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Stratigraphy and ages of four Early Silurian through Late Devonian, Early and
Middle Mississippian glaciation events in the Parnaíba Basin and adjacent
areas, NE Brazil

Article  in  Earth-Science Reviews · November 2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.103002

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Stratigraphy and ages of four Early Silurian through Late Devonian, Early and Middle
Mississippian glaciation events in the Parnaíba Basin and adjacent areas, NE Brazil
Mario Vicente Caputo Ph D Retired Professor a ,⁎ , R. Oliver Brasil dos Santos b

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a
Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Instituto de Geociências, Faculdade de Geologia, Brazil
b
Independent Consulting, Structural Geology and Geotectonic, Brazil

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords Turbidity currents, tectonism, debris flows, glaciation, and other geologic processes are considered to be respon-

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Parnaíba Basin sible for the generation of Silurian–Mississippian diamictites in northern Brazil. Processes that best account for
Northeast Brazil the features observed in these strata are glaciation, deglaciation and sedimentary deformation. Four main glacial
Paleozoic glaciations/deglaciations ages are identified to have occurred in the Parnaíba Basin during the Paleozoic. Glacially influenced deposits are
Correlation found in the Lower Silurian, Upper Devonian, Lower Mississippian, and Middle Mississippian strata. The Parnaíba
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Basin is characterized by outcrops providing robust lithological evidence for three glacial ages, identified by
lithological features and dated by palynological studies. A fourth glaciation, as old as Tournaisian, was recently
recognized only in the subsurface of the basin. The glacial features were illustrated and the rocks accurately dated
with palynomorphs based on very accurate palynological studies. Additional, palynological information, derives
from outcrops and shallow boreholes drilled by a private company (Themag) and the National State Mineral Pro-
duction Department (Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral -DNPM), and the Brazilian Geological Survey
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Company (Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais-CPRM). The purpose of this reexamination, including
many new illustrations, interpretations and conclusions, is to evaluate primary sedimentological and paleonto-
logical data related to the above mentioned glaciations. Some authors remain skeptical about the record of Early
to early Late Paleozoic glaciations in western Gondwana, especially in Brazil, mainly because evidence provided
in the literature is relatively scanty. The Parnaíba Basin provides special conditions for the study of these glacia-
tions, although evidence for each of them varies considerably as discussed in the text.
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1. Introduction and Sergipe-Alagoas rifts of northeastern Brazil, as well as in offshore

The Parnaíba Basin is an intracratonic, Paleozoic basin located in
the westerly region of northeastern Brazil (Fig. 1A), with an area of
about~600,000 km2. It comprises a sedimentary thickness of ca. 3,000 m
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and onshore in parts of the Accra Basin of the Republic of Ghana, Africa.
This indicates that the Parnaíba Basin originally extended far beyond the
present Brazilian equatorial margin.
The basin area is bounded by the Capim or Tocantins Arch in the

in addition to about 500 m of igneous rocks (diabase and basalt) in
its north side. It occupies parts of the Brazilian states of Pará (PA),
Maranhão (MA), Piauí (PI), Ceará (CE), Tocantins (TO), and Bahia (BA)
(Fig. 1A). This basin virtually occupied almost the entire part of north-
eastern Brazil during the Paleozoic and showed continuity with basins
of northwestern Africa (Caputo, 1984; Caputo et al., 2005).
In the Mesozoic, during and after Gondwana breakup, erosion re-
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northwest, Ferrer Arch in the north, São Francisco Arch in the east and
southeast, and a normal fault zone in the west (Fig. 1 A).
The Parnaíba Basin was also connected to the Amazon Basin (Fig.
1B) through the Marajó Rift region, where the facies of most of Serra
Grande Group formations become predominantly marine (Caputo,
1984).
After the middle Early Silurian glacial event, a long mild and

duced the basin's original dimensions due to uplift and retreat of its for-
mer margins. Paleozoic sedimentary remnants correlative with older for-
mations of the Parnaíba Basin are found in areas of the pre-Ordovician
Brazilian Shield (Carvalho et al., 2018) and the Tucano, Jatobá
non-glacial period persisted, from the latest Early Silurian to the end
of the Frasnian (Late Devonian). The thick, worldwide, intermittent
accumulation of transgressive organic black shales stopped in most
parts of the world at the end-Frasnian due to eustatic sea-level fall
(Krebs, 1974). The widespread deposition of thick organic black shale
probably re

⁎
Corresponding author at: Av. Governador Magalhães Barata, 1012. Belém, CEP: 66060-281, Pará, Brasil.
E-mail addresses: mario_caputo@hotmail.com (M.V. Caputo); oliverbrasil9@gmail.com (R.OliverBrasil dos Santos)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.103002
Received 6 November 2018; Received in revised form 30 October 2019; Accepted 31 October 2019
Available online xxx
0012-8252/© 2019.
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
Fig. 1. Parnaíba Basin (P.B.) index map illustrating the location in South America and its main boundaries. A) This basin occupies parts of the Brazilian states of Pará (PA), Maranhão
(MA), Piauí (PI), Ceará (CE), Tocantins (TO), and Bahia (BA). São Luís (SL) and Barreirinhas (Bar) are rift basins in the northern part of the Ferrer Arch. The drill locations UN-24 and
UN-4 were studied by Lobato (2007) and Playford et al. (2012). The geological section of Fig. 21 is indicated by the CO-1-CA-1 broken line. B) Location of the Brazilian sedimentary
basins and their Petrobras (Brazilian State-owned Oil Company) basin classification based on Klemme (1980). For space reasons the reader should use Google search to locate towns,
counties, villages or municipalities mentioned in the text.
sulted in a lowering of atmospheric pCO2 levels (Cox et al., 2001) and
mean global temperatures. These cold climatic conditions caused mas-
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sive stenothermal biota extinction (Copper, 1977), the disappearance
of reefs (House, 1975), and a decrease in global evaporite deposition
(Fairbridge, 1972). In addition, cooling caused the narrowing of car-
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bonate accumulation belts from 50° to 30° around the Equator, in both
the northern and southern hemispheres (Heckel and Witzke, 1979).
An increased amount of probable cold-climate loess deposition was re-
ported by Twenhofel (1932), in the Late Devonian Portage Shale in
North America, and by Nahon and Trompette (1982) in North Africa,
consistent with glaciation at this time. Positive δ18O excursions paired
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with negative δ13C excursions (Buggish, 1991) and an abrupt change
in the δ34S from +30‰ to +20‰, indicate a possible, sudden turnover
in the world ocean that might have been caused by cold, dense, oxy-
genated polar deep-water currents (Holser, 1977; Streel et al., 2000).
According to Bratton et al. (1999), marine anoxic conditions ended
nearly 100 ky before the Frasnian-Famennian Boundary (FFB). At this
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time, fully oxygenated conditions returned, accompanied by a marine
overturn of deep toxic water that may have disrupted the stable stratifi-
cation and sluggish circulation of the oceans and strong biota extinction
(Wilde and Berry, 1984). However, the end-Frasnian glaciation seems
to have been strictly intracontinental and may not have reached the con-
temporary shorelines. Therefore, no physical evidence of this glaciation
could be found in marine deposits in Gondwana thus far. Despite this,
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the above-mentioned geological data strongly suggest that a global cli-
mate cooling event occurred at the end-Frasnian in Gondwana (Copper,
1977).
2. Parnaíba Basin stratigraphy
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The Paleozoic stratigraphic succession of the Parnaíba Basin begins
with the Serra Grande Series (Fig. 2), as proposed by Small (1914).
These strata, up to 900 m thick, consist mainly of conglomerates, peb-
bly sandstones, sandstones, diamictites, and limestones. The underlying
folded limestone beds were excluded by Kegel (1953) due to the pres-
ence of an angular unconformity between the sandstone and pre-Or-
dovician limestone beds. Campbell (1949) renamed the section of this
series as Ipu, but Rodrigues (1967) revalidated it to designate only
the lower section of Small (1914). Later on, this member was raised
to the category of formation (Caputo and Lima, 1984). Additionally,
there is an older, yet undated and unnamed, thin sandstone unit under-
lying disconformably the Ipu Formation in the Serra da Capivara Na-
tional Park area. A hiatus also separates the Serra Grande Group from
the overlying Itaim Formation, used by and Carozzi (1980) as the up
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permost member of the group. Nowadays, the Itaim Formation is placed
at the base of the overlying Canindé Group (Fig. 2). The stratigraphic
chart shows the four glacial ages, and Late Devonian glacial diamictites
overlying older formations (Figs. 2 and 21).
3. Geological considerations
Modern palynological and geological studies indicate that the age
span of the Serra Grande Group, comprising the Ipu, Tianguá, and Jaicós
formations, is Ordovician–Early Devonian (Le Hérissé et al., 2001;
Grahn et al., 2005). Initially, Early Silurian glacially influenced beds
in the Parnaíba Basin were found in the subsurface (Caputo and Lima,
1984).
Such strata also occur in other Brazilian basins, both in outcrops and
boreholes (Caputo, 1984, 1998; Crowell, 1983; Caputo and Crow-
ell, 1985; Caputo et al., 2008). In turn, Early and Middle Mississip-
pian diamictites were first found in the subsurface of the Solimões and
Amazon basins. They show less evidence of glacial depositional condi-
tions than corresponding strata in outcrops. Therefore, Paleozoic glacia-
tions in several Brazilian basins were discredited and invalidated (Lakin
et al., 2016) due to the lack of descriptions of glacially influenced
strata and their scarce documentation in the literature.
Original and largely confusing regional stratigraphic succession and
nomenclature were subsequently clarified by systematic sampling and
palynological dating (Loboziak et al., 2000; Le Hérissé et al., 2001;
Grahn et al., 2001; Grahn et al., 2005; Melo and Loboziak, 2003).
Another problem is that glacial erosion deeply truncated several
pre-Late Devonian formations dated by palynological studies. As ice
melted, Devonian glaciers unconformably deposited glacial diamictites
on older formations and on pre-Late Ordovician basement (Figs. 2 and
21). This caused difficulties in determining their true age and strati-
graphic position during field mapping. Devonian and younger diamic-
tites were noted to contain abundant, well-preserved palynomorphs re-
cycled from variably older strata.
The climatic conditions, during glacial deposition in northern Brazil,
were very different from present day ones, that is, tropical and equa-
torial conditions. Chemical weathering of the outcrops is highly perva-
sive and the identification of original strata is difficult, mainly due to
a high-level of iron enrichment and corrosion. These diamictite-bearing
formations in some places lie on high-relief areas (plateaus), subject to
a high-level of weathering and laterization; therefore, they have been
incorrectly mapped as Cenozoic covers in many parts of the Parnaíba
Basin.
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
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Fig. 2. Partial Paleozoic Stratigraphic Chart of the Parnaíba Basin modified from Vaz et al. (2007). Late Devonian diamictites bearing glacial features occur disconformably above older
formations down to pre-Ordovician basement. Stratigraphic Chart based on the Commission on the Geological Map of the World (2008).
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The identification of ancient glacial strata in cutting samples is usu-
ally problematic in wells, where diamictites have not been cored. How-
ever, drill cuttings may indicate the presence of diamictites during
drilling through detection of larger irregular fragments of rocks and min-
erals (around 0.2 to 0.5 cm across) within silt–clay–very fine-grained
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sand material. Fragments consist of quartz, quartzite, igneous or meta-
morphic pieces. Diamictites can also be recognized in cutting samples by
moulds or voids left by the removal of larger sand grains from the orig-
inal massive, fine-grained matrix during drilling. When such details are
overlooked, diamictites in certain subsurface stratigraphic levels may
have passed unnoticed in lithological descriptions, provided by well re-
ports and papers (Cunha et al., 1994, 2007; Góes and Feijó, 1994;
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Vaz et al., 2007).
For instance, light-gray clay/silt and very fine-grained sandstone
with larger fragments of rocks and minerals were observed at the top
of the Ipu Formation in well 1-PD-1-MA (Pindaré-Mirim), drilled in
the Maranhão State by Petrobras (Caputo, 1984; Caputo and Lima,
1984). The same should be searched for other Parnaíba Basin older
wells, since this may indicate a diamictite of glacial origin. Indeed, Sil-
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urian diamictites with the same stratigraphic position and age, bearing
striated pebbles and boulders, have been found in other wells and out-
crops of this basin and elsewhere in Brazil.
Many Mesozoic normal faults displaced several formations in the
western portion of the Parnaíba Basin. This introduced some uncertainty
in the identification of various formations and glacial sediments in the
area, because ice-influenced strata of different ages can be very sim-
ilar in most respects. The correlation of glacial units based on lithol-
ogy, stratigraphic position, and paleontology ensured the assignment of
the different glacial formations to their proper chronostratigraphic posi-
tions.
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In the past, some geologists suggested that Brazilian Paleozoic di-
amictites originated from turbidity currents (Ludwig, 1964), tectonism,
and debris flows (Andrade, 1968, 1972; Lima, 1978), primarily be-
cause the occurrence of glaciations was considered unlikely in tropical
basins. This interpretation changed with the advent of the Plate Tecton-
ics Theory.
For some time, the tillite interpretation was also discarded because
glacial deposition was thought to be rare or non-existent during the
Early and early Late Paleozoic. This is the case for most of the north-
ern hemisphere, but not for the Paleozoic Gondwanan continents of the
southern hemisphere (Caputo and Crowell, 1985; Fielding et al.,
2008; Díaz-Martinez et al., 1999).
4. Early Silurian glaciation
The oldest Paleozoic glaciogenic deposits of the Parnaíba Basin
(Early Silurian) were first identified in the subsurface by Caputo
(1984); Caputo and Lima (1984), and Caputo and Crowell (1985).
They occur within the upper part of the Ipu Formation in many Petro-
bras wells, and were shown to be as old as middle to late early Llan-
dovery (Grahn et al., 2005), based on palynological grounds. Palynol-
ogy currently provides the best biostratigraphic tool to date Paleozoic
glacial deposits and to correlate globally the effects of glaciation. This
is the only Silurian glacial episode recognized in the basin thus far. Co-
eval glacial deposits have been recently discovered by one of the au-
thors (M.V.C.) and professor Marivaldo dos Santos Nascimento in differ-
ent outcrops, in the eastern edge of the basin (Fig. 4 and 5).
These sediments correlate with glacial layers in other basins in
Brazil and Africa (Caputo and Crowell, 1985; Semtner and Kl-
itzsch, 1994). The Early Silurian glacial diamictite occurs in the up
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx

