direct dating of the Barreiras Formation permitted, for the first time, confident inferences on the age of the brittle deformation recorded by this sedimentary unit in the Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará states. The first event, syn-deposition, occurred during the early Miocene; an younger event, related to the post-depositional deformation of the Barreiras Formation, is associated with tectonic activity from the very early Miocene to the Holocene. In agreement with data from other areas, results obtained in this study reveal that the depth and complexity of the weathering profiles reflect the time of exposition of such areas to the weathering agents close to the surface. However, there is no clear relationship between ages vs. altitude. The depth and the stratigraphic organization of weathering profiles in northeastern Brazil, contrary to the southeastern Brazil pattern, do not vary toward the coast. In our study area, field observations reveal the presence of ancient, thick and complex lateritic profiles preserved in the sedimentary mesas on the Borborema Plateau, as younger, narrow and incipient ones occur in the dissected areas. Geochronological results obtained for these profiles yielded older ages on the high altitudes, and younger ages in the lowlands, suggesting the scarp retreatment is the most reliable model to explain the regional landscape evolution. However, in the coastal lowlands, the relatively older ages obtained indicate that more complexes processes were involved in the modeling of the local relief

Caracterização de processos morfodinâmicos e hidrodinâmicos do cinturão lacustre meridional da Reserva Biológica do Lago Pirituba, Amapá

The Amapá State has an important natural lake system, known as The Amapá Lakes Region . Most of these lakes are on the southern part of Amapá s coastal plain, which has 300 km of extension and it s composed by holocenic sediments deposited at the northern part of Amazon River to the Orange Cape located on the northern part of Amapá state. This region is under influence of the Amazon River discharge which is the largest liquid discharge of about 209.000 m³/s and biggest sediment budget discharged on the ocean in the order 6.108 ton per day. The climate is influenced by the Intertropical Convergence Zone and El Niño Southern Oscillation which act mainly under precipitation, nebulosity, local rivers and tidal hidrology. In this region lake belts are Ocidental, Oriental and Meridional Lake Belts. The last one is formed by the by the lakes Comprido de Cima, Botos, Bacia, Lodão, Ventos, Mutuco and Comprido de Baixo. These lakes are the closest to the Araguari River and are characterized by pelitic sedimentation associated with fluvial and estuarine flood plains under influence of tides. The lakes are interconnected, suffer influence of flood pulses from the Tartarugal, Tartarugalzinho and Araguari rivers and the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic know edge is poor. Volume and area reduction, natural eutrophication, anthophic influence, hidrodynamic alterations, morphological changes and are factors which can contribute to the closing of such lakes on the Meridional Lake Belt. This belt is inside the boundaries of the Biological Reserve of Piratuba Lake, created in 1980 for integral protection. Due to the fragility of the environment together with the poor knowledge of the system and with the study area relevancy it is necessary to know the hydrodynamic and geoenvironmental processes. This work aims the characterization of morphodynamic and hydrodynamic processes in order to understand the geoambiental context of the Meridional Lake Belt, from the Comprido de Baixo Lake to the dos Ventos Lake, including the Tabaco Igarape. Methodology was based on the hydrodynamic data acquisition: liquid discharge (acoustic method), tides, bathymetry and the interpretation of multitemporal remote sensing images, integrated in a Geographic Information System (GIS). By this method charts of the medium liquid discharges of Lake Mutuco and Tabacco Igarape the maximum velocity of flow were estimated in: 1.1 m/s, 1.6 m/s and 1.6 m/s (rainy season) and 0.6 m/s, 0.6 m/s and 0.7 m/s (dry period), the maximum flow in: 289 m³/s, 297 m³/s and 379 m³/s (rainy season) and 41 m³/s , 79 m³/s and 105 m³/s (dry period), respectively. From the interpretation of multitemporal satellite images, maps were developed together with the analysis of the lakes and Tobaco Igarape evolution from 1972 to 2008, and were classified according to the degree of balance in the area: stable areas, eutrophic areas, areas of gain, and eroded areas. Troughout analysis of the balance of areas, it was possible to quantify the volume of lake areas occupied by aquatic macrophytes. The study sought to understand the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic processes occurring in the region, contributing to the elucidation of the processes which cause and/or favor geoenvironmental changes in the region; all such information is fundamental to making the management of the area and further definition of parameters for environmental monitoring and contributing to the development of the management plan of the Biological Reserve of Lake Piratuba. The work activities is a part of the Project "Integration of Geological, geophysical and geochemical data to Paleogeographic rebuilding of Amazon Coast, from the Neogene to the Recent

Caracterização morfodinâmica do estuário do Rio Açu, Macau/RN

Estuaries are coastal environments ephemeral life in geological time, derived from the drowning of the shoreline as a function of elevation relative sea level. Such parallel systems is characterized by having two sources of sediment, the river and the sea. The study area comprises the Acu River estuary, located on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte State, in a region of intense economic activity, mainly focused on the exploration of oil onshore and offshore, likely to accidental spills. In the oil sector are developed for salt production, shrimp farming, agriculture, fisheries and tourism, which by interacting with sensitive ecosystems, such as estuaries, may alter the natural conditions, thus making it an area susceptible to contamination is essential in understanding the morphodynamic variables that occur in this environment to obtain an environmental license. Information about the submarine relief the estuaries are of great importance for the planning of the activity of environmental monitoring, development and coastal systems, among others, allowing an easy management of risk areas, and assist in the creation of thematic maps of the main aspects of landscape. Morphodynamic studies were performed in this estuary in different seasonal periods in 2009 to observe and quantify morphological changes that have occurred and relate these to the hydrodynamic forcing from the river and its interaction with the tides. Thus, efforts in this area is possible to know the bottom morphology through records of good quality equipment acquired by high resolution geophysical (side-scan sonar and profiler current by doppler effect). The combination of these data enabled the identification of different forms of bed for the winter and summer that were framed in a lower flow regime and later may have been destroyed or modified forms of generating fund scheme than the number according Froude, with different characteristics due mainly to the variation of the depth and type of sedimentary material they are made, and other hydrodynamic parameters. Thus, these features background regions are printed in the channel, sandy banks and muddy plains that border the entire area

Proposta de zoneamento geoambiental do município do Crato/CE

The geo-environmental zoning is an important means to plan the management of the territory, once it is the result of integration of different elements of the physical environment. The Municipality of Crato has a diversity of geo-environmental systems due to its complex landscape, which characterization and delimitation will contribute to the most appropriate occupation and the fewer prejudicial to municipal area. This study, which was supported by geo-systemic theory, searched to reach the following objectives: to elaborate a proposal of geo-environmental zoning; to characterize identified and demarcated geo-environmental systems, including their potentiality and limitations of land use and human occupation; and to generate a database on digital maps through GIS Geographic Information System. Four geo-environmental systems were identified (Chapada do Araripe: plateau and hillside, Massif and residual crest, Sertão of peripheric southern depression and fluvial Plains) and ten geo-environmental subsystems (Eastern plateau covered by cerradão/cerrado, Western plateau covered by cerrado/carrasco, Northern-west hillside, central residual Massif, Northern Residual Massifs, Sertaneja depression dominated by sedimentary materials, Sertaneja depression dominated by embasement crystalline material; wet fluvial plains and dry fluvial plains). The identified system and subsystem are similar to those proposed by FUNCEME in spite of some changes due to the more detailed mapping