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The Quadrilátero Ferrífero (QF) is a globally known region for its world-class metallic deposits. Although its Precambrian units have been vastly studied since the 1960s due to economic importance, the Cenozoic geological record represents an upcoming subject of interest. The occurrence of Cenozoic sedimentary deposits has been noticed since the end of the 19th century, but most of them are not yet fully characterized. This paper brings a complete description, mapping, 3D modeling, and simulations of the sedimentary deposit named Bandeira Basin, Serra do Tamanduá, QF. Based on field data, such as mapping and drill core database analysis, three drill cores were selected for further investigation and detailed description. The Bandeira Basin can be characterized and subdivided into three units: Unit A: found only in the southeast area and shows exclusively sediments from the Nova Lima Group; Unit B: intermediate unit that occurs in central and southeast areas, with Rio das Velhas Supergroup as a possible source of the sedimentary material; and Unit C: occurs at the top, and it is essentially colluvial deposits from Minas Supergroup units. The contacts between units are abrupt or erosive, recording successive deposition stages. The basin is thicker on its central and southwest ends and thinner on the east and north, where part of the basement outcrops. Cenozoic tectonic events were probably active in this area, controlling the sedimentary processes, with the NW-SE and NE-SW lineaments reactivated, triggering sediment deposition and migration to the deepest spot of the basin. These sediments were 3D modeled in Leapfrog Geo, the visualization of any given region of interest, in the modeled scale. This methodology allowed an assertive characterization of sedimentary filling and could be applied to other basins. This comprehension is important because these sediments are used indirectly or directly in civil projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synthesis of the evolution of the Neoproterozoic belts or orogens surrounding the São Francisco craton (SFC) in northeastern and southeastern Brazil is presented. Emphasis is placed on recognizing the superposition of sedimentary basins, from rift to passive margin to retroarc and foreland, as well as identifying three diachronic continental collisions in the formation of the SFC. The Tonian passive margin occurs in the southern Brasília Belt with the Vazante, Canastra, and Araxá Groups. During the Tonian, island magmatic arcs and basins developed in front and behind these arcs (fore- and back-arcs). Subsequently, in the Cryogenian–Ediacaran, a retroarc foreland basin developed with part of the Araxá Group and the Ibiá Group, and finally, a foreland basin developed, which was filled by the Bambuí Group. A tectonic structure of superimposed nappes, with subhorizontal S1–2 foliation, formed between 650 and 610 Ma, is striking. In the northern Brasília Belt, there is the Stenian passive margin of the Paranoá Group, the Tonian intrusion of the Mafic–Ultramafic Complexes, and the Mara Rosa Island magmatic arc, active since the Tonian, with limited volcanic–sedimentary basins associated with the arc. A thrust–fold belt structure is prominent, with S1 foliation and late transcurrent, transpressive tectonics characterized by the Transbrasiliano (TB) lineament. The Cryogenian–Ediacaran collision between the Paranapanema and São Francisco cratons is the first collisional orogenic event to the west. In the Rio Preto belt, on the northwestern margin of the São Francisco craton, the Cryogenian–Ediacaran Canabravinha rift basin is prominent, with gravitational sediments that represent the intracontinental termination of the passive margin that occurs further northeast. The rift basin was intensely deformed at the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary, as was the Bambuí Group. On the northern and northeastern margins of the São Francisco craton, the Riacho do Pontal and Sergipano orogens stand out, showing a comparable evolution with Tonian and Cryogenian rifts (Brejo Seco, Miaba, and Canindé); Cryogenian–Ediacaran passive margin, where the Monte Orebe ophiolite is located; and Cordilleran magmatic arcs, which developed between 620 and 610 Ma. In the Sergipano fold belt, with a better-preserved outer domain, gravitational sedimentation occurs with glacial influence. A continental collision between the SFC and the PEAL (Pernambuco-Alagoas Massif) occurred between 610 and 540 Ma, with intense deformation of nappes and thrusts, with vergence to the south and accommodation by dextral transcurrent shear zones, such as the Pernambuco Lineament (PE). The Araçuaí belt or orogen was formed at the southeastern limit of the SFC by a Tonian intracontinental rift, later superimposed by a Cryogenian–Ediacaran rift–passive margin of the Macaúbas Group, with gravitational sedimentation and glacial influence, and distally by oceanic crust. It is overlain by a retroarc basin with syn-orogenic sedimentation of the Salinas Formation, partly derived from the Rio Doce cordilleran magmatic arc and associated basins, such as the Rio Doce and Nova Venécia Groups. A third continental collision event (SF and Congo cratons), at the end of the Ediacaran (580–530 Ma), developed a thrust–fold belt that deforms the sediments of the Araçuaí Belt and penetrates the Paramirim Corridor, transitioning to the south to a dextral strike-slip shear zone that characterizes the Ribeira Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A section investigated in the region of Paraopeba, Minas Gerais, provided detailed sedimentologic, stratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data from the Ediacaran Lagoa do Jacaré Formation, Bambuí Group, Southeast Brazil. This information allowed interpretation of tempestite facies in transgressive-regressive cycles, reinforcing the previously proposed storm-influenced sedimentation model and clarifying how it is associated with unusually high C-isotope values related to the Middle Bambuí Excursion (MIBE). Facies analysis of nine lithofacies identified at the GMD quarry based on field and petrographic descriptions showed distal tempestite facies grading upwards to a shallower, oncoidal/ooidal carbonate marine environment, then to basinal shales. The entire succession comprises a low-order transgressive hemicycle, recording the transition from a storm-influenced carbonate ramp to a siliciclastic-dominated platform. Chemostratigraphic data yielded high δ13C values ranging between +11.11‰ and +13.94‰. Our data contribute to the revision of the previously proposed interpretation and as well as to the understanding of paleoenvironmental conditions and C isotope signatures across the MIBE, near the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in the Bambuí Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Serra da Saudade Formation, Ediacaran/Cambrian Bambuí Group, cropping out along the ridge of the same name in Central-Western Minas Gerais, Brazil, contains important deposits of glauconitic siltstones associated with phosphatic rhythmite as well as other siliciclastic, volcaniclastic and carbonate lithofacies. Lithofacies indicate deposition by proximal and distal storm waves on a continental marine shelf. The basal gray siltstone and part of the green siltstone represent a transgressive systems tract. The glauconitic siltstone indicates sea level rise, with the maximum flooding surface located approximately at the interval of highest K2O content. Biogenic carbonate and an upward increase in sandstone beds are interpreted as a highstand systems tract. Gradual lateral facies changes reflect the transition from foredeep (to the west) to forebulge (to the east) deposition in a foreland basin as the final stage of a shallowing-upward second-order sequence. Black organic-rich limestone has d13C values between -8.78 and 9.79‰, negative d18O values from -11.50 to -9.35‰, and 87Sr/86Sr around 0.7075. This isotopic signature, similar to that of other Bambuí carbonates, indicates a probably-restricted depositional environment with organic sedimentation, methanogenesis and high evaporation rates from the Ediacaran through the early Cambrian period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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