Expressão em superfície do sistema de falhas Poço Verde-caraúbas, Bacia Potiguar

The structural knowledge of the western portion of the Potiguar Basin is still in its infancy, especially these related to NW-trending fault systems. This paper analyzes the Poço Verde-Caraúbas Fault System, which was initially recognized in subsurface. The activities involved in this study correspond to remote-sensing analysis and, in particular, to the geometric and kinematic analysis of post-rift sequences of the basin. In addition, the study aimed to determine the stress fields operating in the area. The studies were carried out in an area of 1,000 km², located in the western portion of Potiguar Basin along the Poço Verde-Caraúbas Fault System, Rio Grande do Norte State. The remote sensing imagery indicates a predominance of NW-SE-trending lineaments, consistent with the fault system under study, followed by the NE-SW, N-S and E-W directions. The tectonic structures mapped were analyzed only in outcrops of the Jandaíra Formantion. They are joints (filled or not) in all directions, but with predominance of the NW-trending joints. Faults are usually N-S-trending normal faults and NW-SE and NE-SW-trending strike-slip faults. Geodynamic analysis identified two tectonic stress fields: the first field, "Field 1" is represented by an N-S-trending horizontal compression and E-W-trending horizontal extension. This field affected the Potiguar Basin at least until the Miocene. The second field, "Field 2", is represented by an E-W-trending horizontal compression and N-S-trending horizontal extension. This is the present-day stress field and has affected the Potiguar basin since the Pliocene

Correlação entre contexto morfoestrutural e sismicidade nas regiões de João Câmara e São Rafael (RN)

This MSc thesis describes brittle deformation in two seismic zones located in north-eastern Brazil: João Câmara and São Rafael, Rio Grande do Norte State. Both areas show seismogenic faults, Samambaia and São Rafael, indicated by narrow zones of epicentres with a strike of 040o, a lenght of 30 km and 4 km, and a depth of 1-12 and 0,5-4 km, respectively. The first seismological and geological studies suggested blind faults or faults that were still in the beginning of the nucleation process. The region is under E-W-oriented compression and is underlain by Precambrian terrains, deformed by one or more orogenic cycles, which generated shear zones generally marked by strong pervasive foliation and sigmoidal shapes. The crystalline basement is capped by the Cretaceous Potiguar basin, which is also locally capped by Pliocene continental siliciclastic deposits (Barreiras Formation), and Quaternary alluvium. The main aim of this study was to map epicentral areas and find whether there are any surface geological or morphotectonic expression related to the seismogenic faults. A detailed geological map was carried out in both seismic areas in order to identify brittle structures and fault-related drainage/topographic features. Geological and morphotectonic evidence indicate that both seismogenic faults take place along dormant structures. They either cut Cenozoic rocks or show topographic expression, i.e., are related to topographic heights or depressions and straight river channels. Faults rocks in the Samambaia and São Rafael faults are cataclasite, fault breccia, fault gouge, pseudotachylyte, and quartz veins, which point to reactivation processes in different crustal levels. The age of the first Samambaia and the São Rafael faulting movement possibly ranges from late Precambrian to late Cretaceous. Both fault cut across Precambrian fabric. They also show evidence of brittle processes which took place between 4 and 12 km deep, which probably have not occurred in Cenozoic times. The findings are of great importance for regional seismic hazard. They indicate that fault zones are longer than previously suggested by seismogenic studies. According to the results, the methodology used during this thesis may also be useful in other neotectonic investigation in intraplate areas

Interpretação sísmica e análise de atributos - área do levantamento sísmico 3D de siririzinho (Bacia Sergipe-Alagoas, NE do Brasil)

The main objective of the present thesis was the seismic interpretation and seismic attribute analysis of the 3D seismic data from the Siririzinho high, located in the Sergipe Sub-basin (southern portion of Sergipe-Alagoas Basin). This study has enabled a better understanding of the stratigraphy and structure that the Siririzinho high experienced during its development. In a first analysis, we used two types of filters: the dip-steered median filter, was used to remove random noise and increase the lateral continuity of reflections, and fault-enhancement filter was applied to enhance the reflection discontinuities. After this filtering step similarity and curvature attributes were applied in order to identify and enhance the distribution of faults and fractures. The use of attributes and filtering greatly contributed to the identification and enhancement of continuity of faults. Besides the application of typical attributes (similarity and curvature) neural network and fingerprint techniques were also used, which generate meta-attributes, also aiming to highlight the faults; however, the results were not satisfactory. In a subsequent step, well log and seismic data analysis were performed, which allowed the understanding of the distribution and arrangement of sequences that occur in the Siririzinho high, as well as an understanding of how these units are affected by main structures in the region. The Siririzinho high comprises an elongated structure elongated in the NS direction, capped by four seismo-sequences (informally named, from bottom to top, the sequences I to IV, plus the top of the basement). It was possible to recognize the main NS-oriented faults, which especially affect the sequences I and II, and faults oriented NE-SW, that reach the younger sequences, III and IV. Finally, with the interpretation of seismic horizons corresponding to each of these sequences, it was possible to define a better understanding of geometry, deposition and structural relations in the area.

