Tectonic and sedimentary events of the Pernambuco and Paraíba basins:

Abstract

This work describes the tectonic and sedimentary events involved in the genesis and evolution of the Pernambuco and of Paraíba marginal basins, Northeast of Brazil. The opening of Atlantic Ocean at this point started with the development of the Cupe Rift (Aptian), a feature of the Pernambuco Basin, advanced in direction of the Paraíba Basin platform, and was responsible for the deposition of Albian-Aptian deposits. The Cupe Rift evolved as a consequence of the extensional event, which occurred in the basal portion of the Atlantic Rift at the oriental margin of the Northeast of Brazil. The sedimentary filling of these basins and the style of the crust rupture mechanism allow to invoke a scenario where the separation of this part of the South American and African continents was completed in the post-Turonian, as part of the distension detachment, between the two plates (Turonian unconformity). Correlating these basins with the Rio Muni Basin of the West Africa, a very strong similarity is evidenced regarding its sedimentary deposits and tectonic events. Almost inexpressive until the last decades, the Rio Muni Basin produces at the moment ca. 12.000 barrels of petroleum per day