The integration of low-temperature thermochronometers, including apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He (AHe, ZHe) and apatite fission-track (AFT) methods, allows for a quantification of the thermal history experienced by rocks as they heat and cool through upper crustal temperature regimes (<200°C). Whereas these methods are practical in geologic terranes that have undergone rapid cooling, application to strata with protracted cooling histories is complicated by the enhanced role of grain-specific parameters (volume, chemistry, radiation damage) on the kinetics of helium diffusion and fission track annealing. The effects of these variables are most prevalent in sedimentary samples, where natural variance in detrital accessory mineral populations results in a broad range of diffusion kinetics and great dispersion in corresponding cooling dates. This thesis integrates contemporary thermochronometer diffusion and annealing kinetics to investigate the burial and exhumation history of two natural laboratories. In the Mackenzie Mountains and Plain of the Northwest Territories, long-term radiation damage accumulation in zircon from Neoproterozoic siliciclastic units produces ZHe dates that track Albian to Paleocene burial and exhumation in front of the foreland-propagating fold-thrust belt. For the Phanerozoic stratigraphic section, AFT annealing kinetics are calculated from Devonian and Cretaceous samples, and are incorporated into multi-kinetic AFT modeling. These kinetics also constrain AHe date-radiation damage trends, and when combined allow for an estimation on the magnitude of eroded sediment across regional pre-Albian and post-Paleocene unconformities. Finally, conodont (U-Th)/He data from Anticosti Island, Québec in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence are compared with ZHe, AHe and AFT data to test their utility as a thermochronometer for carbonate basin analysis. These data evince a Mesozoic thermal history previously unattributed to the region. Ultimately, this thesis provides a novel assessment on the ways in which thermochronometer date dispersion can be quantified to assess the thermal evolution of sedimentary basins from burial through to inversion.

The Taimyr Peninsula is a key element in the circum-Arctic region and represents thenorthern margin of the Siberian Craton. The Taimyr Peninsula is a late Paleozoic fold andthrust belt and preserves late Paleozoic through Mesozoic siliciclastic sedimentarysuccessions and providing an ideal location to investigate the Paleozoic to Mesozoictectonic evolution associated with the Uralian orogeny, the Siberian Trap magmatism andopening of Amerasia Basin within a circum-Arctic framework. Multiple methods areadopted, including petrography, heavy mineral analysis and detrital zircon U-Pbgeochronology for provenance investigation, apatite fission track dating for revealingthermal history and balanced cross section for understanding the deformation style ofTaimyr.The results of this thesis indicate that the Late Carboniferous to Permian sediments ofsouthern Taimyr were deposited in a pro-foreland basin of the Uralian orogen during theUralian orogeny. In the Triassic, the siliciclastic deposits still show a strong Uraliansignature but the initiation of Siberian Trap-related input begins to be significant. Erosionof the Uralian orogen has reached a deep metamorphic level. By Late Jurassic andCretaceous time, the deposition setting of southern Taimyr is an intracratonic basin.Erosion and input from Uralian sources waned while greater input from SiberianTrap-related rocks of the Taimyr region dominated. The Taimyr Peninsula underwent atleast three cooling and uplifting episodes: 280 Ma, 250 Ma and 220 Ma, corresponding tothe Uralian orogeny, the Siberian Traps and the late Triassic transpression. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: In press. