GEOMORFOLOGIA E NEOTECTÔNICA DA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO APODI-MOSSORÓ – NE/BRASIL

Abstract

This research pro poses an analysis regarding the geomorphology of the Apodi-Mossoró river basin- state of Rio Grande do Norte and its main morphotectonic aspects. In this basin's scope, neotectonics is responsible for the reactivation of old tectonic structures and generation of new faults, which control linear and areolar geomorphological processes. Such processes are mainly marked in the drainage structural control, erosion and terracing, aggradation and colluvial deposition and in sedimentary deposits' deformations. In the lowlands, within the Apodi-Mossoró river's lower course, a neotectonic deformation analysis and its repercussions in the drainage network made it possible to identify faults, deformation structures in incohesive sediment and drainage anomalies, which correlate with the main regional fault systems. These anomalies in the NE-SW and NW-SE directions denote the drainage structural control expressed in the form of drainage elbows and linear segments between sinuous stretches, as well as the control of Quatemary sediment deposition. The data which resulted from this research indica te that this conformation is compatible with the regional neotectonic models previously proposed, witch contempla te strike-slip movements resulting from the present da y stress field (al NW-SE) in which is inserted the study area.