Aplicação da modelagem estrutural computacional direta na análise da geometria de falhas: exemplo da falha de Baixa Grande (Bacia Potiguar - NE do Brasil)

The Baixa grande fault is located on the edge of the S-SW Potiguar Rift. It limits the south part of Umbuzeiro Graben and the Apodi Graben. Although a number of studies have associated the complex deformation styles in the hanging wall of the Baixa Grande Fault with geometry and displacement variations, none have applied the modern computational techniques such as geometrical and kinematic validations to address this problem. This work proposes a geometric analysis of the Baixa Fault using seismic interpretation. The interpretation was made on 3D seismic data of the Baixa Grande fault using the software OpendTect (dGB Earth Sciences). It was also used direct structural modeling, such as Analog Direct Modeling know as Folding Vectors and, 2D and 3D Direct Computational Modeling. The Folding Vectors Modeling presented great similarity with the conventional structural seismic interpretations of the Baixa Grande Fault, thus, the conventional interpretation was validated geometrically. The 2D direct computational modeling was made on some sections of the 3D data of the Baixa Grande Fault on software Move (Midland Valley Ltd) using the horizon modeling tool. The modeling confirms the influence of fault geometry on the hanging wall. The Baixa Grande Fault ramp-flat-ramp geometry generates synform on the concave segments of the fault and antiform in the convex segments. On the fault region that does not have segments angle change, the beds are dislocated without deformation, and on the listric faults occur rollover. On the direct 3D computational modeling, structural attributes were obtained as horizons on the hanging wall of the main fault, after the simulation of several levels of deformation along the fault. The occurrence of structures that indicates shortening in this modeling, also indicates that the antiforms on the Baixa Grande Fault were influenced by fault geometry

Orientação e magnitude de tensões na bacia potiguar: implicações para evolução de bacias em margens passivas

This study presents new stress orientations and magnitudes from the Potiguar basin in the continental margin of Brazil. We analyzed breakout and drilled induced fractures derived from resistivity image logs run in ten oil wells. We also used direct Shmin measurements determined from hydraulic fractures and rock strength laboratory analysis. In addition, we compared these results with 19 earthquake focal mechanisms located in the crystalline basement. We observed that stress directions and magnitudes change across the basin and its basement. In the basin, the SHmax gradient of 20.0 MPa/km and the SHmax/Shmin ratio of 1.154 indicate a normal stress regime from 0.5 to 2.0 km, whereas the SHmax gradient of 24.5MPa/km and the SHmax/Shmin ratio of 1.396 indicate a strike slip stress regime from 2.5 to 4.0 km. The deeper strike-slip stress regime in the basin is similar to the regime in the basement at 1-12 km deep. This stress regime transition is consistent with an incipient tectonic inversion process in the basin. We also noted that the SHmax direction rotates from NW SE in the western part of the Potiguar basin to E W in its central and eastern part, following roughly the shoreline geometry. It indicates that local factors, as density contrast between continental and oceanic crust and sediment loading at the continental shelf influence the stress field. The concentration of fluid pressure in faults of the lowpermeability crystalline basement and its implications to establish a critically stressed fault regime in the basement is also discussed

Evidências da herança geotectônica pré-cambriana na geração da barcia potiguar: um estudo geofísico multdisciplinar