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Estudos termocronológicos por traços de fissão em apatita são utilizados para estabelecer os principais eventos de denudação, erosão e subsidência na margem continental emersa do sul do Brasil e Uruguai. Os dados obtidos permitem verificar que as idades aparentes de traços de fissão variam de 383,4 ± 40,9 a 9,7 ± 1,2 Ma, entre o Devoniano Superior e o Mioceno, com comprimento dos traços de fissão entre 14,02 a 8,87 μm. A correlação entre idade e distribuição do comprimento dos traços de fissão confinados evidencia que as amostras sofreram diferentes reduções no comprimento dos traços de fissão. Isto indica que as rochas foram submetidas a diferentes posições crustais, paleotemperaturas e tempo de residência na Zona de Apagamento Parcial. As histórias térmicas obtidas mostram que processos de resfriamento lentos e contínuos foram registrados nas regiões desde o final do Pensilvaniano (Neopaleozóico). Os padrões de denudação são complexos, mas foi possível caracterizar no Uruguai e Rio Grande do Sul reflexos do evento orgênico Gondwanides (ou São Rafaélico) atuantes nas margens do Gondwana SW. Nas regiões do norte do Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina e Paraná foi possível documentar com detalhe o recuo da escarpa da margem continental associada a fragmentação e dispersão mesocenozóica do Gondwana, com a definição de eventos de denudação em torno de: (i) 150-140 Ma, atribuído aos eventos pré-rifte a rifte; (ii) 90-80 Ma, associado ao magmatismo alcalino do Cretáceo Superior; (iii) eventos de 70-60 Ma e 45-35 Ma associados a rearranjos isostático da placa Sul-Americana na região estudada. Evento mais jovem com idades entre 20-10 Ma é reconhecido na margem continental do leste do RS e Uruguai, diretamente conectado à formação do Cone do Rio Grande. / Apatite fission track (FT) thermochronological analyses are used to establish the main events of denudation, erosion and subsidence of the emerse continental margin of South Brazil and Uruguay. The obtained data provide apparent ages ranging from 383.4 ± 40.9 Ma to 9.7 ± 1.2 Ma, between Upper Devonian and Miocene, and mean track length from 14.02 μm to 8.87 μm. Thermal history reconstruction based on apatite fission track thermochronology suggest the occurrence of long term and continuous cooling as well rapid uplift in investigated regions, recorded from Neopaleozoic to the Miocene. The oldest denudation event is well recorded in the Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul as result of orogenic processes at margin of SW Gondwana, the so-called Gondwanides or San Rafael cycle. In the northern portion of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná was possible to document the escarpment retreat across the rifted continental margin connected to the Mesocenozoic fragmentation and dispersion of Gondwana, defined by the main denudation event as follow: (i) 150-140 Ma, developed during the pre-rift and rift stages; (ii) 90-80 Ma, associated to Upper Cretaceous alkaline ; (iii) 70-60 Ma and 45-35 Ma events due to isostatic rearrangement of South American plate in the study area. The youngest denudation event, aged at 20-10 Ma, is very well defined in the emerse continental margin of east Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, and coeval to the Rio Grande Cone formation, a large sedimentary package of 4000 m thick.

Estudos termocronológicos por traços de fissão em apatita são utilizados para estabelecer os principais eventos de denudação, erosão e subsidência na margem continental emersa do sul do Brasil e Uruguai. Os dados obtidos permitem verificar que as idades aparentes de traços de fissão variam de 383,4 ± 40,9 a 9,7 ± 1,2 Ma, entre o Devoniano Superior e o Mioceno, com comprimento dos traços de fissão entre 14,02 a 8,87 μm. A correlação entre idade e distribuição do comprimento dos traços de fissão confinados evidencia que as amostras sofreram diferentes reduções no comprimento dos traços de fissão. Isto indica que as rochas foram submetidas a diferentes posições crustais, paleotemperaturas e tempo de residência na Zona de Apagamento Parcial. As histórias térmicas obtidas mostram que processos de resfriamento lentos e contínuos foram registrados nas regiões desde o final do Pensilvaniano (Neopaleozóico). Os padrões de denudação são complexos, mas foi possível caracterizar no Uruguai e Rio Grande do Sul reflexos do evento orgênico Gondwanides (ou São Rafaélico) atuantes nas margens