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Serra do Mar

 Serra do Mar    Serra do Mar    Serra do Mar

Serra do Mar is the name given to the mountain range that parallels for about 1.000 km the southern and southeastern Brazilian coast between Rio de Janeiro and northern Santa Catarina. Together with the Serra da Mantiqueira in the west, they represent the most outstanding geomorphological feature on the Atlantic border of South America.

The magnificent escarpments of the actual Serra do Mar are the erosive product of an ancestral Serra do Mar that was formed about 84 - 80 million years ago (Neocretaceous) close to the Santos Fault Line which is located about 50 km east of the actual emerged continental border, in the Santos Basin.

 
At this time, epirogenic (vertical) movements of tectonic origin resulted in the uplift of the occidental block of the Santos Fault and sinking of the oriental one. Due to erosional processes, mainly in direction from the sea to the continent, during 30 - 40 million years the slopes of the mountain range retreated to their actual position. Either the uplift of the mountain ranges Serra do Mar and Mantiqueira as the installation of the continental rift between them happened at the same time and was probably caused by an important tectonic event of the Paleogene that was accompanied with alkaline magmatism.

The Serra do Mar can be divided into several smaller mountain ranges, with altitudes between 1.200 and 2.200 m above sea level and which, according to their region receive different local names, such as:

Santa Catarina: Serra do Itajaí or Serra do Tabuleiro.
Paraná:              Serra da Prata, Marumbi, Graciosa or Ibitiraquire.
São Paulo:         Serra do Mar, Juréia - Itatins or Serra da Paranapiacaba.
Rio de Janeiro: Serra da Bocaina or Serra dos Órgãos.

The many conservation units of Serra do Mar offer a significant ecotourism potential, basically with regard to outdoor activities such as trekking / hiking and mountain bike.
 
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