The 3D gravity modeling of the Potiguar rift basin consisted of a digital processing of gravity and aeromagnetic data, subsidized by the results of Euler deconvolution of gravity and magnetic data and the interpretation of seismic lines and wells descriptions. The gravity database is a compilation of independent geophysical surveys conducted by several universities, research institutions and governmental agencies. The aeromagnetic data are from the Bacia Potiguar and Plataforma Continental do Nordeste projects, obtained from the Brazilian Petroleum Agency (ANP). The solutions of the Euler Deconvolution allowed the analysis of the behavior of the rift main limits. While the integrated interpretation of seismic lines provided the delimitating horizons of the sedimentary formations and the basement top. The integration of these data allowed a 3D gravity modeling of basement topography, allowing the identification of a series of internal structures of the Potiguar rift, as well intra-basement structures without the gravity effect of the rift. The proposed inversion procedure of the gravity data allowed to identify the main structural features of the Potiguar rift, elongated in the NE-SW direction, and its southern and eastern faulted edges, where the sedimentary infill reachs thicknesses up to 5500 m. The southern boundary is marked by the Apodi and Baixa Grande faults. These faults seem to be a single NW-SE oriented fault with a strong bend to NE-SW direction. In addition, the eastern boundary of the rift is conditioned by the NE-SW trending Carnaubais fault system. It was also observed NW-SE oriented faults, which acted as transfer faults to the extensional efforts during the basin formation. In the central part of the residual anomaly map without the gravity effect of the rift stands out a NW-SE trending gravity high, corresponding to the Orós-Jaguaribe belt lithotypes. We also observe a gravity maximum parallel to the Carnaubais fault system. This anomaly is aligned to the eastern limit of the rift and reflects the contact of different crustal blocks, limited by the eastern ward counterpart of the Portalegre Shear Zone

Modelagem estrutural física de semigrábens ortogonais e oblíquos à distenção regional: influência da trama do embasamento e comparação com analógicos no nordeste brasileiro

The physical structural modeling tool is being increasingly used in geology to provide information about the evolutionary stages (nucleation, growth) and geometry of geological structures at various scales. During the simulations of extensional tectonics, modeling provides a better understanding of fault geometry and evolution of the tectonic-stratigraphic architecture of rift basins. In this study a sandbox type apparatus was used to study the nucleation and development of basins influenced by previous structures within the basement, variably oriented as regards to the main extensional axis. Two types of experiments were conducted in order to: (i) simulate the individual (independent) development of half-grabens oriented orthogonal or oblique to the extension direction; (ii) simulate the simultaneous development of such half-grabens, orthogonal or oblique to the extension direction. In both cases the same materials (sand mixed with gypsum) were used and the same boundary conditions were maintained. The results were compared with a natural analogue represented by the Rio do Peixe Basin (one of the eocretaceous interior basins of Northeast Brazil). The obtained models allowed to observe the development of segmented border faults with listric geometry, often forming relay ramps, and the development of inner basins faults that affect only the basal strata, like the ones observed in the seismic sections of the natural analogue. The results confirm the importance of basement tectonic heritage in the geometry of rift depocenters

Caracterização de reservatórios siliciclásticos neoaptianos: um estudo do membro carmópolis no campo de Camorim, sub-bacia de Sergipe, Brasil

The Camorim Oilfield, discovered in 1970 in the shallow water domain of the Sergipe Sub-basin, produces hydrocarbons from the Carmópolis Member of the Muribeca Formation, the main reservoir interval, interpreted as siliciclastics deposited in an alluvial-fluvial-deltaic context during a late rifting phase of Neoaptian age, in the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin. The structural setting of the field defines different production blocks, being associated to the evolution of the Atalaia High during the rift stage and subsequent reactivations, encompassing NE-SW trending major normal faults and NWEW trending secondary faults. The complexity of this field is related to the strong facies variation due to the interaction between continental and coastal depositional environments, coupled with strata juxtaposition along fault blocks. This study aims to geologically characterize its reservoirs, to provide new insights to well drilling locations in order to increase the recovery factor of the field. Facies analysis based on drill cores and geophysical logs and the 3D interpretation of a seismic volume, provide a high resolution stratigraphic analysis approach to be applied in this geodynamic transitional context between the rift and drift evolutionary stages of the basin. The objective was to define spatial and time relations between production zones and the preferential directions of fluid flow, using isochore maps that represent the external geometry of the deposits and facies distribution maps to characterize the internal heterogeneities of these intervals, identified in a 4th order stratigraphic zoning. This work methodology, integrated in a 3D geological modelling process, will help to optimize well drilling and hydrocarbons production. This methodology may be applied in other reservoirs in tectonic and depositional contexts similar to the one observed at Camorim, for example, the oil fields in the Aracaju High, Sergipe Sub-basin, which together represent the largest volume of oil in place in onshore Brazilian basins

Sistemas orbitais e aéreos aplicados à análise multi-escala da tectônica rúptil atuante na borda sudeste da Bacia do Parnaíba

