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The association between Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) and mass extinctions and anoxic events is attributed to the radical climatic changes in Earth. Even though the Early Cretaceous Paraná–Etendeka Igneous Province has a comparable erupted volume (>1 Mkm3) to other LIPs (e.g., Deccan, Emeishan and Siberian Traps), it remains controversial why this LIP did not contribute to a mass extinction and whether it is associated with the Weissert Event. This work presents new 40Ar/39Ar dating over a 425-m vertical stratigraphic profile (out of 1,000 m) that spans three formations of the PE-LIP in southern Brazil (low-Ti Vale do Sol, high-Ti Urubici, and high-Ti Palmas). Our data demonstrate that this mafic lava pile was emplaced in c. 2.0 m.y., from c. 135.5 Ma to c. 133.5 Ma, and endorse the hypothesis that the basaltic and andesitic flows of the Vale do Sol Formation (peak of mafic magmatism) contributed to the Weissert Event.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T15:01:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-04-01 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Micropaleontology is crucial branch of Earth Sciences, with a pivotal role in the success of the oil and gas industry over the decades. This sector of paleontology is based on the taxonomical description of microfossils, which encompass fossils with size variation from 0.001 mm to 1 m. Normally these microorganisms have a high rate on preservation, thus they are widely accepted as reliable evidence to infer about paleodepositional settings and paleoclimate change. Furthermore, microfossils are critical to understanding the evolution through time, being many of them recognized as index fossil and providing useful biozones to correlation. Since 1950, microfossils have been taxonomically described mainly by stereomicroscopes. However, as the technology progress, traditional ways to study these organisms are challenged and improved by nondestructive three-dimensional imaging techniques, as X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM), three-dimensional X-ray microscopy (3DXRM), the X-ray computed microtomography (microCT) and X-ray computed nanotomography (nanoCT). Recently, one of the most compelling research areas in micropaleontology is the desire to automatize and enhance the details of systematic classification. Thereby, an increasing number of researches have applied the high-resolution X-ray analysis aiming to improve the morphological, taxonomic and taphonomic examination. Most of them have detailed the enhancement provided by the technique when compared with the standard microscopes, and raised questions about the traditional characters used on the microfossil systematic taxonomy. Nevertheless, even with the surpassing detail on microfossil characterization, the application of microCT has been hampered by the costs and sometimes by the needs of specific computer skill. Thus, this research has evaluated the use of microCT as the technique to classify a random bulk of microfossil (comprising foraminifers, ostracods, radiolarians, gastropods and echinoderms) with no further software treatment. No standard microscope analysis was performed. Despite chemical composition of microfossils, most of the specimens morphology, especially internal structures, have been easily acquired and analyzed. 96% of the microfossils of the dataset were identified at least on genus level. Irrespective of the deepness of detail, when considering the overall taxonomic identification, the microCT seems to be effective as the standard microscope. Nonetheless, when problematic specimens are evaluated, the microCT seems to be a more reliable and practical tool than other methods as Scanning Electron Microscopy. Thus, the technique can be used solo or as a complementary method to the stereomicroscope. Additionally, the high-resolution has the potential to lead to the expected automatized & nbsp;micropaleontology, since they can provide numerous images in several planes. This may create a strong database necessary to machine learning and computer identification. Univ Fed Santa Catarina, Dept Mech Engn, Lab Meios Porosos & Propriedades Termofis LMPT, BR-88040535 Florianopolis, SC, Brazil Univ Fed Pernambuco, Dept Geol, Lab Micropaleontol Aplicada LMA, BR-50740540 Recife, PE, Brazil Univ Vale Rio dos Sinos, Inst Tecnol Micropaleontol, Itt Fossil, Sao Leopoldo, RS, Brazil Univ Vale Rio dos Sinos, Geol Grad Program, BR-93022750 Sao Leopoldo, RS, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Fac Ciencias Bauru, Dept Ciencias Biol, Ave Engenheiro Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP, Brazil Univ Fed Santa Catarina, Dept Geol, Lab Geoquim LABGEOQ, Rua Engn Agron Andrei Cristian Ferreira S-N, BR-88040535 Florianopolis, SC, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Fac Ciencias Bauru, Dept Ciencias Biol, Ave Engenheiro Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP, Brazil

The sponges may be the oldest group of Metazoa, with a long and successful evolutionary history. Despite their intermittent fossil record quality, the group has been considered reliable for paleoecological and paleobiogeographic analyses because they have inhabited various types of aquatic environments, forming a significant part of benthic communities. We have presented a detailed description of a new species from the genusTeganiella,Teganiella finksinew species, which expands the chronologic range and classifies the genus as endemic to the paleoequatorial regions of Laurentia associated with arid climate conditions linked to hypersaline periods. Combining the paleoecological and paleoenvironmental features of theTeganiellaspecies, our findings also suggest a trend toward more closed-inlet conditions, which may be related to competition and/or specific habitat supplies, for example, heavy metals such as vanadium, zinc, and molybdenum.UUID:http://zoobank.org/12901a63-7cd5-4207-ac7a-0ce12649fcaf