do Gondwana SW. Nas regiões do norte do Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina e Paraná foi possível documentar com detalhe o recuo da escarpa da margem continental associada a fragmentação e dispersão mesocenozóica do Gondwana, com a definição de eventos de denudação em torno de: (i) 150-140 Ma, atribuído aos eventos pré-rifte a rifte; (ii) 90-80 Ma, associado ao magmatismo alcalino do Cretáceo Superior; (iii) eventos de 70-60 Ma e 45-35 Ma associados a rearranjos isostático da placa Sul-Americana na região estudada. Evento mais jovem com idades entre 20-10 Ma é reconhecido na margem continental do leste do RS e Uruguai, diretamente conectado à formação do Cone do Rio Grande. / Apatite fission track (FT) thermochronological analyses are used to establish the main events of denudation, erosion and subsidence of the emerse continental margin of South Brazil and Uruguay. The obtained data provide apparent ages ranging from 383.4 ± 40.9 Ma to 9.7 ± 1.2 Ma, between Upper Devonian and Miocene, and mean track length from 14.02 μm to 8.87 μm. Thermal history reconstruction based on apatite fission track thermochronology suggest the occurrence of long term and continuous cooling as well rapid uplift in investigated regions, recorded from Neopaleozoic to the Miocene. The oldest denudation event is well recorded in the Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul as result of orogenic processes at margin of SW Gondwana, the so-called Gondwanides or San Rafael cycle. In the northern portion of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná was possible to document the escarpment retreat across the rifted continental margin connected to the Mesocenozoic fragmentation and dispersion of Gondwana, defined by the main denudation event as follow: (i) 150-140 Ma, developed during the pre-rift and rift stages; (ii) 90-80 Ma, associated to Upper Cretaceous alkaline ; (iii) 70-60 Ma and 45-35 Ma events due to isostatic rearrangement of South American plate in the study area. The youngest denudation event, aged at 20-10 Ma, is very well defined in the emerse continental margin of east Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, and coeval to the Rio Grande Cone formation, a large sedimentary package of 4000 m thick.

Estudos termocronológicos por traços de fissão em apatita são utilizados para estabelecer os principais eventos de denudação, erosão e subsidência na margem continental emersa do sul do Brasil e Uruguai. Os dados obtidos permitem verificar que as idades aparentes de traços de fissão variam de 383,4 ± 40,9 a 9,7 ± 1,2 Ma, entre o Devoniano Superior e o Mioceno, com comprimento dos traços de fissão entre 14,02 a 8,87 μm. A correlação entre idade e distribuição do comprimento dos traços de fissão confinados evidencia que as amostras sofreram diferentes reduções no comprimento dos traços de fissão. Isto indica que as rochas foram submetidas a diferentes posições crustais, paleotemperaturas e tempo de residência na Zona de Apagamento Parcial. As histórias térmicas obtidas mostram que processos de resfriamento lentos e contínuos foram registrados nas regiões desde o final do Pensilvaniano (Neopaleozóico). Os padrões de denudação são complexos, mas foi possível caracterizar no Uruguai e Rio Grande do Sul reflexos do evento orgênico Gondwanides (ou São Rafaélico) atuantes nas margens do Gondwana SW. Nas regiões do norte do Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina e Paraná foi possível documentar com detalhe o recuo da escarpa da margem continental associada a fragmentação e dispersão mesocenozóica do Gondwana, com a definição de eventos de denudação em torno de: (i) 150-140 Ma, atribuído aos eventos pré-rifte a rifte; (ii) 90-80 Ma, associado ao magmatismo alcalino do Cretáceo Superior; (iii) eventos de 70-60 Ma e 45-35 Ma associados a rearranjos isostático da placa Sul-Americana na região estudada. Evento mais jovem com idades entre 20-10 Ma é reconhecido na margem continental do leste do RS e Uruguai, diretamente conectado à formação do Cone do Rio Grande. / Apatite fission track (FT) thermochronological analyses are used to establish the main events of denudation, erosion and subsidence