The tectonics activity on the southern border of Parnaíba Basin resulted in a wide range of brittle structures that affect siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. This tectonic activity and related faults, joints, and folds are poorly known. The main aims of this study were (1) to identify lineaments using several remotesensing systems, (2) to check how the interpretation based on these systems at several scales influence the identification of lineaments, and (3) to contribute to the knowledge of brittle tectonics in the southern border of the Parnaíba Basin. The integration of orbital and aerial systems allowed a multi-scale identification, classification, and quantification of lineaments. Maps of lineaments were elaborated in the following scales: 1:200,000 (SRTM Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission), 1:50,000 (Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite), 1:10,000 (aerial photographs) and 1:5,000 (Quickbird satellite). The classification of the features with structural significance allowed the determination of four structural sets: NW, NS, NE, and EW. They were usually identified in all remote-sensing systems. The NE-trending set was not easily identified in aerial photographs but was better visualized on images of medium-resolution systems (SRTM and Landsat 7 ETM+). The same behavior characterizes the NW-trending. The NS-and EW-trending sets were better identified on images from high-resolution systems (aerial photographs and Quickbird). The structural meaning of the lineaments was established after field work. The NEtrending set is associated with normal and strike-slip faults, including deformation bands. These are the oldest structures identified in the region and are related to the reactivation of Precambrian basement structures from the Transbrazilian Lineament. The NW-trending set represents strike-slip and subordinated normal faults. The high dispersion of this set suggests a more recent origin than the previous structures. The NW-trending set may be related to the Picos-Santa Inês Lineament. The NS-and EW-trending sets correspond to large joints (100 m 5 km long). The truncation relationships between these joint sets indicate that the EW-is older than the NS-trending set. The methodology developed by the present work is an excellent tool for the understanding of the regional and local tectonic structures in the Parnaíba basin. It helps the choice of the best remote-sensing system to identify brittle features in a poorly known sedimentary basin

Estruturação da seqüência vulcano-sedimentar Rio Mata Cavalo (Morro do Pilar, MG, Brasil) baseada na análise qualitativa de dados geofísicos

Geofísica terrestre (magnetometria e radiometria) foi utilizada como ferramenta de apoio ao mapeamento geológico em uma área de pesquisa mineral da Companhia Mineradora de Minas Gerais (COMIG), denominada Alvo Bueiro, localizada a sudeste da cidade de Morro do Pilar, na Serra do Espinhaço, Estado de Minas Gerais. A integração de informações de geologia de superfície com os dados geofísicos correspondentes permitiu definir quatro zonas: A, B, C e D. A Zona A, caracterizada por altos valores de susceptibilidade magnética e baixos valores de radiometria, é composta por itabiritos do Grupo Serra da Serpentina. A Zona B, pertencente ao mesmo grupo, é constituída por filitos cinza e metassiltitos e mostra baixa susceptibilidade magnética; interrupções nas linhas de contorno foram interpretadas como decorrentes de falhas de empurrão. A Zona C, relacionada à Seqüência Vulcano-Sedimentar Rio Mata Cavalo, é caracterizada por uma expressiva anomalia do campo magnético total em xistos máficos e ultramáficos com lentes de formações ferríferas e filitos carbonosos negros; esta zona hospeda as mais importantes anomalias geoquímicas de ouro conhecidas na área em estudo. A Zona D, correspondente a ortognaisses cisalhados do Complexo Dona Rita, mostra os mais elevados valores de radiometria do Alvo Bueiro e baixas respostas magnéticas.

A ação do polímero de mamona durante a neoformação óssea

OBJETIVO: Devido à importância da cicatrização dos defeitos que venham a acometer os tecidos ósseos, este estudo tem o objetivo de avaliar a ação do polímero de mamona durante a neoformação óssea. MÉTODOS: Para isto, um grupo de 45 ratos foi utilizado. Realizou-se a criação de um defeito ósseo na região do arco zigomático de todos os animais, sendo que todos estes defeitos foram preenchidos com o polímero de mamona. Decorridos períodos de 15, 30, 60, 90 e 120 dias, os animais foram sacrificados e seguiram-se as tramitações laboratoriais de rotina para análise histológica. RESULTADOS: Os resultados mostraram que o polímero de mamona auxiliou no processo cicatricial. CONCLUSÃO: Concluiu-se que o polímero de mamona auxiliou no processo regenerativo do defeito ósseo criado experimentalmente, atuando como um agente osteocondutor.