The volcanic rocks of the Lower Cretaceous Parana-Etendeka Igneous Province, in Brazil, are grouped in the Serra Geral Group. The province can be chemically divided into low-TiO 2 , and high-TiO 2 . In southern Brazil, the low-TiO 2 lava pile reaches a thickness of ~ 1 km and is formed of heterogeneous lava packages here divided into four lava formations. Torres Formation (TF) is characterized by chemically more primitive basaltic (> 5 wt% MgO) compound pahoehoe flow fields; these lavas stratigraphically overly aeolian sandstones of Botucatu Formation and represent the onset of the volcanic activity. Vale do Sol Formation (VSF) groups vertically stacked sheet-like rubbly pahoehoe basaltic andesites (SiO 2 > 51 wt%; MgO 2 lava sequence. Sedimentary interbeds are preserved throughout the whole lava pile and were deposited during quiescence periods of volcanic activity, and represent important stratigraphic markers (e.g. TF-VSF contact). The newly proposed stratigraphy provides promptly recognized stratigraphic units in a regional framework of fundamental importance for future correlations and provide vital information in the understanding of how the Parana-Etendeka Igneous Province evolved through time.

In the Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil, the volcanic sequence of the Parana-Etendeka Igneous Province consists of pahoehoe and rubbly pahoehoe lava flows with basaltic and basaltic andesitic composition respectively, overlaid by acidic volcanic rocks. The acidic volcanic rocks of the Parana-Etendeka Igneous Province exhibit textures and structures that can be related to effusive and/or explosive eruptions generating predominantly rheoignimbrites. The huge lava volume related to the emplacement of large igneous provinces implicates on efficient feeder systems that are more commonly observed in continental environments. In the Parana-Etendeka Igneous Province, feeders of basaltic rocks are exposed in several dyke swarms (Ponta Grossa NW trending, Florianopolis/Skeleton Coast (NW Namibia) N-S trending, Serra do Mar NE trending and Henties Bay/Outjo NE trending). In contrast, the only feeder system proposed to the acidic rocks of the Parana-Etendeka Igneous Province is the Messum complex in Namibia (Milner et al. 1995). In the study area, the opening of three quarries for the extraction of dimension stones has exposed impressive structures/textures that show the effusive emplacement and the ductile to fragile-ductile magma transition along the acidic feeder dykes. Besides that, magma mixing/mingling processes between two acidic magmas are observed along the dykes. Here we describe new occurrences of acidic feeder dykes, correlate the dykes with acidic flows and discuss their importance to understand the emplacement of the Palmas type acid units in southern Brazil.

Here, the Lower Permian, post-glacial fossiliferous Lontras black shales from the Parana Basin (southern Brazil) are studied using integrated palynological, geochemical and petrographic methods for the first time in order to decipher the prevalent palaeoenvironmental conditions during their sedimentation. These black shales were deposited in a restricted marine environment. Inorganic geochemical data (U/Th ratios, authigenic uranium, molybdenum), organic geochemical data (total organic carbon, biomarkers) and framboid pyrite size distributions point to predominantly anoxic/euxinic bottom-water conditions. Moreover, the presence of aryl isoprenoids and maleimide biomarkers indicates that euxinia in the water column was intermittently present in the photic zone. The onset of anoxic conditions was caused by elevated productivity in the basin, which was related to deglaciation, marine transgression and the increased delivery of terrestrial nutrients. The presence of a positive organic carbon isotope excursion indicates that the black shale deposition resulted from increased productivity and the expansion of anoxic and nitrogen- and phosphate-enriched waters into the shallow photic zone. The high values of δ 15 N (exceeding 9‰) may be related to the deglaciation-driven sea-level rise and advection of denitrified water mass from the Panthalassic Ocean to the intracratonic Parana Basin. Prolonged periods of sea-floor anoxia/euxinia excluded potential scavengers and bioturbators, thus enhancing the preservation of numerous fossil taxa, including fish, sponges, insects and their larval cases, and conodont apparatuses. The intermittent photic zone euxinia may also have contributed to the mass mortality of fish populations, the fossils of which are very well-preserved in these black shales.

The porosity of volcanic rocks can be strongly affected by secondary processes such as the percolation of water and hydrothermal fluids, thus promoting crystallization of secondary minerals in the pores. With an aim to evaluate the impact of secondary mineral fillings, this paper shows the segmentation of secondary and filled pores based on the micro-CT technique. The mineralogy of the sample was analyzed with optical microscopy. Multiscale analysis was performed to determine the total porosity before and after the processes. The results show the influence on the permeability parameter caused by crystallization.