of the emerse continental margin of South Brazil and Uruguay. The obtained data provide apparent ages ranging from 383.4 ± 40.9 Ma to 9.7 ± 1.2 Ma, between Upper Devonian and Miocene, and mean track length from 14.02 μm to 8.87 μm. Thermal history reconstruction based on apatite fission track thermochronology suggest the occurrence of long term and continuous cooling as well rapid uplift in investigated regions, recorded from Neopaleozoic to the Miocene. The oldest denudation event is well recorded in the Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul as result of orogenic processes at margin of SW Gondwana, the so-called Gondwanides or San Rafael cycle. In the northern portion of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná was possible to document the escarpment retreat across the rifted continental margin connected to the Mesocenozoic fragmentation and dispersion of Gondwana, defined by the main denudation event as follow: (i) 150-140 Ma, developed during the pre-rift and rift stages; (ii) 90-80 Ma, associated to Upper Cretaceous alkaline ; (iii) 70-60 Ma and 45-35 Ma events due to isostatic rearrangement of South American plate in the study area. The youngest denudation event, aged at 20-10 Ma, is very well defined in the emerse continental margin of east Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, and coeval to the Rio Grande Cone formation, a large sedimentary package of 4000 m thick.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Mary Hubbard / The southern Sawatch Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado is composed of Precambrian crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks that have undergone at least three major mountain building events during the Phanerozoic, the Ancestral Rockies Orogeny, the Laramide Orogeny, and Rio Grande rifting. In order to determine how the ancient basement structures might have influenced later episodes of deformation, a small area of basement terrain was mapped along the western margin of the Poncha Pass transfer zone between the San Luis and Upper Arkansas basins in the northern Rio Grande rift. The two dominant rock types in the map area, (hornblendic) amphibolite gneiss and (felsic) quartzofeldspathic gneiss, may represent interlayered metabasalt/metadiorite and metarhyolite/metagranite, with lenses of exotic lithologies throughout. Metamorphic foliations were found to be oriented predominantly N35ºW 47ºNE and to have had an influence on younger brittle structures related to the rifting episode. Lineations and fractures in the gneissic fabric also are parallel to brittle deformation structures. Apatite Fission-Track (AFT) analysis provided a means of determining when this crust was exhumed and cooled by the removal of overburden in response to erosion and/or tectonics. The resultant AFT age distribution revealed that exhumation occurred at the higher elevations during the Laramide orogeny (~299-46 Ma), and at lower elevations during Rio Grande rifting (~29-19 Ma). Although it is commonly thought that these mountains were exhumed during the rifting episode, the results of this study indicate that older events played a significant role in the exhumation.

pas de résumé

Three studies on Cordilleran foreland basin deposits in the western U.S.A. constitute this dissertation. These studies differ in scale, time and discipline. The first two studies include basin analysis, flexural modeling and detailed stratigraphic analysis of Upper Cretaceous depocenters and strata in the western U.S.A. The third study consists of detrital zircon U-Pb analysis (DZ U-Pb) and thermochronology, both zircon (U-Th)/He and apatite fission track (AFT), of Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous foreland-basin conglomerates and sandstones. Five electronic supplementary files are a part of this dissertation and are available online; these include 3 raw data files (Appendix_A_raw_isopach_data.txt, Appendix_C_DZ_Data.xls, Appendix_C_UPb_apatite.xls), 1 oversized stratigraphic cross section (Appendix_B_figure_5.pdf), and 1 figure containing apatite U-Pb concordia plots (Appendix_C_Concordia.pdf). Appendix A. Subsidence in the retroarc foreland of the