Fishes of the Atlantic Rainforest of Boraceia: testimonies of the Quaternary fault reactivation within a Neoproterozoic tectonic province in Southeastern Brazil

The upper portion of the Rio Guaratuba, located in the Serra do Mar coastal range of Southeastern Brazil, shows biological and geological evidences of being captured and diverted away from its original course in the direction of the Parana River Basin to become a coastal river due to the Quaternary activity of NW-trending faults. Despite draining directly to the Atlantic Ocean, the upper portion of the Guaratuba still maintains an ichthyofauna that is typical of the adjoining Parana River Basin rather than the characteristic fish fauna of the Brazilian coastal drainages. The fish fauna of the upper Guaratuba is an evident testimony of the tectonic process that allowed the faunal interchange between the upland basins and the coastal drainages that probably has been taking place in Southeastern Brazil throughout the long geological history of the passive Brazilian continental margin.

Quaternary of the Pantanal, west-central Brazil

The Pantanal is a tectonic depression located at the left margin of the Upper Paraguay River. The Paraguay is the trunk river of an alluvial depositional tract composed by several large marginal alluvial fans, the Taquari fan being the largest one. The present landscape is a complex tropical wetland characterized by month-long floods every year, with geomorphic features derived from the present conditions and others inherited from successive Pleistocene and Holocene climates. Some areas containing ponds are landscape relicts generated by eolian deflation during the Last Glacial Maximum. Many ponds, closed depressions isolated from the superficial waters by vegetated crescent ridges of fine sands, were interpreted as salt pans bordered by lunette sand dunes. Initiation of the modern wetland has occurred during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, with the change to a more humid climate and the individualization of lacustrine systems. Active tectonics has been playing an important role in the development of the Pantanal landscape. Nowadays, the Paraguay River meanders in a large flood plain with extensive swamp surfaces, being structurally constrained by faults in the west border of the basin. Sedimentation within the Pantanal wetland is also affected by tectonic activity, especially along faults associated with the Transbrasiliano Lineament. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

Integração de métodos geofísicos na modelagem crustal da Bacia de Santos

A Bacia de Santos é uma bacia de margem passiva gerada durante o Neocomiano, associado com o evento de ruptura do Supercontinente de Gondwana. A espessura da seção sedimentar pode alcançar 15 km, incluindo a seqüência rifte, e foi depositada sobre uma crosta afinada cuja espessura original era de cerca de 35 km. Foi realizada uma modelagem crustal em 8 linhas, aproximadamente perpendiculares ao mergulho deposicional da bacia, objetivando o reconhecimento da geometria da fase rifte e a estimativa do estiramento crustal. Foram utilizados durante a modelagem quatro horizontes sísmicos em profundidade, mapas magnético e gravimétrico além de dados da profundidade do embasamento magnético. Foi reconhecido um pronunciado estiramento crustal em toda a bacia (fatores de estiramento crustal variando entre 1.2 e 3.1), evidenciando ampla acomodação da deformação. Os resultados da modelagem necessitaram, ainda, de espessas e contínuas camadas de rochas vulcânicas para ajuste do modelo. Estas cunhas de rochas vulcânicas, limitadas lateralmente por falhas normais, são feições comuns em bacias rifte. Os resultados da modelagem foram confrontados com dados da profundidade do embasamento magnético, obtidos anteriormente, e evidenciaram forte correlação, sobretudo nas áreas rasas da bacia.

Tectonics and sedimentation in the Curitiba Basin, south of Brazil

The Curitiba Basin, Parana, lies parallel to the west side of the Serra do Mar range and is part of a continental rift near the Atlantic coast of southeastern Brazil. It bears unconsolidated and poorly consolidated sediments divided in two formations: the lower Guabirotuba Formation and the overlying Tinguis Formation, both developed over Precambrian basement. Field observations, water well drill cores, and interpretations of satellite images lead to the inference that regional tectonic processes were responsible for the origin of the Basin in the continental rift context and for morphotecatonic evolution through block tilting, dissection, and erosion. The structural framework of the sediments and the basement is characterized by NE-SW-trending normal faults (extensional tectonic D-1 event) reactivated by NE-SW-trending strike-slip and reverse oblique faults (younger transtensional tectonic D-2' to transpressional tectonic D-2, event). This tectonic event, which started in the Paleogene and controlled the basin geometry, began as a halfgraben and was later reactivated as a pull-apart basin. D-2 is a neotectonic event that controls the current morphostructures. The Basin is connected to the structural rearrangement of the South American platform, which underwent a generalized extensional or trantensional process and, in late Oligocene, changed to a compressional to transpressional regime. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.