Serra da Mantiqueira is one of the main
geomorphological features
in Southeast Brazil.
This inland mountain range is located between
São Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro
state and parallels the
coastal Serra do Mar
for about 320 km. It is limited to the to the west by the
Paraná Basin
and to the east by the upper Paraíba Valley.
It was formed about 80 million years ago when a series of
alkaline magmatic events took place in this region.
Neoproterozoic (> 540 Ma) fault lines
were reactivated at that time 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
so - called Southeast Rift)
was formed.
Later, large
alkaline plutonic bodies
(the roots of extinct ancient volcanoes) intruded Serra da Mantiqueira in the north
and formed the Passa - Quatro / Itatiaia Massiv.
With altitudes of apr. 2.800 m, their peaks nowadays represent the highest elevations
on the Atlantic side of the
South American Continent.