North American Cordillera in the western U.S.A. has been the focus of a great deal of research, and its transition from a flexural foreland basin, during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, to a dynamically subsided basin during the Late Cretaceous has been well documented. However, the exact timing of the flexural to dynamic transition is not well constrained, and the mechanism has been consistently debated. In order to address the timing, I produced new isopach maps from ~130 well log data points that cover much of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and northern New Mexico, producing in the process, the most detailed isopach maps of the area. These isopach maps span the Turonian to mid-Campanian during the Late Cretaceous (~93–76 Ma). In conjunction with the isopach maps I flexurally modeled the Cordilleran foreland basin to identify when flexure can no longer account for the basin geometry and identified the flexural to dynamic transition to have occurred at 81 Ma. In addition, the dynamic subsidence at 81 Ma is compared to the position of the hypothesized Shatsky Oceanic Plateau and other proposed drivers of dynamic subsidence. I concluded that dynamic subsidence is likely caused by convection over the plunging nose of the Shatsky Oceanic Plateau. Appendix B. The second study is a detailed stratigraphic study of the Upper Cretaceous, (Campanian, ~76 Ma) Sego Sandstone Member of the Mesaverde Group in northwestern Colorado, an area where little research has been done on this formation. Its equivalent in the Book Cliffs area in eastern Utah has been rigorously documented and its distal progradation has been contrastingly interpreted as a result of active tectonism and shortening in the Cordilleran orogenic belt ~250 km to the west and to tectonic quiescence, flexural rebound in the thrust belt and reworking of proximal coarse grained deposits. I documented ~17 km of along depositional dip outcrops of the Sego Sandstone Member north of Rangely, Colorado. This documentation includes measured sections, paleocurrent analysis, a stratigraphic cross section, block diagrams outlining the evolution of environments of deposition through time, and paleogeographic maps correlating northwest Colorado with the Book Cliffs, Utah. The sequence stratigraphy of the Sego Sandstone Member in northwest Colorado is similar to that documented in the Book Cliffs area to the south-southwest, sharing three sequence boundaries. However, flood-tidal delta assemblages between fluvio-deltaic deposits that are present north of Rangely, Colorado are absent from the Book Cliffs area. These flood-tidal-delta assemblages are likely caused by a large scale avulsion event in the Rangely area that did not occur or was not preserved in the Book Cliffs area. In regards to tectonic models that explain distal progradation of the 76 Ma Sego Sandstone Member to be caused by tectonic quiescence and flexural rebound in the thrust belt, the first study shows that at 76 Ma, flexural processes were no longer dominant in the Cordilleran foreland, so it is inappropriate to apply models driven by flexure to the Sego Sandstone Member. Dynamic processes dominated the western U.S.A. during the Campanian, and flexural processes were subordinate. Appendix C. In order to test the tectonic vs. anti-tectonic basin-filling models for distal coarse foreland deposits mentioned above, the third study involves estimating lag times of Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous conglomerates and sandstones in the Cordilleran foreland basin. Measuring lag time requires a good understanding of both the stratigraphic age of a deposit and the thermal history of sedimentary basin. To further constrain depositional age, I present twenty-two new detrital zircon U-Pb (DZ U-Pb) sample analyses, spanning Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. Source exhumation ages can be measured using thermochronology. To identify a thermochronometer that measures source exhumation in the North America Cordillera, both zircon (U-Th)/He, on eleven samples, and apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology, on eleven samples was performed. Typically, the