The São Francisco Craton and Its Margins

Abstract

The Brazilian shield, land surface expression of the Precambrian nucleus of South America, exposes cratons and a network of Neoproterozoic orogenic belts. The cratons correspond to internal parts of plates that amalgamated to form West Gondwana by the end of the Neoproterozoic and beginning of the Paleozoic. The Neoproterozoic Brasiliano belts, on the other hand, encompass the margin of those plates and accreted terranes. As one among five old and differentiated components of the South American lithosphere, the São Francisco craton (SFC) of southeastern Brazil represents the most intensively studied Precambrian terrain of the continent. This chapter contains introductory information on the SFC, which display attributes typical of the ancient lithosphere and hosts a rock record that spans from the Paleoarchean to the Cenozoic. Together with its bounding orogenic belts the SFC can be viewed as continent within a continent or a continent in miniature. Here, we present a panoramic view of the craton and its marginal belts, briefly discuss the history of its definition and delimitation, and conclude with an outline of the present book.