Brazil Travel / Geology - The geological history of the Mantiqueira mountain chain (Serra da Mantiqueira)
started about 70 million years ago, during the
Upper Cretaceous, with a series of
alkaline magmatic events
in southeast Brazil and the formation of large volcanoes
of up to 6.000 meters.
The tectonic shocks reactivated ancient
Precambrian fault lines
causing a large continental block
to sink up to 2.000 m into the Earth's crust. The upper Paraíba valley (central part of the
Continental Southeast Rift)
was formed.
During the Cenozoic,
the softer volcanic cones eroded and the subterranean magmatic chambers appeared at the surface.
Many of the peaks of the actual Serra da Mantiqueira are remnants of the roots of these extinct volcanoes
(eg. Itatiaia / Serra Fina).
With up to 2.800 meters, despite the erosion, they still represent nowadays the highest elevations
on the Atlantic side of
South America and a great
eco tour destination.
See also: Trails &
Tours |
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