youngest cooling age population in detrital thermochronologic analyses is considered to be a source exhumation signal; however, whether or not these apatites are exhumed apatites or derived from young magmatic and volcanic sources has been debated. To test this, I double dated the detrital AFT samples, targeting apatites with a young cooling age, using U-Pb thermochronology. Key findings are that the maximum depositional ages using DZ U-Pb match existing biostratigraphic and geochronologic age controls on basin stratigraphy. AFT is an effective thermochronometer for Lower to Upper Cretaceous foreland stratigraphy and indicates that source material was exhumed from >4–5 km depth in the Cordilleran orogenic belt between 118 and 66 Ma, and zircon (U-Th)/He suggests that it was exhumed from <8–9 km depth. Double dating apatites (with AFT and U-Pb) indicate that volcanic contamination is a significant issue; without having UPb dating of the same apatite grains, one cannot exclude the possibility that the youngest detrital AFT population is contaminated with significant amounts of volcanogenic apatite and does not represent source exhumation. AFT lag-times are 0 to 5 Myr with relatively steady-state to slightly increasing exhumation rates. We compare our data to orogenic wedge dynamics and subsidence histories; all data shows active shortening and rapid exhumation throughout the Cretaceous. Our lag-time measurements indicate exhumation rates of ~.9–>>1 km/Myr.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O relevo da Serra da Bocaina revela o forte controle das estruturas dúcteis e rúpteis relacionadas à Faixa Ribeira gerada na Orogênese Brasiliana (ca. 790-480 Ma) e às reativações mesozóica-cenozóicas. As rochas são agrupadas em 4 terrenos tectônicos colados nas etapas colisionais brasilianas, que formaram as estruturas mais penetrativas: foliação com mergulho para NW, zonas de cisalhamento dúcteis NESW e dobras. Zonas de cisalhamento rúptil-dúcteis NW marcam o colapso orogênico. A abertura do Atlântico Sul (ca. 135-120 Ma) é registrada pelos enxames de diques toleíticos NNE e ENE, em parte condicionados pelas estruturas brasilianas. No Planalto da Bocaina uma idade de traço de fissão em apatita (TFA) de ca. 145 Ma data o resfriamento ainda da fase pré-rifte do Gondwana. O soerguimento da margem continental na fase rifte pode ter alçado este nível para fora da zona de apagamento parcial do TFA. A reativação neocretácea é datada pelo TFA (ca. 85 Ma) na costa e na escarpa atlântica, indicando novo pulso de denudação e soerguimento da margem continental. Isto também concorda com o extenso aporte de sedimentação siliciclástica na Bacia de Santos. No Paleógeno, a formação dos Riftes Continentais do Sudeste Brasileiro (RCSB) gerou a reativação das estruturas dúcteis NE da Faixa Ribeira, falhas e fraturas NW, E-W, além de fraturas NE na Baía da Ilha Grande. O contato tectônico entre os Terrenos Paraíba do Sul e Embu é a principal zona reativada na Serra da Bocaina. Idades TFA (ca. 55 Ma) registram o estágio inicial do RCSB, que provocou o rebaixamento do nível de base e a formação de uma escarpa no interior. A Serra da Bocaina parece constituir uma região elevada desde a formação da Cordilheira Ribeira, incrementada pelos soerguimentos das fases rifte e pós-rifte do Atlântico e do RCSB. Estes eventos tectônicos que elevaram a Serra da Bocaina, também geraram as estruturas que conduzem sua denudação. Neste contexto, destaca-se o par de estruturas NE (foliação e zonas de cisalhamento reativadas ou não) e NW (fraturas e falhas), as mais freqüentes, que orienta a rede de drenagem, os níveis de base locais (knickpoints) e as formas côncavas das encostas (cabeceiras de canais). Diques toleíticos também conduzem a dissecação dos vales fluviais. Por outro lado, granitos e ortognaisses que sustentam as elevações e segmentos de escarpas mostram o papel da erosão diferencial em rochas mais resistentes. A denudação do Planalto da Bocaina e o recuo de suas escarpas (atlântica e interior) são regulados por diferentes níveis de base (p.ex. nível do mar, rio Paraíba do Sul no RCSB, diversos knickpoints), sensíveis aos eventos de reativações tectônicas (soerguimento), variações eustáticas e à erosão diferencial. Os pulsos erosivos vêm dissecando de modo diferencial os vales suspensos do planalto, através da incisão fluvial e reativação das cabeceiras de canais, que avançam sobre as encostas promovendo a quebra dos divisores e capturas de drenagens. Este processo rebaixamento de relevo parece levar à formação das superfícies colinosas que ocorrem em diferentes níveis topográficos. As idades TFA antigas indicam baixas taxas de denudação na porção mais elevada do Planalto da Bocaina, o que contrasta com as altas taxas da região costeira. Este caráter diferencial da denudação condicionada pelo substrato geológico e pelos eventos de soerguimento, vem preservando antigas paisagens no Planalto da Bocaina. No outro extremo, a denudação propagada pelo recuo das duas escarpas vem degradando as bordas e introduzindo a dissecação no interior do planalto. As duas escarpas geradas por eventos riftes distintos vêm se ajustando ao controle das rochas e estruturas da Faixa Ribeira. / The Bocaina Ridge landscape is strongly controlled by both ductile and brittle structures related to the Ribeira Belt (Brasiliano Orogeny ca. 790-480Ma) and also to the mesozoic-cenozoic reactivations. The rocks were subdivided in four tectonic terrains accreted in the brasiliano collisional stages. The most prominent structures related to these collisions are: NW dipping foliation, NE-SW ductile shear zones, and folds. NW ductile-brittle shear zones represent the orogenic collapse stage. The South Atlantic opening (ca.135-120 Ma) is registered in NNE and ENE tholeitic dike swarms, partly conditioned by brasiliano structures. In the Bocaina Plateau one apatite fission track age (AFT) of ca.145Ma represents pre-rift Gondwana cooling. The continental margin uplift associated to the rift phase might have raised this level out of the AFT partial annealing zone. Neocretaceous reactivation (ca. 85Ma) was AFT dated both in the coast and the atlantic scarp, pointing out to a newer continental margin denudation and uplift pulse. This reactivation is in accordance with the Santos basin significant siliciclastic sedimentation. In paleogene times, the Southeastern Brazil Continental Rift System (SBCR) development was responsible for: the reactivation of the Ribeira Belt NE ductile structures, NW and E-W faulting and fracturing, and NE fracturing in Ilha Grande Bay. The tectonic boundary between Paraíba do Sul and Embu Terrains is the main reactivation zone in the Bocaina Ridge. AFT ages of ca. 55 Ma register the initial stage of the SBCR, which produced base level lowering and the formation of an inland scarp. The Bocaina Ridge seems to constitute an elevated region since the development of the Ribeira Cordillera, increased by the South Atlantic rift and post-rift uplifts and also by the SBCR.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O relevo da Serra da Bocaina revela o forte controle das estruturas dúcteis e rúpteis relacionadas à Faixa Ribeira gerada na Orogênese Brasiliana (ca. 790-480 Ma) e às reativações mesozóica-cenozóicas. As rochas são agrupadas em 4 terrenos tectônicos colados nas etapas colisionais brasilianas, que formaram as estruturas mais penetrativas: foliação com mergulho para NW, zonas de cisalhamento dúcteis NESW e dobras. Zonas de cisalhamento rúptil-dúcteis NW marcam o colapso orogênico. A abertura do Atlântico Sul (ca. 135-120 Ma) é registrada pelos enxames de diques toleíticos NNE e ENE, em parte condicionados pelas estruturas brasilianas. No Planalto da Bocaina uma idade de traço de fissão em apatita (TFA) de ca. 145 Ma data o resfriamento ainda da fase pré-rifte do Gondwana. O soerguimento da margem continental na fase rifte pode ter alçado este nível para fora da zona de apagamento parcial do TFA. A reativação neocretácea é datada pelo TFA (ca. 85 Ma) na costa e na escarpa atlântica, indicando novo pulso de denudação e soerguimento da margem continental. Isto também concorda com o extenso aporte de sedimentação siliciclástica na Bacia de Santos. No Paleógeno, a formação dos Riftes Continentais do Sudeste Brasileiro (RCSB) gerou a reativação das estruturas dúcteis NE da Faixa Ribeira, falhas e