Aspectos petrográficos dos carbonatos da Formação Riachuelo - Albiano, bacia de Sergipe

The carbonatic rocks have great importance in petroleum geology, since most hydrocarbons reservoirs in the world are associated to this kind of rock. The new giant petroleum fields discovered in the Brazilian southeast Atlantic margin are directly connected to calcareous rocks, which are subjacent to the Aptian evaporite pack. This demand an increase in the number of geologists able to study such deposits. The Aptian carbonatic platform is completely exposed only in the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin. Therefore, it works as a natural laboratory to the study and understanding of this kind of rock. The Sergipe Basin is situated in the east Brazilian coast, and has its evolutional history is intimately related to the formation of the South Atlantic Ocean, through the break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent. The marine sequence of the Brazilian marginal basins is of Albian age and is marked by the development of carbonatic platforms. In doing so, this paper aims to analyze the Albian limestones from Riachuelo Formation of the Sergipe Basin. The project gave to the student the opportunity to increase his knowledge in carbonates, due to the laboratory and outdoor activities. The studied deposits, within a regional outline, were petrografically described, allowing interpretations about the evolution of the former South Atlantic Ocean. Ten points were visited where samples were collected for making of thin sheets. In this work several carbonatic facies were identified totaling 116 laminates described.

Laminitos microbiais no membro Crato (Neoaptiano), bacia do Araripe, nordeste do Brasil

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE

Laminitos microbiais no membro Crato (Neoaptiano), bacia do Araripe, nordeste do Brasil

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE

Tectonics and kinematics of curved mountain belts: examples from the Andes and the Alps

Curved mountain belts have always fascinated geologists and geophysicists because of their peculiar structural setting and geodynamic mechanisms of formation. The need of studying orogenic bends arises from the numerous questions to which geologists and geophysicists have tried to answer to during the last two decades, such as: what are the mechanisms governing orogenic bends formation? Why do they form? Do they develop in particular geological conditions? And if so, what are the most favorable conditions? What are their relationships with the deformational history of the belt? Why is the shape of arcuate orogens in many parts of the Earth so different? What are the factors controlling the shape of orogenic bends? Paleomagnetism demonstrated to be one of the most effective techniques in order to document the deformation of a curved belt through the determination of vertical axis rotations. In fact, the pattern of rotations within a curved belt can reveal the occurrence of a bending, and its timing. Nevertheless, paleomagnetic data alone are not sufficient to constrain the tectonic evolution of a curved belt. Usually, structural analysis integrates paleomagnetic data, in defining the kinematics of a belt through kinematic indicators on brittle fault planes (i.e., slickensides, mineral fibers growth, SC-structures). My research program has been focused on the study of curved mountain belts through paleomagnetism, in order to define their kinematics, timing, and mechanisms of formation. Structural analysis, performed only in some regions, supported and integrated paleomagnetic data. In particular, three arcuate orogenic systems have been investigated: the Western Alpine Arc (NW Italy), the Bolivian Orocline (Central Andes, NW Argentina), and the Patagonian Orocline (Tierra del Fuego, southern Argentina). The bending of the Western Alpine Arc has been investigated so far using different approaches, though few based on reliable paleomagnetic data. Results from our paleomagnetic study carried out in the Tertiary Piedmont Basin, located on top of Alpine nappes, indicate that the Western Alpine Arc is a primary bend that has been subsequently tightened by further ~50° during Aquitanian-Serravallian times (23-12 Ma). This mid-Miocene oroclinal bending, superimposing onto a pre-existing Eocene nonrotational arc, is the result of a composite geodynamic mechanism, where slab rollback, mantle flows, and rotating thrust emplacement are intimately linked. Relying on our paleomagnetic and structural evidence, the Bolivian Orocline can be considered as a progressive bend, whose formation has been driven by the along-strike gradient of crustal shortening. The documented clockwise rotations up to 45° are compatible with a secondary-bending type mechanism occurring after Eocene-Oligocene times (30-40 Ma), and their nature is probably related to the widespread shearing taking place between zones of differential shortening. Since ~15 Ma ago, the activity of N-S left-lateral strike-slip faults in the Eastern Cordillera at the border with the Altiplano-Puna plateau induced up to ~40° counterclockwise rotations along the fault zone, locally annulling the regional clockwise rotation. We proposed that mid-Miocene strike-slip activity developed in response of a compressive stress (related to body forces) at the plateau margins, caused by the progressive lateral (southward) growth of the Altiplano-Puna plateau, laterally spreading from the overthickened crustal region of the salient apex. The growth of plateaux by lateral spreading seems to be a mechanism common to other major plateaux in the Earth (i.e., Tibetan plateau). Results from the Patagonian Orocline represent the first reliable constraint to the timing of bending in the southern tip of South America. They indicate that the Patagonian Orocline did not undergo any significant rotation since early Eocene times (~50 Ma), implying that it may be considered either a primary bend, or an orocline formed during the late Cretaceous-early Eocene deformation phase. This result has important implications on the opening of the Drake Passage at ~32 Ma, since it is definitely not related to the formation of the Patagonian orocline, but the sole consequence of the Scotia plate spreading. Finally, relying on the results and implications from the study of the Western Alpine Arc, the Bolivian Orocline, and the Patagonian Orocline, general conclusions on curved mountain belt formation have been inferred.

Age Relationships of Ore Deposits of Southwestern Montana (A Microscopic Study)

Although considerable work has been undertaken by some prominent geologists, the best known of which is that of Paul Billingsley and J. A. Grimes', in investigating the ore deposits of the Boulder Batholith and surrounding area, there has not been any complete microscopic investigation of these deposits, as a whole, published in the literature. With this in mind it was suggested to the writer by Professor Paul A. Schafer, of the Montana School of Mines, that a microscopic study of the ores of this region would be a worthwhile geologic problem. It was thought that the mineral association and the mode of mineral occurrence might afford methods of classify­ing these deposits so that they could be correlated with the age relationships worked out by Billingsley and Grimes.

Areal Geology of the Post-Paleozoic Surface of the Northwest Plains

Probably most of the area included in this report has been ex­amined to some extent by oil geologists, and most, if not all, of the important domes have been discovered and surveyed thoroughly. In parts of the area, the bedrock is covered by glacial drift or alluvium materi­al, but it is reasonable to believe that no new domal structure will be found. This means that surface examination alone will be insufficient in locating new oil fields, so future prospecting will be dependent, to a great extent, on studies of sub-surface stratigraphy.

Distribution and Lithology of Sedimentary Rocks in Montana and Adjacent Areas

The general features of the sedimentary rocks in a region, their distribution, and the relationships of these rocks to other rocks of the area and of adjacent areas, are some of the things in which most geologists are interested, for reasons of general curiosity or for obtaining a better understanding of their specific prob­lems

Kibbey Sandstone in Montana

Much attention has recently been given, by geolog­ists, to prolific water bearing horizon and a potent­ial oil horizon, known as the Kibbey sandstone, which lies deeply buried under much of central Montana. In some local­ities the sandstone is dry, and its identification in cut­tings from deep wells has in many cases proved difficult.