permost part of the Ipu Formation and is apparently conformable with
overlying gray and black shales of the Tianguá Formation (Fig. 3B).
The Ipu Formation is composed of conglomerate, pebbly sandstone,
sandstone, and diamictite beds, up to 350 m thick (Fig. 2, 3 A, B). Con-
glomerate beds are recurrent and predominant in this formation. The
lower Ipu conglomerate and sandstone layers are cross- to horizontally
tion, which is characterized by granules, pebbles, cobbles, and boulders
immersed in a silty–clayey fine-grained sandy matrix (Fig. 3 B, 4 A, B).
The diamictite is massive, white- to cream-colored, and friable to
well-cemented. It contains mainly rounded and angular, scattered quartz
and quartzite clasts of variable size in a silty–clayey and very
fine-grained sandy matrix. Some clasts show striations (Figs. 4B, 5 A).

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bedded, fine- to coarse-grained, pinkish-brown, reddish-brown, and fri- The main clastic supply was located on the eastern margin of the basin,
able to well-lithified (Fig. 3 B). The upper Ipu conglomerate beds are whereas the marine opening was to the W/NW towards the Amazon
cross-bedded, mainly white, and kaolinitic with fine- to coarse-grained Basin (, ; Carozzi, 1980), close to the Marajó Basin (Fig. 1 B). At

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sandstone intercalations (Fig. 3 A, B). Diamictites with striated peb- the eastern and southeastern edges of the basin, diamictite outcrops
bles are present in the uppermost portion of the Ipu Forma with striated clasts occur on Serra Grande escarps, underneath marine
Tianguá Formation shales (Figs. 3 B, 6). The upper Ipu Formation con

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Fig. 3. A) Partial section of coarse conglomerate, pebbly sandstone, and fine- to coarse-grained sandstone strata in the upper Ipu Formation at the Serra Grande escarpment in the south-
eastern part of the Parnaíba Basin in the Serra da Capivara National Park. Note red-dressed man standing for scale. B) Overall view of the Ipu Formation. Diamictites occur in the uppermost
part of the cliff and are overlain by shales of the Tianguá Formation. Lower Ipu is pinkish-red, and upper Ipu is grayish-white. (Photos: Serra da Capivara National Park).
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Fig. 4. A) New Silurian diamictite outcrop occurrence. Middle early Llandovery diamictite displays a light-grayish to white clayey–silty matrix, with dispersed sand- to boulder-sized
quartz, quartzite, and sedimentary clasts within the uppermost part of the Ipu Formation. It occurs along the new CE-257 road, close to Ipueiras County (Ceará State). B) This striated
boulder, 45 cm long, is now at the museum of the Faculty of Geology of Federal University of Pará, Belém. See YouTube: Matacão estriado na Formação Ipu. (Photos: M.V.C.).
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Fig. 5. A) Brownish–pink-colored diamictite exposed in the upper part of the Ipu Formation with a large gabbro boulder with a fully diagonal striated plane surface and in front of it
smaller clasts. B) Broken rounded large boulder in the Ipu diamictite. These diamictites are in the same stratigraphic position as those in Figs. 4 and 6, and also in the same area: Pictures:
Courtesy of the Professor Marivaldo dos Santos Nascimento.

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M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
Fig. 6. Overall view of the Tianguá–Ipu contact. The lowermost Tianguá dark-gray shale, when fresh, is laminated and includes several scattered sand grains. The Ipu diamictite with
striated clasts is massive and light-gray-colored. The two men dressed in red stand for scale at the contact of the uppermost Ipu Formation (diamictite) and Tianguá Formation shale. This
outcrop is located at a new road in construction (CE-257), in the upper part of the Serra Grande escarpment, close to Ipueiras town, Ceará State. Photo: M.V.C.
tact is an interbedded sandstone–shale facies, which is laterally equiva-
lent to the overlying shales of the Tianguá Formation.
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The Tianguá shale is up to 20 m thick along the eastern basin mar-
gin and ~270 m thick in wells within the basin depocenter. The lami-
nated Tianguá shale beds at its lowermost part contain scattered sand
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grains. Similar occurrences of scattered grains were observed in coeval
Silurian basal shales of the Pitinga Formation in the Amazon Basin (Ca-
puto, 1998), and the Vila Maria Formation in the Paraná Basin (Grahn
et al., 2000; Faria, 1982), where underlying diamictites with striated
clasts are present as well.
These Silurian diamictites apparently have no fossils, but the upper
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Ipu–lower Tianguá transitional beds contain chitinozoans, miospores,
and acritarchs. Thus, Silurian diamictites in the subsurface are corre-
lated with coeval outcropping beds of the upper Ipu Formation, which
display glacial features, such as striated clasts and pavements, as well as
pebble pavements (Assis et al., 2019).
Shear horizontal zones are present. Shear zones have resulted from
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shearing caused by the motion of ice sheets and parts of the frozen sedi-
mentary substrate. Le Heron (2018) named this kind feature as intrafor-
mational shear zone. The Tianguá transitional beds are fossiliferous, and
it has been investigated and dated by Le Hérissé et al. (2001) and
Grahn et al. (2005). Volcanic rocks or volcanic ash-fall deposits are
not known in the studied Paleozoic section, from Silurian to Middle Mis-
sissippian, so absolute chronology was not obtained.
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In the basin's subsurface, the continental conglomerates and
coarse-grained Ipu clastics grade laterally to a shoreface facies in the NW
portion of the basin region, consisting of white, fine- to medium-grained
sandstone beds with Skolithos. This suggests that the Early Silurian sea
occupied much of the northwestern portion of the basin, close to pre-
sent-day Marajó Rift area (Fig. 1 B). These sandstone beds in the north-
western outcrops of the basin are informally named Guamá Formation.
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In conclusion, the Ipu diamictite is interpreted as deposited under
continental glacial conditions due to the presence of some striated clasts
and pavements (Assis et al., 2019), and some flatiron-shaped, and
rare pyramid-shaped pebbles in many occurrences, and its correlation
with glacial diamictites in other South American and African Paleozoic
basins.
The Ipu Formation diamictite outcrops are ~400 km away from
three well-known striated rock surfaces, two of them in the Bahia and
Sergipe (SE) states, northeastern Brazil. These are located between the
Paulo Afonso and Canindé of San Francisco counties, in the north Tu
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cano Rift Basin, where there is a small appendix rift (Santa Brígida
Graben) (Figs. 1B and 7).
Rocha-Campos et al. (2003a)b interpreted these striated surfaces
in 70 km apart localities 1 and 2, (Fig. 7) of the Santa Brígida Graben,
inside the Tucano Basin, as caused by iceberg kill scouring on the sup-
posed Curituba Formation, during the Late Paleozoic ice age (Fig. 8
A). This formation consists of clayey fine- to medium-grained sandstone.
There is no biostratigraphic dating for it (Souza-Lima and Farias,
2006), but a Late Carboniferous age has been inferred by several re-
searchers (Rocha-Campos, 1981; Rocha-Campos et al., 2003aa;
Souza-Lima and Farias, 2006). The Curituba (?) Formation rocks
are locally much indurated, fractured, and barren of fossils. Possibly
the sea and icebergs did not reach this area. It is seen in Fig. 8 A
and is here interpreted as the sub-floor of a glacial valley, rather than
the result of iceberg kill scour as proposed by Rocha Campos et al.
(1983a). According to this interpretation, the valley walls were later
removed by erosion. In the outcrop (locality 2), several well-lithified
sandstone pseudo-beds show parallel-stacked subglacial striated surface,
along many shear planes, and the supposed lateral berm is striated as
well.
Parallel-subhorizontal slickensides (Fig. 8 A) may have resulted
from shearing caused by the motion of ice sheets (glaciotectonics) across
valleys in glaciated highland areas on a frozen substrate. A true natural
lateral berm caused by an iceberg kill scouring is not striated (Wood-
worth-Lynas and Dowdeswell, 1994), but the berm in the supposed
Curituba Formation is striated according toRocha-Campos et al. (2003a,
Fig. 8 A), that is, this pseudo-berm may be related to a bottom of glacial
valley slope.
The supposed Curituba Formation in the area consists of very uni-
form, fine- to medium-grained sandstone beds, without scattered clasts.
This is an indication of absence of glaciomarine or glaciolacustrine sed-
imentation related to the melting of a hypothetical iceberg charged of
clasts in this region.
The third striated surface, possibly as old as Early Silurian, occurs
in Igreja Nova County (Rocha-Campos, 1981; Rocha-Campos et al.,
2003aa; Souza-Lima et al., 2014), in locality 3 (Fig. 7) in the Alagoas
State. The surface of the Precambrian basement at Igreja Nova is un-
dulated; showing parallel, elongated, polished, and finely striated low
bosses (Rocha-Campos, 1981). Overlying the gneissic basement occurs
the Mulungu and Boacica members of the Batinga Formation at geo-
graphic coordinates 10° 15´S and 35° 52´W. In Sergipe, in the Mulungu
type-locality, the Mulungu Member is overlying the thick Karapotó For-
mation (Souza-Lima, 2006a,b), correlated with the Ipu Formation.
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx

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Fig. 7. Outside of the Parnaíba Basin, two striated surfaces are present in both sides of a small appendix rift basin named Santa Brígida Graben (Fig. 1 B). The graben is inside the Jatobá
Rift in Bahia and Sergipe states (localities 1 a 2). The Igreja Nova pavement is situated in locality 3 in the Alagoas State (AL) (Rocha Campos et al., 2003a).
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Fig. 8. A) Feature on the supposed Curituba Formation in the State of Sergipe, close to Canindé of São Francisco Town in the Santa Brígida Graben (Fig. 7, Locality 2). In the outcrop
several well-lithified sandstone pseudo-beds show parallel-stacked subglacial striated surfaces, along many shear planes and the supposed lateral berm is striated as well. Photo 8 A: M.V.C.
B) Mulungu diamictite (Fig. 7, Locality 3) with angular and irregular-shaped clasts and one thinly and fully striated rounded boulder with one possible transversal gouge structure. The
striated boulder is 18 cm across in Igreja Nova County, Alagoas State. Photo 8 B: Courtesy of Professor Wagner Souza-Lima.
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The Mulungu Member is made of massive, up to 30 m thick gray to
pinkish-cream diamictite, bearing some striated, polished, faceted, and
flatiron-shaped clasts. It contains a large variety of rocks (granite, gab-
bro, diabase, gneiss, quartzite, phyllite and schist) with pebble up to
boulder sizes immersed in a clayey-silty matrix. Diamictite clasts are
common and their shapes vary from rounded to predominantly angular,
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ing Mulungu Member is textural, faciologically, and stratigraphically
correlated with the Ipu Formation. Like in the Ipu Formation, the Kara-
potó Formation has a conglomeratic pinkish- red facies in the lower por-
tion and a conglomeratic white-gray facies in the upper part in theirs
scarps. Likewise, the relative proximity between both glacial diamictites,
allows a possible correlation between them. Therefore, in this study, the

and some are faceted and striated (Fig. 8 B).
The general trend of fluvial paleocurrents in the Karapotó and Ipu
formations is northwest (Carvalho et al., 2018; Assis et al., 2019).
The basal part of the upper Boacica Member of Batinga Formation
is composed of diamictites with some striated clasts and rhythmites
of thinly stratified shale/siltstone and few fine-grained sandstone in-
terbeds. The formation is up to 200 m thick in outcrops; however, in the
subsurface this unit can be as thick as 318 m (Souza-Lima and Farias,
2006).
The age of the Mulungu Member diamictite of the Batinga Forma-
tion is unknown. However, the Karapotó Formation with the overly
Mulungu Member is inferred to be as old as early Llandoverian. How-
ever, a problem with this age and correlation is that the upper part of
the Boacica Member of the Batinga Formation is as old as Westphalian,
based on florenites spores, and pollens (Uesugui and Santos, 1966),
whereas the lower part of the Boacica Member made of rhythmites and
diamictites is barren (Dino et al., 2002).
The presence of spores and pollens, and the abundance of woody or-
ganic residues in the upper part of the Batinga Formation thin sections
give evidence of deposition under continental conditions (Dino et al.,
2002). During Westphalian time, marine limestones, wadi, and aeolian
sandstone beds (Piauí Formation) were deposited in the Parnaí

