Parana basin
The Parana basin is a large intracratonic basin in South America, developed entirely on continental crust and filled with sedimentary and volcanic rocks ranging in age from Silurian to Cretaceous. It occupies the southern portion of Brazil (1,100,000 km/sup 2/ or 425,000 mi/sup 2/) and the eastern half of Paraguay (100,000 km/sup 2/ or 39,000 mi/sup 2/); its extension into Argentina and Uruguay is known as the Chaco-Parana basin. Five major depositional sequences (Silurian, Devonian, Permo-Carboniferous, Triassic, Juro-Cretaceous) constitute the stratigraphic framework of the basin. The first four are predominantly siliciclastic in nature, and the fifth contains the most voluminous basaltic lava flows of the planet. Maximum thicknesses are in the order of 6000 m (19,646 ft). The sequences are separated by basin wide unconformities related in the Paleozoic to Andean orogenic events and in the Mesozoic to the continental breakup and sea floor spreading between South America and Africa. The structural framework of the Parana basin consists of a remarkable pattern of criss-crossing linear features (faults, fault zones, arches) clustered into three major groups (N45/sup 0/-65/sup 0/W, N50/sup 0/-70/sup 0/E, E-W). The northwest- and northeast-trending faults are long-lived tectonic elements inherited from the Precambrian basement whose recurrent activity throughout the Phanerozoic strongly influenced sedimentation, facies distribution, and development of structures in the basin. Thermomechanical analyses indicate three main phases of subsidence (Silurian-Devonian, late Carboniferous-Permian, Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous) and low geothermal gradients until the beginning of the Late Jurassic Permian oil-prone source rocks attained maturation due to extra heat originated from Juro-Cretaceous igneous intrusions. The third phase of subsidence also coincided with strong tectonic reactivation and creation of a third structural trend (east-west).
- Research Organization:
- Petrobras/Depex/Cenpes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- OSTI ID:
- 5865273
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-870606-
- Journal Information:
- AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States), Vol. 71:5; Conference: American Association of Petroleum Geologists annual meeting, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 7 Jun 1987
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BRAZIL
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
RESERVOIR ROCK
SOURCE ROCKS
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
DEVONIAN PERIOD
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
JURASSIC PERIOD
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
PENNSYLVANIAN PERIOD
PERMIAN PERIOD
SILURIAN PERIOD
TRIASSIC PERIOD
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
LATIN AMERICA
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
PALEOZOIC ERA
RESOURCES
SOUTH AMERICA
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration