Geological Evolution of the Borborema Province

The Borborema Province of north-eastern Brazil is a mosaic of ancient cratonic fragments, juvenile terranes and reworked basement that records more than two billion years of crustal growth, rifting, subduction, collision and strike-slip reactivation. Early Archean and Paleoproterozoic blocks were juxtaposed during Proterozoic orogenic events, then hyperextended and decratonized in Tonian rifting phases that gave rise to narrow basins and ribbon continents. These basins closed in the Ediacaran as oceanic lithosphere was consumed beneath emerging continental margins, generating magmatic arcs along the Transversal Zone. Subsequent Brasiliano (Pan-African) collision welded disparate terranes between the São Francisco–Congo Craton and West African domains, producing high-grade metamorphism and extensive networks of dextral and sinistral shear zones. Late-orogenic transpressional strain localisation along these shear zones created kilometre-scale mylonitic belts and controlled the architecture of overlying sedimentary basins. The Borborema Province thus exemplifies the interplay of decratonization, terrane accretion and intracontinental deformation, offering key insights into supercontinent assembly and crustal evolution with implications for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated how extension prior to the main orogenic phase weakened cratonic margins, facilitating the incorporation of ancient blocks into the orogen. One investigation combined geochronological and isotopic datasets to show that up to two-thirds of the province is composed of strongly sheared fragments derived from the São Francisco–Benino-Nigerian craton, with minimal juvenile addition during the Neoproterozoic. Another work has elucidated the sequence of V-shaped basin opening and ribbon continent detachment from a central African block, revealing multiple diachronous collisions and the development of large-scale shear networks during Gondwana assembly. Complementary research on crustal-age distributions in a basement inlier highlights episodic crustal growth pulses between the Archean and Neoproterozoic, documenting a shift from lithospheric-peeling-dominated accretion to modern-style arc accretion along evolving continental margins.

Geological Evolution of the Borborema Province publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in geological evolution of the borborema province across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Decratonization: The process by which rigid cratonic lithosphere is weakened and thinned by extension, enabling its involvement in later orogenic processes.

Shear zone: A broad ductile or brittle-ductile zone of intense deformation where rock masses are displaced by lateral shear, often developing mylonitic fabrics.

Magmatic arc: A chain of volcanoes and intrusive bodies formed above a subducting oceanic plate, indicative of active convergent-margin processes.

Ribbon continent: A narrow, elongated continental fragment detached from a craton during hyperextension, later incorporated into orogenic belts.

References

1. The role of V-shaped oceans and ribbon continents in the Brasiliano/PanAfrican assembly of western Gondwana. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. Toward an integrated model of geological evolution for NE Brazil-NW Africa: The Borborema Province and its connections to the Trans-Saharan (Benino-Nigerian and Tuareg shields) and Central African orogens. Brazilian Journal of Geology (2020).
3. A preserved early Ediacaran magmatic arc at the northernmost portion of the Transversal Zone central subprovince of the Borborema Province, Northeastern South America. Brazilian Journal of Geology (2016).
4. The Borborema Strike-Slip Shear Zone System (NE Brazil): Large-Scale Intracontinental Strain Localization in a Heterogeneous Plate. Lithosphere (2021).
5. Decratonization by rifting enables orogenic reworking and transcurrent dispersal of old terranes in NE Brazil. Scientific Reports (2021).
6. Arc accretion and crustal reworking from late Archean to Neoproterozoic in Northeast Brazil. Scientific Reports (2020).