6
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
ba Basin (Fig. 2) under dry and hot conditions, while limestone and
evaporite cyclothems (Itaituba Formation) were accumulated in the
neighboring Amazon Basin (Fig. 1 B) in an arid climate as well (Ca-
puto, 1984). This indicates that the Westphalian climate was not suited
to a glacially influenced sediment deposition in the area. The Boacica
Member is very thick and may include internal unconformities. It is pos-
sible that the Mulungu and the lower Boacica members, overlying the
Karapotó Formation, are as old as early Llandoverian, and the upper
Boacica Member, as old as Westphalian. Based on local paleomagnetic
measurements, Viviani et al. (2000) suggested the Sergipe–Alagoas
Basin was located at a low latitude of ~25 °S during the deposition of the
upper Boacica Member. This paleolatitude in Westphalian time is com-
patible with warm lithic indicators (evaporites and desert sandstones)
found respectively in the Amazon and Parnaíba basins.
The Mulungu Member was ~1,000 km farther north from glacially
influenced outcrops of the latest Pennsylvanian Itararé Group of the
Paraná Basin and 400 km eastward of the early Llandoverian upper Ipu
Formation of the Parnaíba Basin. The Itararé Group is a mid-latitude
glacial record in Brazil (Torsvik and Cocks, 2013). The Windhoek
highlands in Namibia (Africa) fed ice into the Paraná Basin, remain-
ing high throughout much of Pennsylvanian and Early Permian time
(Rocha-Campos et al., 2008).
Modern paleomagnetic data at 440 Ma places the Silurian mag-
netic paleopole close to the present day Amazon River mouth in south-
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ern northwestern Africa, at the ~Aeronian-Rhuddanian time (Cohen et
al., 2013). The paleomagnetic South Pole, from southern northwest-
ern Africa, in the early Ruddanian, displaced to south South America in
the earliest Devonian (Fig. 2 of Torsvik and Cocks, 2013). The Mu-
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lungu diamictite deposit was closer to the Silurian (Aeronian) South Pole
than to the Westphalian South Pole located on Antarctica (Fielding et
al., 2008; Torsvik and Cocks, 2013). According to Rocha-Campos
et al. (2003a) a,b, the regional paleogeography of the Mulungu Mem-
ber was puzzling. This perplexity is because they considered the Mu-
lungu diamictites as old as Pennsylvanian instead of Early Silurian and
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the glacial flow was toward the N and NE, in an opposite direction of
the glacial Itararé Group outcrops as old as Westphalian, in the Paraná
Basin.
Based on sedimentary features, paleoclimate affinities, paleomag-
netic data (Smith et al., 1981), and worldwide paleogeography, a
correlation between the diamictites of the upper Ipu Formation of the
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Parnaíba Basin and the diamictites of the Mulungu Member of the
Sergipe-Alagoas Basin has been proposed by Caputo (1984) and Ca-
puto and Lima (1984).
In the Minas Gerais (MG) State, in the Santa Fé de Minas County
(Fig. 9), there are additional striated pavements in the San Franciscan
Craton on a Precambrian arkose of the Três Marias Formation, with ge-
ographic coordinates 45° 31´ 54´´W and 16° 43´ 34´´S. The basal unit
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of the Phanerozoic is the Floresta Formation of the Santa Fé Group,
composed of three members: Brocotó, Brejo do Arroz, and Lavado.
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Fig. 9. A) Location of the study area in Minas Gerais and Goiás States. B) Location map in more detail. C) Schematic geomorphologic map of glacial deposits on Precambrian basement,
where evidence of glaciation/deglaciation occurs. The age of glacially influenced deposits is unknown, but an Early Lllandoverian age is suggested. In Fig. 9 C, dashed arches: glacier
margins; arrows: ice flow direction; gray areas: highlands; small rectangle: studied area. After Rocha-Campos et al., 2003.
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Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx
This formation consists of diamictite-bearing faceted and striated clasts
in the basal Brocotó Member, and glaciolacustrine rhythmites, with
dropstones and invertebrate trails in the overlying Brejo do Arroz Mem-
ber. According to Campos (1992) and Campos and Dardenne (1994,
1997, 2002), there is a complete sequence of continental glaciation
with glacial features such as: striated pavements, diamictite-bearing stri-
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ated clasts, varied compositional nature of the clasts, dropstones in
shales, immature sandstones, and heterogeneous vertical and horizon-
tal stratigraphy. The analyses suggest the occurrence of an icecap with
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rivers and lakes fed by water from melting-ice and water influenced
by floating ice. Pavements are present in paleovalleys, in glacial and
pre-glacial areas (Campos and Dardenne, 2002). The processes in-
clude tractive currents for the deposition of sands by rivers, suspension
in glacial-lacustrine environments for the deposition of shales and rhyth-
mites, and turbidity currents for the deposition of diamictites and con-
glomerates in glacial lakes. Transport direction was deduced to be north-
east-southwestward by Campos (1992) and Campos and Dardenne
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(1994, 1997, 2002). Nevertheless, Rocha-Campos et al. (2003a)b,
after examining the orientation of friction cracks and abrasion features
on pavements and shipbacks, suggested the possibility of the glacier
flow towards NNE. Other evidence of these ice-sheets direction is de-
duced from a far traveled large itabirite (iron ore) boulder, as well as
dropstones, with the provenance from a highland situated in the south-
eastern part of the Minas Gerais State (Fig. 9 A). This suggests a glacier
motion toward the Parnaiba Basin and northeastern regions of Brazil.
A Late Paleozoic age was inferred for the Floresta Formation (Brejo
do Arroz and Brocotó members) based on trace fossils Isopodichnus and
Diplichnites in the upper glaciolacustrine facies composed of siltstone and
shale beds (Campos and Dardenne, 1994, 1997, 2002 ). However,
this age is in question, because the Diplichnites and Isopodichnus chronos-
tratigraphic distribution reported in the literature ranges from the Early
Cambrian to the Triassic. Thus, they are not a diagnostic age indicator
(Fig. 10).
In many other places over the Precambrian Sanfranciscan craton,
striated pavements are associated to diamictites and dropstone bear-
ing shales containing clasts of variable size and nature (Dardenne and
Campos, 2003). The Santa Fé strata, with glacial records, were also ob-
served in the Minas Gerais State in São Romão (Fig. 9 C), Urucuia river
valley, near Unaí and Porto Feliz, and Paracatu river valley. A sugges-
tion is that ice-sheets covered almost all Brazilian pre-Ordovician high-
land areas in Early Silurian, Late Devonian and other mentioned Paleo-
zoic periods (Fig 10). Rocha-Campos (2003b) has interpreted the pres-
ence of icebergs in Sergipe and Bahia states, while Dardenne and Cam-
pos (2003) have considered the presence of ice-sheets in neighboring
continental basement areas of Minas Gerais. The best explanation is the
presence of terrestrial ice-sheets in these central regions, not only in the
Early Silurian but also Late Devonian and Mississippian times.
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
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Fig. 10. Schematic map of main Paleozoic basins of South America with glacially influenced sedimentation. Arrows indicate Early Silurian ice flow towards sedimentary basins. In the
blank area, basement striated pavements of various mentioned Paleozoic ice ages may occur. Modified from Grahn and Caputo, 1992.
5. Age of the Serra Grande glacial diamictites
Caputo and Lima (1984) dated the lower part of the Serra Grande
Group to be as old as the latest Ordovician–earliest Silurian, based on
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palynomorphs of the Tianguá Formation as well as inferences and cor-
relation with other Brazilian and African glacial deposits. According to
Le Hérissé et al. (2001), the chitinozoan assemblages of the Tianguá
Formation, above the Ipu diamictite, contain diagnostic components of
the Conochitina elongata Zone and the upper part of the Conochitina pro-
bosphera Desmochitina cf. densa Subzone, which are characteristic for the
Early Silurian (late Aeronian to early middle-Telychian). Acritarch as-
semblages indicate an early to middle-Telychian age, whereas the few
spores and cryptospores registered are consistent with an Aeronian to
early Telychian age span.
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Grahn et al. (2005) also studied chitinozoans and miospores from
selected cores of 15 Petrobras deep wells. The chitinozoans indicate an
Early Silurian (late Aeronian–early Telychian) age for the Ipu–Tianguá
transitional strata, Tianguá, and lowermost Jaicós formations. The up-
per part of the Jaicós Formation yielded chitinozoan species similar to
those of the latest Pragian (mid-Early Devonian). According to Grahn
et al. (2005), the palynoflora of the Tianguá Formation is dominated
by cryptospores, whereas only few trilete spores are noted. It is rep-
resentative of the younger (post-Rhuddanian) portion of the Laevolan-
cis divellomedia miospore Subzone, dated as Aeronian–early Telychian.
The organic-walled microphytoplankton investigated by Le Hérissé et
al. (2001) indicates an early middle Telychian age. A single grapto-
lite fragment found by one of the authors (M.V.C.) in core 52 of well
1-BJ-1-PA (Badajós), within the Tianguá Formation, was later identified
as Climacograptus cf. scalaris scalaris (H. Jaeger, written communication
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
to J.H.G. Melo in March 1992). It confirms a middle or earliest late Llan-
dovery age for this section. The overlying Jaicós Formation may con-
ceal one or two unconformities, probably of Silurian age Grahn et al.
(2005). Le Hérissé et al. (2001) and Grahn et al. (2005) identified
and illustrated most of the palynomorph species observed in the ana-
lyzed wells; newly discovered species were also described and published
by them.
The lower and middle parts of the Ipu Formation are inferred to
be of Late Ordovician to earliest Llandovery age. This is rather uncer-
tain, since the Ipu Formation is over 300 m thick (Fig. 2) on the east-
ern flank of the Parnaíba Basin, and, thus far, no fossils have been ob-
served below the Tianguá–Ipu transitional contact. The Ipu Formation
is correlated with the Nhamundá and Autás-Mirim formations of the
Amazon Basin, which collectively are dated as Late Ordovician-Early Sil-
urian. Thick sandstone and conglomerate beds of the lower Ipu Forma-
tion may be partly glaciofluvial, and thus related to the Late Ordovi-
cian glaciation in many areas of northwestern Africa. This is inferred be-
cause one of the authors (M.V.C.) found some clasts with faceted, flat-
iron, and pyramid-shaped (features typical of glacial origin) within the
pebbly sandstone and conglomerate beds of the lower Ipu Formation,
in the Serra da Capivara region. Kegel (1953) also recorded faceted
clasts in the lower sandstones and conglomerates of the Ipu Formation.
Metelo (1999, Fig. 24) shows a quartzite clast dropped, possibly in
the Late Ordovician, in a suspension deposit in the lowermost Ipu For-
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mation, indicating clast rafting in a periglacial environment of sedimen-
tation in the Capivara National Park area. Assis et al. (2019) men-
tion striated clasts too in the lower portion of this formation. These
clasts might have been resulted from older melted glaciers. The up-
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per Ipu diamictites correlate with the upper, glacially influenced beds
of the Nhamundá Formation, in the Amazon Basin (Rodrigues et al.,
1971; Caputo and Vasconcelos, 1971; ; Caputo and Sad, 1974;
Grahn and Caputo, 1992), and, with the lower Vila Maria Forma-
tion glacial diamictites, in the Paraná Basin (Grahn et al., 2000).
Other Early Silurian diamictites occur in the Tarija Basin (Zapla diamic-
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tites) of Argentina (Grahn and Gutíerrez, 2001), as well as in Peru
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Fig. 11. Sea level changes, ice volume and climate Interaction. This design was worked out based on Fischer and Arthur (1977) and Saltzman (1985).
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Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx
(San Gabán diamictites) and Bolivia (Cancañari diamictites)
(Díaz-Martínez and Grahn, 2007) and Díaz-Martínez et al. (2011).
In North Africa, glaciogenic diamictites are present in the upper Tanez-
zuft Formation of Libya with Late Ordovician–Silurian age (Le Heron
et al., 2013). In South Africa, the Pakhuis Formation has glacial nature,
but its age is regarded as latest Ordovician (Le Heron et al., 2018).
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Based on the examination of some North African graptolites and bra-
chiopods, Arthur James Boucot (personal letter communication to John
Chambers Crowell, 1982) stressed that the oldest part of the glaciation
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is recorded in the Caradoc (early Late Ordovician) of Libya, whereas its
youngest part is documented in the middle Llandovery of Algeria.
6. Far-field middle–late Llandoverian glacial geochemistry
Commonly, glaciations may be preceded by anoxic events with sig-
nificant accumulation of organic black shales during widespread trans-
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gressions. This is the case of the Ipu glaciation. The massive accumula-
tion of marine organic matter in the uppermost Ordovician and lower-
most Silurian of Africa (Semtner and Klitzsch, 1994) and elsewhere
during coeval major transgressions caused the lowering of the CO2 level
in the atmosphere and hydrosphere, resulting in cooling and glaciation.
Positive δ18O values are often associated with negative δ13C shifts in the
Cenozoic marine isotope record, which has been interpreted as the re-
sult of an increased ice volume affecting Earth (Berger and Vincent,
1986). The high CO2 withdrawals from the air, due to organic matter
accumulation in the sea, may have caused a decrease in global tem-
peratures and the onset of a new glaciation (Caputo, 1994; Gouldey
et al., 2010) at higher latitudes of Gondwana. A negative δ13C excur-
sion (-1.3‰ to -1.4‰ ) was observed by Kaljo and Martma (2000)
in Estonia and West Latvia (Baltica Paleocontinent) in the late Aeron-
ian. Sea-level changes, ice volume and climate interaction schematically
is shown in Fig. 11. This negative δ13Corg excursion, associated with
sea-level lowstand and unconformity (Kaljo and Martma, 2000), may
be correlated with the upper Ipu glacial event in South America during
the latest Aeronian-earliest Telychian.
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This glaciation was preceded by widespread deposition of marine or-
ganic black shale (Hot shale I of Lüning et al., 2000) in North Africa.
Late Ordovician glaciation has been reported from North Africa, includ-
ing many localities in Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Libya, Chad, Sudan, Jor-
dan, and Saudi Arabia.
Due to the retreat of the ice caps, a major glacioeustatic sea-level rise
scribed outcrops with diamictite with striated clasts and rhythmite sedi-
ments with lonestones over a striated sandstone-surface on the old road
from Canto do Buriti to São Raimundo Nonato towns. In this place, di-
amictites rest on sandstone beds of the Cabeças Formation, which was
confused with the Serra Grande Formation by Malzahn (1957).
The Cabeças Formation displays thicknesses up to ca. 350 m on the

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took place in the latest Ordovician and earliest Silurian (Rhuddanian), eastern border of the Parnaíba Basin, where it is best developed. Ac-
accompanied by the massive deposition of marine organic black shales cording to Ponciano and Della Fávera (2009), the widespread oc-
in the Murzuk and Ghadamis basins of Libya (Semtner and Klitzsch, currence and nature of sigmoidal clinoforms in the Cabeças Formation

1994). Similar shales were deposited in Central Arabia. They constitute
the main source rock of gigantic Paleozoic oil and gas fields in parts of
Saudi Arabia, Libya, Algeria, and other neighboring countries. This cor-
responds to the Hot Shale I reported by Lüning et al. (2000).
The following regression of the Early Silurian sea was probably
caused by a second glacial event, which is well-evidenced in many ar-
eas of Chad, Sudan, and Niger (Semtner and Klitzsch, 1994) and in
South America. The Early Silurian glaciation is considered to be respon-
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(i.e., several meters thick sandstones, bearing asymmptotic cross-stratifi-
cation, and climbing lobes, without the distinctive features of tide-dom-
inated facies, like mud drapes and current reversal) are considered to
constitute evidence of flood-influenced deposition. During interglacial
periods, immense meltwater discharge during deglaciation phases may
have resulted in the establishment of periglacial catastrophic outwash
deposition. Common flat bedding planes with parting lineation, char-
acteristic of the upper flow regime, was found in the lower fine- to

sible for the end of the deposition of the Hot Shale I (Semtner and
Klitzsch, 1994). The Tianguá Formation shale correlates with the Hot
Shale II of Lüning et al. (2000, 2006), deposited in southern North
Africa after the melting of Early Silurian ice caps. This glaciation may
have occurred at the Aeronian-Telychian boundary. This certainly in-
dicates that the Ordovician and Silurian glaciations were two separate
glacial events. Sea-level lowstands provide a greater mass of continen-
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medium-grained sandstone strata of the Cabeças Formation in the Mira-
norte County, suggesting a high-energy depositional environment (Fig.
13 B).
The glacial diamictite level occurs in the middle to upper parts of
the Cabeças Formation bounded by unconformities in the southwestern
basin flank (Fig. 21, well 1-CL-1-MA). It is dark-gray and over 40 m
thick. It consists of massive polygenic, unsorted clasts, some striated, im-

