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Dillenburg, S.R., Barboza, E.G., Tomazelli, L.J., Rosa, M.L.C.C., Maciel, G.S., 2013. Aeolian Deposition and Barrier Stratigraphy of the Transition Region between a Regressive and a Transgressive Barrier: an example from Southern Brazil. The transition region between regressive and transgressive barriers on the northern and central coastal sectors of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) in southern Brazil is represented by a 170 km long stretch of coast where the barrier shows a general aggradational/stationary (a/s) behavior on a long term time scale. In this study, approximately 50 km of this transition region was analyzed at four sites: Tramandaí, Jardim do Éden, Cidreira and Dunas Altas. All barriers began forming around 7.8 - 7.2 ka. The northernmost site (Tramandaí) has a typical a/s stratigraphy, and barrier morphology is dominated by transgressive dunefields. Ten km to the south, at Jardim do Éden, the barrier shows a transgressive stratigraphy, and barrier morphology is also dominated by transgressive dunefields. At Tramandaí the maximum barrier height is around 4 m, with a maximum of 6 m, while at Jardim do Éden it averages 6 m, with a maximum of 11 m. Further to the south, 10 km from Jardim do Éden, the barrier at Cidreira shows a dominant transgressive stratigraphy developed in the last 7 ka, but with evidence of a relatively small regression (~600 m). Barrier height averages 10 m, reaching 20 m due to the existence here of a large transgressive dunefield. And finally, at around 30 km to the south of Cidreira, the a/s barrier of Dunas Altas occurs. Barrier morphology here is dominated by transgressive dunefields, with a surface height of around 8 m, but fronted by the largest and highest foredunes (around 8-10 m) in Rio Grande do Sul. The Dunas Altas coastline has regressed around 600 m in the last 7.8 ka. The Holocene barrier analyzed in this study, along a 50 km segment shows a general a/s behavior in the last 7.8 ka. The long time of a relatively stationary condition allowed the barrier to grow vertically by accumulation of aeolian deposits of at least four phases of transgressive dunefield development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trace element content of zircon grains from Holocene beach sands from the Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil was investigated in order to discuss their probable primary source. Zircon grains from 10 samples were separated and analysed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA ICP-MS) for rare earth elements (REE), niobium (Nb), uranium (U), thorium (Th), yttrium (Y), hafnium (Hf), and tantalum (Ta) and by microprobe and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for silicon (Si), zirconium (Zr), and phosphorus (P). The results obtained are similar to those suggested by the zircon classification developed by BELOUSOVA et al. (2002, Igneous zircon: trace element composition as an indicator on source rock type. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 143, 602-622), nevertheless, additional information and a more detailed characterisation of zircon sources were yielded. The probable geotectonic setting and geochemical affinity of zircon igneous sources were predicted mainly based on thorium/uranium (Th/U), yttrium/holmium (Y/Ho), and niobium/tantalum (Nb/Ta) ratios; lanthanum (La) and niobium (Nb) contents; and REE patterns of zircons. The statistical groups identified by multivariate analysis were an additional useful tool for identifying compositional groups of zircons. Zircon grains from the studied sediments are probably derived from an association of subalkaline to alkaline granitic rocks with their mafic counterparts and metamorphic rocks of amphibolite to granulite facies. The metamorphic sources were more important in the southern sector of the studied coastal segment, whilst in the northern sector zircons from A-type granites are more abundant. The so-called Pelotas Batholith, situated in the eastern part of the Sul-rio-grandense Shield, which is composed mainly of a postcollisional granitic association of Neoproterozoic age and Paleo to Neoproterozoic high-grademetamorphic sequences, is proposed as the probable source of the studied zircons. The compositional variations of zircons from the southern to the northern sector are coherent with the hypothesis that the studied sediments came from relatively near continental source areas, probably transported by several small streams and rivers during phases of sea-level low stands. The chemical composition of zircons, particularly trace element contents and ratios, can be a powerful tool for determining the primary sources of detrital zircons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dillenburg, S.R.; Barboza, E.G.; Rosa, M.L.C.C.; Caron, F., and Bitencourt, V.B., 2020. Changes in the littoral drift of the Uruguayan coast during the Holocene and its influence in the continuing erosion in southern Brazil. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 453–457. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. In northern Uruguay and southern Brazil, a littoral drift system dominates from southwest to northeast. This littoral drift is a consequence of higher wave-energy, generated in southern latitudes and that has been operating on a long-term scale, playing an important role not only in the evolution of coastal barriers of this region during the Holocene but also in coastal erosion that presently occurs in some parts of this coast. From La Coronilla to Cabo Santa Marta, which is a coastal sector 750 km - along the coast is gently undulating, showing gentle projections located to the south of gentle reentrances, that are dominated by transgressive/stationary and regressive barriers, respectively. In general, the regressive barriers have been developed by sediments brought into the reentrances by long-shore currents. The main source of these sediments had been the transgressive/stationary barriers that occur along the coastal projections. This differentiation of barrier behavior started at around 6-5 ka, at the end of the Postglacial Marine Transgression (PMT), when all rivers were drowned, finishing the delivery of new coarse sediments to the coast. Also, at this time the large rock promontories of the Uruguayan coast were formed and started to retain sediments of the littoral drift system, triggering a long-term coastal erosion in the southernmost coastal projection. Regarding erosion that is occurring in this stretch of coast the important issue to be considered in future coastal planning is that erosion will continue to operate in the long-term but will also be (and certainly has been already) amplified by sea-level rise in the next centuries as projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lagoa dos Patos in southern Brazil is part of the largest lagoonal system in South America. The Holocene lagoonal sediments of the Lagoa dos Patos, mostly muds, have an average thickness of about 6 m as determined by 297 km of 7.0 kHz echograms. Holocene muddy sedimentation developed over a probable Upper Pleistocene coastal plain, whose surface has a sub-bottom reflector that could not be penetrated by the energy of a 7.0 kHz seismic wave. The characteristics of this reflecting surface suggest indurated Pleistocene muds and/or sediments that are coarser than the overlying muddy deposits of Holocene lagoon. Basedon stratigraphic correlation and the local sea level curve, we estimate that Holocene sedimentation started about 8.0 ka ago. This yieldsan average deposition rate of 0.75 mm/yr. A broadly comparable average rate of 0.52 1 mm/yr was obtained for cored intervals between 14C samples from the upper part of these muddy Holocene lagoondeposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]