Connected by the Upper Paraíba Valley which is installed in the central part of the
Southeast Rift,
the subparallel mountain chains
Serra da Mantiqueira
and
Serra do Mar
represent one of the outstanding
geomorphological and
topographical features
in
Brazil.
Their precambrian basement was reworked during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic era (82 -10 Ma) by a series of magmatic events
which among others formed the Passa Quatro / Itatiaia - Massive.
These alkaline intrusive bodies represent the roots of ancient volcanoes that once might have been higher than the Andes
but were heavily eroded over time. Their actual heights of up to 3.000 m still represent the
highest elevations on the Atlantic side of
South American Continent.