D
tal-sourced sediments in the sea, increasing the rate of 87Sr/86Sr values
of limestone beds. High-resolution 87Sr/86Sr values from the Baltica pa-
leocontinent show an increased rate of 87Sr/86Sr in the Early Silurian
(Gouldey et al., 2010). This may be related to a higher rate of con-
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tinental sediment input at a time of lower sea-level stand during the
glaciation recorded in the upper Ipu Formation, as discussed above (Fig.
11). A large volume of black shale accumulation took place in the east-
ern Baltic epicontinental sea from the Rhuddanian to middle Aeronian.
Organic shale deposition ceased in the late Aeronian, according to Kiipli
et al. (2004). Some striated surfaces (Assis et al., 2019) observed in
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mersed in an unstratified clayey, silty, and very fine-grained sandy ma-
trix. The section (Fig. 12) shows at least two glacial diamictite intervals
with some striated clasts separated by sandstone beds. These sandstones
are fine-grained and contain layers of massive fine grained sandstone
with sedimentary structures such as balls, dishes, pillow and convolute
folds. These sedimentary structures are typical of turbidity currents. The
basal part of the lower diamictite is marked by a shear zone (Fig. 12) in
contact with fine-grained sandstone. The two diamictite bodies may in-
dicate two glacial advances and the two sandstone bodies may indicate
glacial retreats.

the Early Silurian glacial drift in the Parnaíba Basin, and probably some
glaciations elsewhere, correspond to detached surfaces in subglacially
deformed beds (intraformational shear zones, according to Deynoux and
Ghienne (2004) and Le Heron et al. (2018).

7. Late Devonian glaciation

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The second ice age in the Parnaíba Basin is characterized by glacial,

glaciomarine, and glaciofluvial deposits. This glaciation took place near
the top of the Late Devonian succession, within the upper part of the
Cabeças Formation (; Carozzi, 1980; Crowell, 1983; Caputo, 1984,
1985; Caputo and Crowell, 1985; Caputo et al., 2008).
The term Cabeças Formation was introduced by Plummer (1948) ,
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in the Parnaíba Basin to designate a Devonian sandy section exposed

in the former village of Cabeças (now Dom Expedito Lopes Town), in
the State of Piauí. He divided the formation into three members, in
ascending order: Passagem, Oeiras, and Ipiranga. However, there is a
major unconformity at the lower part of the Oeiras Member, so that
the lower sub-unit (Passagem, bearing Middle Devonian marine inverte-
brates) is now incorporated into the Pimenteira Formation according to
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Beurlen, 1965; Loboziak et al., 1994, Loboziak et al., 1994), and

Grahn and Melo (2005). included the uppermost Ipiranga Member in
the overlying Longá Formation. The Cabeças Formation belongs to the
Canindé Group, which is composed of the Itaim, Pimenteira, Cabeças,
Longá, and Poti formations (Fig. 2), altogether encompassing a late
Early Devonian–Middle Mississippian age span (Vaz et al., 2007). The
Late Devonian glaciation is the best known glacial event in this basin.
It was first recorded by Kegel (1953), who recognized diamictite with Fig. 12. Partial stratigraphic column of glacial diamictites of the middle-upper Cabeças
striated and faceted clasts in some cores of the Carolina (1-CL-1-MA) Formation with intercalation of deformed sandstone beds, close to Pedro Afonso Town on
and Riachão (1-VG-1-MA) wells. He misattributed these diamictite sec- the road to Itacajá Town (Oliveira, 1997).
tions to the overlying Longá Formation. Malzahn (1957) de

10
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
Fig. 13. (A) Very poorly-sorted and stratified sandstone and conglomerate intercalations with dispersed angular boulders. Outcrop in Retiro, 5 km north of the town of São Francisco
do Piauí (Caputo, 1985). (B) Sandstone, with planar parting lamination characteristic of upper flow regime structures, suggests sediment accumulation under the influence of strongly
seasonal palaeoclimate that involves a pronounced seasonal peak in flood and runoff. The planar parting lamination follows the direction of the hammer handle in the Miranorte County.
During some periods, strong meltwater discharge may have resulted
in the establishment of significant deposition of very poorly-sorted peb-
bly sandstone and conglomerate beds.
The isolated irregular-shaped boulders of Fig. 13 A were interpreted
as transported under catastrophic flood conditions. They occur in some
stratigraphic levels, and possibly, were deposited from floating ice, sug-
gesting ice rafting of clasts (Fig. 13 A). In the Miranorte County, the
Cabeças Formation shows planar parting lamination typical of the upper
flow regime (Fig. 13 B).
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Several sandstone strata show parallel horizontal slickensides along
the stratification, named intraformational shear zone by Le Heron et
al. (2018) that formed in some meters below the glacier basis. Below
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the level of the shear zone, there is no sign of this glaciotectonic struc-
ture, and glacier has moved together part of the substrate. These paral-
lel slickensides may be confused with a striated pavement, but they are
stacked sedimentary rock body surfaces with slikensides due to shearing
stress.
The upper sandstone overlying diamictites is generally white, fine-
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to medium-grained, with angular grains, micaceous, with kaolinitic ma-
trix. It is commonly a much thinner section than that of the lower thick
sandstone beds under the diamictites (see in Fig. 21, the upper sand-
stone section preserved in well 1-CA-1-MA). The main feature of the up-
per sandstone is that it is massive in some sections and displays many
slump structures and soft sediment deformation, possibly connected to
glacier melting.
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Some slump structures were interpreted as undermelt structures.
They may be the result of stagnant ice covered by a new sedimentary
pack. In circumpolar areas, when the sandstone pore ice and the under-
lying ice finally melt, the internal sediment structure collapses over an
irregular surface, completely destroying its original sedimentary fabric
(Fig. 14 A, B). These collapsed sandstone beds are very common in the
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upper sandstone unit and are interpreted to have been deposited during
deglaciation processes.
Polished and striated clasts are shown in the Fig. 15 A, and rhyth-
mite sediments with a lonestone in the Fig. 15 B. Varvelike rhyth
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Fig. 14. Upper Cabeças sandstone. A) Collapsed massive lower sandstone, overlain by cross-bedded sandstone beds. B) Irregular surface underlying collapsed sandstone in Pedro Afonso
Town Port, Tocantins River. Photos: M.V.C.
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mites, usually laminated siltstones and shales with scattered clasts are
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known from outcrops (Malzhan, 1957), and well cores of the upper
Cabeças Formation (Carozzi, 1980; Streel et al., 2000) in the west-
ern part of the Parnaíba Basin, State of Tocantins , with sediments laid
down under glacial and periglacial conditions.
Latest Famennian acritarchs are present and confirm the marine
character of the depositional environment of the diamictites and rhyth-
mites, even though a large proportion (70%) of the palynological mater-
ial is reworked from Givetian/Frasnian strata (Streel et al., 2000). The
latest Devonian diamictite includes far-traveled boulders, some of them
over one meter across, composed of basement schist, gneiss, quartz,
quartzite, conglomerate, and sedimentary rocks derived from older Pa-
leozoic formations (Fig. 16 A).
Folded silty/fine-grained sandstone horseshoe-shaped boulder is in-
serted in diamictite masses (Fig. 17 A) and massive diamictite boulders
(Fig. 17 B) are included in another diamictite with shearing and folding
structures, indicating two diamictite generations.
Glacial striated pavements are well-represented in the municipalities
of Brejo do Piauí and Canto do Buriti (State of Piauí), particularly in
outcrops near the locality of Calembre. Here, the best known pavement
(geographic coordinates: 8° 15´ 02´´S, 42° 52´57´´W) is located about
26 km south of Canto do Buriti Town (Caputo and Ponciano, 2013).
This remarkable extensive and well-preserved pavement is polished and
striated locally, with subparallel ridges and grooves that have irregular
decimetric spacing and centimetric depths and are sculptured into peb-
bly sandstone and cross-stratified coarse-grained sandstone beds (Fig.
18). In Morro comprido area, many striated pavements are also seen
(Fig. 16 B).
The orientation of parallel striae is not coincident with that of the
sandstone cross-bedding strike, indicating that these features do not re-
sult from the intersection between the bedding planes and the horizon-
tal ground surface. Lodged clasts embedded in the pavement surfaces
change from small-sized cobbles to large-sized pebbles and boulders.
These may be aligned or irregularly dispersed into the sandstone, some
showing notable features of glacial abrasion (Fig. 19 A, B).
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Fig. 15. A) Faceted, striated, and polished cobble extracted from the Cabeças Formation diamictite exposed in the bank of the Tocantins River, north of the town of Pedro Afonso. The coin
is 2.5 cm in diameter. After Caputo and Crowell (1985). B) Rhythmically thin-bedded core. Note the small lonestone. It caused the disruption of lamination at the bottom and draping
of sediment over the upper surface of the clast (core 16, well 1-TM-1-MA, after ).

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Fig. 16. A) Pre-Middle Ordovician silicified and indurated conglomerate boulder (1.25 m long) is contained in the latest Devonian Cabeças Formation at Morro Comprido area. B) A stri-
ated pavement is seen close to the boulder area. Photos M.V.C.
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Fig. 17. A) Recumbent-folded boulder made of silty/fine-grained sandstone that was folded and involved by the latest Devonian massive diamictite. B) Adjacent to Fig. 17A, two diamic-
tite generations. The massive diamictite boulder, one meter across (C), is included in another diamictite with shearing and folding structures. The voids in the upper part of the picture
indicate the former location of other diamictite boulders. Photos M.V.C.