fraturas NW, E-W, além de fraturas NE na Baía da Ilha Grande. O contato tectônico entre os Terrenos Paraíba do Sul e Embu é a principal zona reativada na Serra da Bocaina. Idades TFA (ca. 55 Ma) registram o estágio inicial do RCSB, que provocou o rebaixamento do nível de base e a formação de uma escarpa no interior. A Serra da Bocaina parece constituir uma região elevada desde a formação da Cordilheira Ribeira, incrementada pelos soerguimentos das fases rifte e pós-rifte do Atlântico e do RCSB. Estes eventos tectônicos que elevaram a Serra da Bocaina, também geraram as estruturas que conduzem sua denudação. Neste contexto, destaca-se o par de estruturas NE (foliação e zonas de cisalhamento reativadas ou não) e NW (fraturas e falhas), as mais freqüentes, que orienta a rede de drenagem, os níveis de base locais (knickpoints) e as formas côncavas das encostas (cabeceiras de canais). Diques toleíticos também conduzem a dissecação dos vales fluviais. Por outro lado, granitos e ortognaisses que sustentam as elevações e segmentos de escarpas mostram o papel da erosão diferencial em rochas mais resistentes. A denudação do Planalto da Bocaina e o recuo de suas escarpas (atlântica e interior) são regulados por diferentes níveis de base (p.ex. nível do mar, rio Paraíba do Sul no RCSB, diversos knickpoints), sensíveis aos eventos de reativações tectônicas (soerguimento), variações eustáticas e à erosão diferencial. Os pulsos erosivos vêm dissecando de modo diferencial os vales suspensos do planalto, através da incisão fluvial e reativação das cabeceiras de canais, que avançam sobre as encostas promovendo a quebra dos divisores e capturas de drenagens. Este processo rebaixamento de relevo parece levar à formação das superfícies colinosas que ocorrem em diferentes níveis topográficos. As idades TFA antigas indicam baixas taxas de denudação na porção mais elevada do Planalto da Bocaina, o que contrasta com as altas taxas da região costeira. Este caráter diferencial da denudação condicionada pelo substrato geológico e pelos eventos de soerguimento, vem preservando antigas paisagens no Planalto da Bocaina. No outro extremo, a denudação propagada pelo recuo das duas escarpas vem degradando as bordas e introduzindo a dissecação no interior do planalto. As duas escarpas geradas por eventos riftes distintos vêm se ajustando ao controle das rochas e estruturas da Faixa Ribeira. / The Bocaina Ridge landscape is strongly controlled by both ductile and brittle structures related to the Ribeira Belt (Brasiliano Orogeny ca. 790-480Ma) and also to the mesozoic-cenozoic reactivations. The rocks were subdivided in four tectonic terrains accreted in the brasiliano collisional stages. The most prominent structures related to these collisions are: NW dipping foliation, NE-SW ductile shear zones, and folds. NW ductile-brittle shear zones represent the orogenic collapse stage. The South Atlantic opening (ca.135-120 Ma) is registered in NNE and ENE tholeitic dike swarms, partly conditioned by brasiliano structures. In the Bocaina Plateau one apatite fission track age (AFT) of ca.145Ma represents pre-rift Gondwana cooling. The continental margin uplift associated to the rift phase might have raised this level out of the AFT partial annealing zone. Neocretaceous reactivation (ca. 85Ma) was AFT dated both in the coast and the atlantic scarp, pointing out to a newer continental margin denudation and uplift pulse. This reactivation is in accordance with the Santos basin significant siliciclastic sedimentation. In paleogene times, the Southeastern Brazil Continental Rift System (SBCR) development was responsible for: the reactivation of the Ribeira Belt NE ductile structures, NW and E-W faulting and fracturing, and NE fracturing in Ilha Grande Bay. The tectonic boundary between Paraíba do Sul and Embu Terrains is the main reactivation zone in the Bocaina Ridge. AFT ages of ca. 55 Ma register the initial stage of the SBCR, which produced base level lowering and the formation of an inland scarp. The Bocaina Ridge seems to constitute an elevated region since the development of the Ribeira Cordillera, increased by the South Atlantic rift and post-rift uplifts and also by the SBCR.