The Lontras Shale is a fossil site located in Mafra, Santa Catarina, south of Brazil. This Late Paleozoic (Pennsilvanian - Cisularian) stratum holds an important place with great potential for the synthesis of knowledge about paradigmatic events that happened on Gondwana. This marine fossil site, preserved into a 1.1 m black shale, comprises a combination of different kinds of preservation, in broad taphonomical spectra, including hard and/or soft-tissues of aquatic (e.g., fishes, poriferans and ammonoids) and terrestrial biotas (e.g., insect and woods), among other organisms that were well preserved under still unrevealed process and conditions. Considering the prevailing depositional settings and aiming to present fossil diagenetic aspects that led to some special preservation modes, we performed chemical analyses of sponges and insects by means of energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), synchrotron micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) and Raman spectroscopy. To date, we have identified the majority of fossils preserved as carbonaceous compressions or phosphatized forms. The well-preserved fossils have so far permitted new insights into metazoan evolution, especially regarding Insecta, Porifera, and Conodonta. Our findings not only allow suggestions regarding the chemical remains of soft tissues on these specimens but also can provide background data for future analyses of these groups in similar depositional settings.

The Cambirela Silicic Volcanic Sequence is the only Neoproterozoic volcanic manifestation in the Florianopolis Batholith. The sequence is associated with the late stages of the post-collisional magmatism emplaced in the Dom Feliciano Belt during the Brazilian/Pan-African Orogenic Cycle that was responsible for the amalgamation of the West Gondwana supercontinent. Distinct from other ignimbrite occurrence, that are generally associated with caldera and sedimentary sequences, the Cambirela Silicic Volcanic Sequence is associated with shallow granitic bodies in a plutono-volcanic system. The sequence is arranged along a high geomorphological feature with NNE-SSW orientation, distributed in a total area of 88 km2, and is constituted by effusive and pyroclastic units. The pyroclastic unit is dominant in the sequence and characterized by ignimbrites with 15–50% of quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclase crystals, crystal and lithic fragments immersed in a tuffaceous matrix, presenting incipient eutaxitic to parataxitic structure. Due to its geotectonic structure and the absence of associated caldera and sedimentary sequences, these ignimbrites were classified as fissure ignimbrites. The effusive unit is composed by rhyolites with 3% of quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclase phenocrysts immersed in an equigranular fine matrix. These units were divided into five lithofaceis: porphyritic rhyolite (pR), lapilli-tuff with low-crystal content and eutaxitic structure (lceLT), lapilli-tuff with high-crystal content and eutaxitic structure (hceLT), lapilli-tuff with parataxitic structure (pLT) and crystal-rich lapilli-tuff (crLT). Based on geochemical data, these were classified as high-silica rhyolites, related to the high-K calc-alkaline series, close to the shoshonitic series. The sequence has a slightly metaluminous to peraluminous character and high contents of alkalis, FeOt/(FeOt + MgO) and agpaitic indexes. These characteristics are associated to the A-type magmatism in post-collisional settings in southern Brazil. Regarding to the rheology, the sequence present glass transition temperatures ranging from 731 to 781 °C, liquidus temperatures from 940 to 968 °C and viscosities from 7.72 to 8.90 log Pa.s. These values are similar to the chronocorrelated Ilha Granite, but slightly different from the Ana Dias Rhyolite. The rheological and geochronological similarities between the Cambirela Silicic Volcanic Sequence and the Ilha Granite, together with the contact relationships and interaction observed in the field between these units, indicate that these melts probably belonged to the same magma chamber constituting a magma mush located in the shallow portion of the crust.

Caddisflies (Trichoptera) are small, cosmopolitan insects closely related to the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). Most caddisflies construct protective cases during their larval development. Although the earliest recognisable caddisflies date back to the early Mesozoic (Early and Middle Triassic), being particularly numerous and diverse during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, the first records of their larval case constructions are known exclusively from much younger, Early to Middle Jurassic non-marine deposits in the northern hemisphere. Here we present fossils from the Early Permian (Asselian–Sakmarian) marine deposits of Brazil which have strong morphological and compositional similarity to larval cases of caddisflies. If they are, which is very probable, these finds not only push back the fossil record of true caddisflies, but also indicate that their larvae constructed cases at the very beginning of their evolution in marine environments. Since modern caddisflies that construct larval cases in marine environments are only known from eastern Australia and New Zealand, we suggest that this marine ecology may have first evolved in western Gondwana during the Early Permian and later spread across southern Pangea.