Several undulating shearing surfaces (Fig. 20 A) in the diamictite and overlying formations. Therefore, these features are intraformational
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were observed in the area. These features are interpreted as a lodg-
ment diamictite formed by loading and glacier motion (glacial tecton-
ics). Disrupted and folded fine-grained sandstone bodies may be caused
by ice shove. Several shearing surfaces are evident with different ori-
entations (Fig. 20 B). Barbosa et al. (2014) show many glaciotec-
tonic features of the Cabeças Formation diamictites, such as intrafor-
mational breccias, clastic dikes, and diamictite sills, folds, thrust and
normal faults, sandstone pods, and detachment surfaces. This deforma-
tion is restricted to the glacial deposits and does not affect underlying
and atectonic and probably related to glacier motion.
The stratigraphic position, origin, and nature of the Cabeças di-
amictite were controversial and have been inadequately explained for
many years. According to Moore (1963), the presence of a large num-
ber of diamictite outcrops also in the Pimenteira and Itaim formations
was problematic, since they were found at different stratigraphic lev-
els (Fig. 21). The lower Cabeças Formation sandstone is absent in
the town of Pedro Afonso. The diamictite in the Carolina well is ap-
proximately 40 m thick and directly overlies disconformably the Pi-
menteira Formation. The Cabeças sandstone under the diamictite is very

12
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx

tion sections underlying the Late Devonian diamictites become progres-

sively older towards the western margin of the Parnaíba Basin, as in-
dicated by geological mapping and paleontological data (Loboziak et
al., 2000). Near Colinas do Tocantins Town, latest Famennian glacial
diamictites of the Cabeças Formation rest directly on the pre-Ordovician
basement and are overlain by Longá Formation shales of Tournaisian

F
age (Fig. 21).
This means that the latest Devonian glaciation deeply eroded all
older formations under the Cabeças diamictites down to the basement

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on the southwestern margin of the basin (Loboziak et al., 2000; Ca-
puto and Ponciano, 2013). Moreover, when the Late Devonian glac-
ier melted, it left glacial diamictites directly on these older stratigraphic
units (Fig. 21).
The glacial evidence in the Cabeças Formation includes slump struc-
tures, soft sediment deformation, diamictites bearing polished, striated
and flatiron clasts, and rhythmite sediments with lonestones, striated
pavements, intraformational shear zones, and exotic blocks. Paleomag-

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Fig. 18. Partial view of a large striated pavement of the Calembre Village in Brejo do Piauí
County, which is made of coarse sandstone with sparse pebbles, cobbles, and boulders netic studies indicate a high-paleolatitude of the diamictite deposition
stuck at the top of sandstones and conglomerates underlying the diamictites. The hammer
(Torsvik and Cocks, 2013) and stable isotope determinations help in-
in the central part of the picture is used for scale. Caputo and Ponciano (2013) furnish a
geographic location and more details of this striated pavement.
fer sea-water cold temperatures and climate.
In North America, a distinctive diamictite section was long inter-
preted as debris flow sedimentation by Sevon (1969, ). It was ini-
thick (300 m) in the central portions of the basin. By contrast, the sand-
tially regarded as a highly localized deposit (Sevon, 1969, ; Sevon
stone pinches out and disappears in the southwestern part, because deep
et al., 1997). considered the diamictite as resulting from glaciation
glacial erosion has removed it together with older formations (Fig. 2

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in the Late Devonian. This Late Devonian diamictite extends for over
and 21).
400 km along the strike, with a folded width of nearly 40 km from north-
No lower sandstone beds intervene between the Cabeças diamictite
eastern Pennsylvania across western Maryland and into eastern–central
and the Pimenteira Formation in this region. The thick lower Cabeças
Formation sandstone was totally removed in well 1-CL-1-MA (Carolina) West Virginia. The polymictic diamictite in the Spechty Kopf and Rock-
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(Fig. 21) and Pedro Afonso area. The Pimenteira and Itaim forma well Formations deposits are contemporaneous with regressive facies
that reflect fluvial valley incision during the Late Devonian in the Ap
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Fig. 19. A) Detail of faceted cobble stuck in the pebbly striated sandstone pavement shown in Fig. 18. B). Multi-faceted cobble stuck in the pavement shows a flatiron-shape. Photos
CO

M.V.C.
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Fig. 20. A) Diamictite disrupted with nearly parallel undulating shearing surfaces. The hammer is supported by a.shearing indurated surface rich in iron. B) Irregularly disrupted and
folded siltstone and fine-grained sandstone body with many shearing planes throughout the diamictite. Photos M.V.C.

13
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
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Fig. 21. The latest Devonian unconformity truncated older strata beneath the diamictites down to the pre-Ordovician basement, as shown in the schematic geological section from the
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Petrobras well 1-CA-1-MA (Caraíba) to Colinas do Tocantins Town (COL). Well 1-CA-1-MA displays a more complete stratigraphic section above and below the Cabeças Formation diamic-
tite, as compared to well 1-CL-1-MA. See location of CO—1-CA-1 section in Fig.1 A.
palachian foreland basin (Brezinski et al., 2008). Other latest Devon-
ian diamictites could possibly be found in southeastern North American
basins. The source area may have been located on the Acadian moun-
tains and could be as old as Middle to Late Devonian (390 to 370 Ma).
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This chain was uplifted prior the Late Devonian glaciation.
Based on the observation and redescription of known outcrops, and
identification of new exposures of this diamictite, Brezinski et al.
(2008, 2010) disclosed an association of lithofacies that is not typi-
cal of debris flow deposition. The diamictite does not exhibit stratifica-
tion, cross-bedding, or grading. The observed exposures show character-
CO
istics that are best interpreted as deposits produced by glacial processes,
such as some clasts immersed in a massive matrix that exhibit stria-
tions, faceting, polishing, and flatiron appearance. Rhythmite deposits,
sheared diamictites, and large exotic clasts are also present. In Rowan
County, Kentucky, a huge granitic lonestone about 3 tons, named Robyn-
son, is embedded in the uppermost part of the Cleveland shale in the Lo-
gan Hollow Branch, 8 km northwest of Morehead. It is located ~500 km
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west of the diamictite outcrops in Pennsylvania and Maryland (Clay-
ton et al., 2010). Miospore assemblages from samples immediately be-
low, above and adjacent to this dropstone can be truly attributed to the
end-Famennian Retispora lepidophyta-Verrucosisporites nitidus (LN) Zone
(Clayton et al., 2010).
The continental diamictite section is both under- and overlain by
marine strata (Brezinski et al., 2010). These glacial strata pinch out
between marine beds towards the west and were folded and eroded in
the east by the later Alleghenian orogeny in the Pennsylvanian to Per-
mian time (300 to 250 Ma). These authors consider that this glacia-
tion and deglaciation was of alpine type. This interpretation may not
be correct because the huge rafted granitic boulder (Robynson) was car
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Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx
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ried over hundred kilometers by large icebergs (Clayton et al., 2010).
Alpine glaciation is restricted to ground above sea-level, when only out-
wash deposits reach the nearby sea. Tidewater glaciers do reach the sea,
although they may originate in the ice fields, ice caps or even ice sheets,
they cannot carry huge boulders for long lengths because they break up
numerous small icebergs.
According to Brezinski et al. (2008, 2010), the evidence for the
Late Devonian glaciation in North America is primarily based on glacial
features in the area and glacial coeval deposits in high-latitude regions
of South America (Caputo, 1985; Caputo et al., 2006).
In Africa, reliable evidence of Devonian glacial sedimentation is
found in the Takoradi Formation of the Accra Basin in Ghana, both off-
shore and onshore (Junner, 1939; ; Bär and Riegel, 1974; Caputo,
1984), and the Teragh Formation diamictites (Valsardieu and Dars,
1971; Hambrey and Kluyver, 1981, Caputo, 1984) of the Tim
Mersoï Basin (Republic of Niger). The upper Witpoort diamictites of
the upper Witteberg Group of the Karoo Basin (South Africa) have a
glacigenic origin (Almond et al., 2002). This interpretation is sup-
ported by diamictites, occasional pyramidal clasts and striated surfaces
within quartzites beneath the diamictites. This striated surface may be a
shear zone related to glacier motion. The Witpoort Formation is as old
as Late Devonian (Famennian) based in palynomorphs and fish (Streel
and Theron, 1999).
8. Age of Cabeças Formation diamictites
The combined use of selected Euramerican and Western Gondwanan
miospore species as zonal and characteristic taxa permits the accu-
rate subdivision, dating, and correlation of Devonian palyniferous strata
in the Parnaíba and Amazon basins, in terms of equiva
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
lent miospore zones in Western Europe and the Old Red Sandstone Con-
tinent.
The miospore biostratigraphy of core 31 of well 1-CL-1-MA (Car-
olina) within the diamictite section (Fig. 21), reported by Kegel
(1953) was revised by Loboziak et al., 1994, Loboziak et al., 1994).
In addition, equivalent glaciogenic sections were dated in the Solimões
and Amazon basins by Grahn et al. (2001), Streel et al., 2000; Melo
and Loboziak (2003), and Grahn et al. (2006).
Nearly all Brazilian Devonian diamictite samples examined thus far
contain Retispora lepidophyta, the miospore index species that charac-
terizes the latest Famennian (or “Strunian”) on a near-worldwide scale
(Melo and Loboziak, 2000, 2003). The total stratigraphic range of
R. lepidophyta in the Ardenne–Rhenish Massif (“Strunian” type area) is
currently subdivided into three interval zones (Maziani et al., 1999).
Each biozone has its base defined by the first appearance of the cor-
responding eponymous species, from oldest to youngest: Knoxisporites
literatus (LL) Zone, Indotriradites explanatus (LE) Zone, and Verrucosis-
porites nitidus (LN) Zone. However, the lowest zone (LL) has not been
identified in any of the Brazilian sections studied to date. This indi-
cates a minimum early Strunian hiatus below the diamictite in the Pa-
leozoic basins of northern Brazil. Moreover, both verrucosisporites nitidus
and Vallatisporites vallatus (another LN marker) may be either scarce or
absent in several examined diamictite sections (Melo and Loboziak,
2000, 2001, 2003).
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An undifferentiated LE/LN zonal attribution was proposed for the to-
tal range of Retispora lepidophyta in those areas. It corresponds to the
praesulcata conodont zone in Western Europe (Fig. 3 in Streel and
Loboziak, 1996). Thus, the latest Devonian (Strunian) diamictites of
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Brazilian Paleozoic basins correspond to the Rle/LVa Gondwanan zonal
succession, which correlates with the LE/LN Euramerican zonal succes-
sion (Melo and Loboziak, 2003). The diamictites from Pedro Afonso
Town outcrops are coeval with those of well 1-CL-1-MA (Carolina)
(Loboziak et al., 2000).
Strunian diamictites are present in all Brazilian intracratonic basins
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(Solimões, Amazon, Parnaíba, and Paraná), in the rifted Marajó and Ja-
tobá basins of northern and northeastern Brazil, and in Andean basins
(Caputo et al., 2008; Díaz-Martínez, 2004).
U/Pb zircon datings of three volcanic ash beds bracket the Hangen-
berg shale in Poland (Holy Cross Mountains) between 358.97 ± 0.11 Ma
and 358.89 ± 0.20 Ma, with a calculated duration of 0.05 + 0.14/- 0.05
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Ma (Myrrow et al., 2013). They provide an indirect limit for the tim-
ing of the latest Devonian glaciation. The end of deposition of this black
shale was succeeded by marl and marly shale, associated with a major
sea-level drop and simultaneous faunal extinction (Kaiser et al., 2011).
The glaciation is coeval with the deposition of sandstone strata re-
lated to this sea-level drop before the end of the Devonian (Kaiser et
CO
al., 2011). The younger U/Pb ash bed, located 38 cm above the topmost
Hangenberg shale, was dated at 358.57 ± 0.20 Ma (Myrrow et al.,
2013). There is a 2.20 m thick section between the Hangenberg shale
and the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary (DCB). Based on cyclostratig-
raphy, using eccentricity cycles (De Vleeschouwer et al. (2013), the
accumulation rate between the Dasberg and Hangenberg shales was cal-
culated to be 5.6 m/Ky. Based on this accumulation rate the DCB is 320
Ky younger than this ash bed (Myrrow et al., 2013). This indicates
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that the duration of the glaciation in the end of the Devonian may have
been about ~100 Ky, which agrees with the estimate of Streel et al.
(2012).
9. Far-field Late Devonian climate and glacial geochemistry
The latest Frasnian comprises an up to 5 cm thick pyrite bed in the
Jasper Basin near Medicine Lake (Alberta) and in the Selwyn Basin
in the Yukon Territory, Canada, which shows a positive δ34S excur-
sion (+34‰) close to the Frasnian–Famennian Boundary, according
to Geldsetzer et al. (1987). The marked increase of the δ34S values
in pyrite in laminated anoxic argillaceous lime–mudstone during the
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Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx
late Frasnian was followed by a decrease to lower values during the
Famennian. This may indicate an oceanic turnover deleterious to life,
which may have been caused by colder water circulation due to a cool-
ing event. This worldwide Kellwasser phenomenon is considered as one
of the six big biocrisis events of the Phanerozoic (Kaiser et al., 2006,
2015).
F
A fast, worldwide drop in the sea-level also occurred in the latest Fa-
mennian due to the widespread buildup of ice sheets on Western Gond-
wana, with consequent marine facies and climate change, biota extinc-
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tion, and deep fluvial incision elsewhere (Isaacson et al., 1999, b).
The main mechanism of CO2 extraction from the atmosphere and oceans
is its net transfer to the biomass through biological activity and its sub-
sequent incorporation to sedimentary rocks.
The climate in North American regions, where the glacial diamic-
tites were found, was mainly hot and dry before the Famennian glacia-
tion (Brezinski et al., 2008, 2009, and 2010). These climatic condi-
tions were unsuitable to the spreading of rich land plant covers and coal
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preservation, just before the Late Devonian glaciation. The increase of
land plants cover causes reduction of atmospheric and marine CO2, and
cooling. Nevertheless, the low cover of land plants was inadequate to
cool the climate in Late Devonian time. However, the high-burial of ma-
rine organic matter was more effective in reducing the atmospheric CO2
and cooling the climate during high sea-level stands in Late Devonian
(Fig. 11). In addition, all older ice ages originated without any interven-
tion of land plants. The global Hangenberg biocrisis event, long consid-
ered as a second-order extinction event, is now regarded to be as severe
as the global Late Frasnian Kellwasser biocrisis, because it caused the
extinction of 45% of marine genera and wiped out entire ecosystems at
the end of the Famennian (Kaiser et al., 2015, and references therein).
10. Early Mississippian glaciation
The third Paleozoic glaciation in the Parnaíba Basin is associated
with the Longá Formation, and was first recognized a few years ago,
in the subsurface of this basin (Lobato, 2007, Lobato, 2010; Lobato
and Borghi, 2007, 2014). The Longá Formation was first named by
Albuquerque and Dequech in 1946), but published in 1950, who de-
scribed a black shale section cropping out in the Longá River on the
road from Campo Maior to Castelo villages, in Piauí State. It is charac-
terized by laminated or banded and partly bioturbated shaly siltstone
strata. The formation was apparently deposited under shelf conditions
in a transgressive, restricted, storm-dominated sea environment (Vaz et
al., 2007; Della Fávera, 1993), as suggested by thin sandstone and con-
glomerate levels, about 30 cm thick, bearing hummocky structures and
remobilized bivalve shell fossils (Santos and Carvalho, 2004, 2009).
This could be due to high-energy, stormy conditions.
The Longá Formation is up to 65 m and 220 m thick in outcrops and
subsurface of the basin's depocenter, respectively. The upper part of the
formation's diamictite is missing in the southwestern outcrops, where
the Longá Formation may be subdivided into three informal parts. Its
upper contact is disconformable with the Poti Formation, with a hiatus
of ~10–11 My (Melo and Loboziak, 2000; Grahn et al., 2001). The
lower contact is also disconformable with the Cabeças Formation. In the
subsurface of the northern part of the Parnaíba Basin, Tournaisian di-
amictite beds occur in the upper portion of the Longá Formation (Fig.
22).
Outcrops of Longá beds show marked color banding and strong
red-color in weathered expositions. However, they normally present
dark-gray to black shales, with calcareous stringers within the upper
part of the unit. A thick diamictite, with shale and siltstone interbeds,
is present in the upper Longá Formation in the subsurface of the north-
eastern region of the basin, which laterally changes into a shaly facies.
In the central parts of the basin, diamictites are replaced by shale beds.
In shallow boreholes drilled in the 1970´s by the Departamento
Nacional da Produção Mineral (DNPM) and Companhia de Pesquisa
de Recursos Minerais (CPRM) for a joint coal research project in
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx

ing to Playford et al. (2012). Diamictite (black triangles), sandstones (dotted pattern)
and mudstone (black color).

the Parnaíba Basin, Lobato (2007, 2010) and Lobato and Borghi (2007,
2014) identified diamictite levels with a single striated clast. Studies
were conducted in the well 1UN-24, with the following geographic co-

F
ordinates 03° 54´ 37´´S and 42° 56´ 47´´W (Fig. 22). These authors car-
ried out facies studies of shallow boreholes (1UN-4 and 1UN-24), lo-

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cated in the northeastern part of the Parnaíba Basin (Fig. 1A). Only well
1UN-24 was deep enough to reach the glaciogenic section drilled in the
Maranhão State (MA). This well comprises parts of the upper Longá and
lower Poti formations (Fig. 22). The Longá Formation diamictite occurs
within the depth interval 338-276.5 m. However, the drilled glaciogenic
section is incomplete because the well did not fully penetrate the glacial
beds (Playford et al., 2012). The Longá Formation also belongs to the
Canindé Group (Fig. 2), which spans the late Early Devonian to Middle

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Mississippian (Vaz et al., 2007).
The Tournaisian glaciation was also evidenced in subsurface strata of
the upper Jaraqui and Oriximiná formations, in the Solimões and Ama-
zon basins respectively (Caputo and Crowell, 1985; Caputo et al.,
2008). Diamictite beds occur in the upper part of the Longá Formation
in the subsurface (Fig. 22) and include mainly sedimentary clasts and
also, subordinately, igneous and metamorphic rocks. The Longá Forma-

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tion was divided into three informal members in the southwest outcrop
area of the basin. The thickness of each member varies, and the medium
member may pinch out completely northwards into the basin's depocen-
ter.
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The lower member comprises 20−30 m thick, laminated, green-gray-
ish and partially bioturbated dark-gray, micaceous, in part sideritic
and chloritic shales, which include thin interbeds of siltstone and
fine-grained sandstone. Thin conglomerate and conglomeratic sandstone
beds and lenses occur in some stratigraphic levels. The middle unit,
approximately 10−20 m thick, consists mainly of very fine-grained,
EC

well-sorted, white or yellow, ferruginous, sideritic, in part micaceous,

argillaceous, cross-laminated, and cross-bedded sandstone beds. The up-
per unit, 10−30 m thick, is composed of black, gray, and green shales
that are sideritic, pyritic, micaceous, laminated and partially biotur-
bated, with sandstone lenses and oligomictic sand-supported conglom-
erate beds, about 30 cm thick. Some thin, medium- to coarse- grained
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sandstone lenses and beds are frequent throughout the entire formation.
The upper Longá diamictite, rich in Tournaisian palynomorphs, re-
sembles the dark-gray diamictites that occur in the upper parts of
the Cabeças and Poti formations. However, in some places, the Longá
diamictite presents brown color due to weathering. Recycled paly-
nomorphs of Middle and Late Devonian age are likewise common in the
CO

Longá Formation.
Lobato and Borghi (2007, 2014) interpreted 13 sedimentary fa-
cies (10 lithofacies and 3 ichnofacies), grouped in 9 facies-successions
(FS), which allowed the identification of glaciomarine, wave-dominated
shallow marine, and wave-dominated fluvio-deltaic (delta front and
prodelta) depositional systems. The analysis of FS permitted the charac-
terization of forced regressive stratigraphic surfaces (breaks) of varied
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natures and orders, which in turn allowed the characterization of two

Fig. 22. Core drill UN-24 with its lithologic log and sampling depths. The Poti and Longá
formations contact (P/L) is disconformable. Blank intervals in the lithologic column in-
dicate the non-recovery. The diamictite thickness is ~50 m, but it is incomplete, accord
3rd order stratigraphic sequences, limited by subareal erosive surfaces,
including other sequences of smaller orders.
Small shale and sandstone fragments and rounded diamictite pel-
lets are dispersed in the clayey–silty–sandy matrix (Fig. 23 A). Angular
quartz sand grains and rock fragments show fabric alignment, possibly
due to internal shearing caused by glacier motion (Fig. 23 B).
Fig. 24. Photos A and B show drill cores of the Longá Formation
with deformed balls and pellets of massive siltstone–fine-grained sand-
stone (SC), shale (ShC), and other clasts within a sandy diamictite, indi-
cating significant remobilization/loading. Ojeda and Perillo (1967),
in their Fig. 6, show a lonestone boulder about 18 cm across in a sus-
pension deposit (Fig. 24 C).

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M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx

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Fig. 23. Thin-sections (parallel nicols) of Longá Formation at a depth of 322.7 m of well UN-24 drilled by the DNPM/CPRM consortium. A) Diamictite is poorly sorted and has angular
clasts, many corroded, as large as fine- to coarse-grained sand and larger diamictite pellets, which are immersed in a clayey–silty–fine-grained sandy sideritic matrix. B) Poorly sorted
diamictite showing preferential clasts and matrix alignment and sand grain corrosion. Scale bar =1 mm (Lobato, 2007).

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Fig. 24. Longá Formation. A) Deformed balls of massive siltstone–fine-grained sandstone (SC), shale (ShC) and other clasts within a sandy diamictite, indicating significant remobilization
EC

and loading. Core-drill UN-24 drilled by the DNPM/CPRM consortium with a core diameter of 4 cm. Depth: 292 m. B) Soft-sediment deformation within a diamictite with large angular
shale piece and very fine grained sandstone clasts. Depth: 285 m. After Playford et al. (2012). C) Quartzite boulder about 18 cm across included in argillaceous fine-grained sandstone
suspension deposit of the Longá Formation. It caused bending of underlying strata, interruption of lateral stratification and draping of sediment over its upper surface. Photo: Ojeda and
Perillo, 1967).

