The Paraná Basin which was installed southeast of the
Atlantic Shield
is one of the sedimentary basins (syneclises) of the
South American Platform.
It occupies an area of about 1.500.000 sqare kilometers in south and southeast
Brazil such as parts of
Paraguay, Argentine and Uruguay.
During the Phanerozoic ( < 542 Ma ), the basin which in its centre reaches a depth of 7.000 m
(upper part of the Precambrian basement), was filled with marine sediments (period of marine floodings),
eolic sands (period of megadeserts) and magma (period of volcanic lava flows).
While the oldest formations, like the Rio Ivaí sequence (450 Ma) are exposed at the border of the basin, the most recent formations
like the Bauru sequence (100 Ma) are exposed in the center.
Of particular importance is the Gondwana III sequence (150 - 130 Ma) that contains the Serra Geral volcanic flood basalts
which were installed above the eolic sandstones of the
Pirambóia and Botucatu paleodeserts.
The
Serra Geral Formation
is the result of the largest magmatic event known on earth and the core attraction of a number of
conservation units
in southern Brazil
(e.g.
national parks
São Joaquim,
Serra Geral,
Aparados da Serra or
Foz do Iguaçu).
