STRATIGRAPHIC AND STRUCTURAL RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH GEOLOGICAL AND GAMMAESPECTROMETRY ANALYSIS IN THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE SÃO FRANCISCO CRATON AND THE ARAÇUAÍ OROGEN (SANTA RITA ANTICLINE, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL)

Résumé

Geological mapping (1:25.000 scale), supported by gammaespectrometric analysis, was conducted in the Santa Rita Anticline region, a regional structure located in the contact between the Araçuaí Orogen external belt and the São Francisco Craton. The work aimed to detail the region's structural and stratigraphic relationships between the rocks of Espinhaço and São Francisco supergroups, which contact is not characterized by a thrust front, as it is in a large part of the Espinhaço Meridional Range (EMR). Five units from Espinhaço were mapped: Galho do Miguel Formation and Conselheiro Mata Group, represented by the Santa Rita, Córrego dos Borges, Córrego Bandeira and Córrego Pereira formations. By its turn, three units from the São Francisco Supergroup were mapped: undivided Macaúbas Group and Bambuí Group, represented by the Serra de Santa Helena and Lagoa do Jacaré formations. Restricted to the Espinhaço units, the Santa Rita Anticline consists in a structure with a south dipping axis and inflections that form saddle structures. The analysis of the gammaespectrometric responses provided clues that were confirmed in the field, highlighting an angular unconformity between the Córrego Pereira Formation and the Macaúbas Group and the local presence of isoclinal folds in Serra de Santa Helena rocks, promoting relevant questions regarding possible intermediary deformational events between the Statherian and Tonian tafrogenesis. The study contributes by raising questions about the evolution of the Araçuaí Belt in its contact with the São Francisco Craton and possible implications imposed by the Paramirim

Keywords: Aerogeophysics, Litho-structural framework, Fold belt and craton transition, Espinhaço Meridional Range