Longá Formation outcrops in the Campo Maior area show some fea- amictites of the Jaraqui Formation. Latest Famennian diamictites at-
tures similar to fossil triangular ice wedges formed in a periglacial per- tained widespread distribution in the Solimões Basin, and a large part
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mafrost environment (Fig. 25 A). Recent ice wedge (Fig. 25 B) is
shown for comparison with Longá fossil triangular wedge-like outcrops
(Fig. 26).
Tournaisian diamictites are known in the subsurface in the Parnaíba,
Amazon, and Solimões basins. In the latter basin ( Fig 26 A, B), most
often, these diamictites rest disconformably on Strunian di
CO
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of these rocks may have been eroded and sporemorphs may have been
recycled into the Tournaisian diamictites (Caputo et al., 2008).
Detailed stratigraphic analysis in the central Appalachian Foreland
Basin in the United States shows coarse-grained, conglomeratic, and flu-
vial sandstones (Black Hand Sandstone) to be associated with an uncon-
formity and sharp valley incision down to 60 m deep (

Fig. 25. A) Brownish-red Longá shale and siltstone layers with possible fossil triangular ice wedge structures, suggesting formation in a periglacial permafrost environment in the Parnaíba
Basin. Strata folded toward the soil thermal fracture. Road from Altos to Campo Maior Counties. B) Recent ice wedge formed in fractures in a permafrost environment in a periglacial area
for comparison with Longá outcrops. Beds fold downward along the thermal fractures. Photo A: Courtesy of the Hungarian geologist Dr. Peter Szatmari. Photo B: The Northfolk Project:
http:// www.northfolk.org.uk/geology/geoindex.html.

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M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx

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Fig. 26. A) Petrobras core of massive gray diamictite with many angular sand- and granule-sized quartz clasts, which are included in the clayey–silty matrix of the Tournaisian Upper

D
Jaraqui Formation of the Solimões Basin. B) In the Solimões Basin, latest Famennian and middle to late Tournaisian diamictites may occur in direct disconformable contact.

Matchen and Kammer, 2006). It is inferred that the sandstone-filled
channel has resulted from forced regression during the Kinder-
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hookian–Osagean transition interval (Matchen and Kammer, 2006).
This unconformity marks a global sea-level fall event. The correlation of
this widespread unconformity with marine and continental glaciation in
South America was discussed by Matchen and Kammer (2006); Kam-
mer and Matchen (2008), and b, 2008) , ).
EC
Canyon Range, Nevada, and Namur‒Dinant Basin, Belgium) for the
mid-Tournaisian and Viséan intervals. The mid‒Tournaisian event
shows increases in δ13Ccarb, δ13Corg, and δ15N bulk at Arrow Canyon
(from +0.6 to +7.0‰, ‒25.2 to ‒23.7‰, and ‒0.6 to +8.9‰, respec-
tively) and Namur‒Dinant (from ‒0.3 to +4.7‰, ‒27.9 to ‒22.2‰,
and ‒5.7 to +5.2‰, respectively). The positive excursions in all three
isotopic records during this event are consistent with increased frac-
tional burial of organic matter and enhanced denitrification. It means

11. Age of Longá Formation diamictites

an increase in marine productivity and expansion of hypoxia in the
global ocean and epicontinental basins. This event coincided with falls
The taxonomic identification of plant microfossils (miospores) in
in global sea-level and temperature related to the Gondwanan Tour-
eight diamictite cores and sixteen intercalated marine shale cores of well
naisian glaciation (Caputo et al., 2008). Liu et al. (2018) hypoth-
1UN-24 indicated an Early Mississippian age for the Longá Formation
esize that global cooling led to accelerated oceanic circulation and up-
diamictites (Playford et al., 2012).
welling on continental margins, triggering increased marine productiv-
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The lowermost part of the Longá Formation bears a poor benthic ma-
ity and redox changes within the affected upwelling zones.
rine invertebrate fauna of latest Devonian age (Santos and Carvalho,
Two positive δ13Ccarb isotope shifts have been recognized in the late
2009). However, this basal shale is separated from higher parts of the
Kinderhookian and early Osagean, in limestones of Idaho and Nevada.
formation by a hiatus encompassing an early Tournaisian or longer time
The oldest δ13Ccarb peak (+7‰%o) occurs in the isosticha conodont
span, depending on whether pre-PD strata are locally present or ab-
Zone and a younger, minor peak is present in the typicus conodont Zone
sent in the Longá Formation due to Tournaisian onlap along basin edges
(Saltzman, 2002). These values correlate with the curves from bra-
(Playford et al., 2012). These thin basal shale beds below the uncon-
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chiopod calcite from the Midcontinent and Western Europe (Saltzman,

formity could be considered as a shaly facies of the Cabeças Formation,
to be formalized in the future as a new member.
The clasts observed in the Longá diamictites are grossly oriented and
consist of angular to rounded quartz, shale, sandstone, and igneous peb-
bles and cobbles. It was dated to be as old as Early Mississippian (Tour-
naisian) by Playford et al. (2012). Melo and Loboziak (2003) es-
tablished three, successive, Tournaisian miospore zones in the Amazon
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2002). Thus, the δ13C curve decreases from +7 ‰to +5‰ and +4‰,
suggesting the reduction of marine anoxia and temperature.
Marine anoxia briefly returned in the typicus Zone after this episode.
The detailed δ13C data obtained by Mii et al. (1999), on brachiopod
shell calcite from the Midcontinent region of North America also show
positive excursions up to 5.4 ‰ in the late Kinderhookian. It is interest-

Basin. These are, in ascending stratigraphic order: the Radiizonates arcu-
atus–Waltzispora lanzonii (AL), Spelaeotriletes balteatus–Neoraistrickia lo-
ganii (BL), and Spelaeotriletes pretiosus–Colatisporites decorus (PD) interval
zones. Palynofloras of the Spelaeotriletes pretiosus–Colatisporites decorus
(PD) miospore Interval Zone indicate a late middle to early late Tour-
naisian age for the Longá diamictites. The PD Zone is equivalent to
the Spelaeotriletes pretiosus–Raistrickia clavata (PC) Zone of Western Eu-
rope (Melo and Loboziak, 2003). The representative palynomorphs
are identified and well-illustrated by Playford et al. (2012).
ing that the δ18O record shows a 3% increase in the Kinderhookian–Os-
agean transition interval, suggesting climate cooling caused by glacia-
tion in Gondwana, according to Caputo et al. (2008).
Increased δ13C values may indicate enhanced organic 12C burial and
sequestration of atmospheric CO2 that provoked global cooling, glacia-
tion, and sea level fall (values of δ13C began to drop very fast when the
climate became cold). In the same way, low δ18O values were observed
during times of massive organic matter accumulation, whereas high val-
ues were recorded when cooling and glaciation took place.

12. Far-field Tournaisian climate and glacial geochemistry

Liu et al. (2018) presented organic carbon and nitrogen isotope

profiles for two widely separated Mississippian regions (Arrow

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M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
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Fig. 27. Poti Formation section exposed in the southwestern portion of the Parnaíba Basin, according to Andrade (1968, 1972).
13. Middle Mississippian glaciation
The fourth glacial deposits of the Paleozoic, recognized in the
Parnaíba Basin (Viséan, Middle Mississippian) are documented in the
Tocantins River valley, near Itacajá Town (State of Tocantins), as well
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as in other areas where the Poti Formation is exposed. The term Poti Se-
ries was introduced by Lisboa (1914) to refer to sandstone beds crop-
ping out in the Poti River valley in the State of Piauí. Later, Paiva and
Miranda (1937) identified the Poti Series in the water drill No 125
near Terezina City (Piauí), within a depth interval of 219–566 m. Camp-
bell (1949) restricted this unit to the depth interval of 219–423 m
in the same well. The Poti Formation is 170 m thick in the south-
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western outcrop belt and 320 m thick in the basin's depocenter. The
lower contact is disconformable with the underlying Longá Formation.
Strata of latest Tournaisian–early Viséan age are apparently absent in
the Parnaíba Basin, which indicates a stratigraphic gap separating the
Longá and Poti formations. The same unconformity is also noted in
equivalent sections of the Amazon and Solimões basins (Melo and
Loboziak, 2000). There is a low-angle unconformity between Poti and
the overlying Piauí Formation, of Westphalian age (Fig. 2). The basal
conglomerate of the Piauí Formation, consisting of a large amount of
quartz, quartzite, and igneous rock clasts, probably originated from
the recycling of diamictites, conglomerates, and pebbly sandstones of
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the underlying Poti Formation. Poti Formation diamictites were first rec-
ognized by Oliveira (1961), then working for Petrobras. He mapped
the Tocantins River and one of its tributaries, the Lontra River, along
which he found glacial diamictites with a large variety of clast sizes
immersed in a clayey–silty–fine-sandy matrix. However, he incorrectly
placed these glacial diamictites in the underlying Longá Formation. Bar-
bosa et al. (1966) also found diamictites with striated clasts in the To-
cantins River outcrops, with striae aligned after one, two, three, or four
different directions. Also , these authors misplaced the diamictites in the
Longá Formation.
Several Petrobras field parties of the sixties ( Moore, 1963, Ojeda
and Bembom, 1966; Ojeda and Perillo, 1967; I Perillo and Na-
hass, 1968; Andrade, 1968) mapped Devonian and Mississippian out-
crops of the Cabeças, Longá, and Poti formations in the southwest-
ern part of the Parnaíba Basin. The lower Poti section (or informal
member), as thick as 120 m, consists of pink–yellowish, micaceous, fri-
able, fine- to medium-grained, occasionally coarse-grained sandstone,
often high-angle cross-bedded, with thin siltstone interbeds (Fig. 27).
It contains subrounded to angular, well-sorted grains and a large num-
ber of unoriented boulders of quartz, quartzite, gneiss, granite, and
shale scattered in the cross-bedded sandstone layers. This unit con-
tains several oligomictic, lenticular, sand-supported conglomerate beds
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
with angular to subangular clasts of the same nature as those of the
above-mentioned sandstone beds, and few silty/clayey interbeds.
The upper Poti informal member, up to 54 m thick, consists of pink-
ish–violet and greenish-gray, massive, blocky, micaceous, sometimes
calciferous diamictite, characterized by pebble to boulder-sized clasts of
quartz, mica schist, gneiss, and quartzite, dispersed within a compact,
silty–argillaceous matrix. It typically shows a peculiar ferruginous black
alteration coat on the clast surfaces.
It contains subrounded to angular, well-sorted grains and a large
number of unoriented boulders of quartz, quartzite, gneiss, granite, and
shale scattered in the cross-bedded sandstone layers. This unit con-
tains several oligomictic, lenticular, sand-supported conglomerate beds
with angular to subangular clasts of the same nature as those of the
above-mentioned sandstone beds, and few silty–clayey interbeds.
Micaceous pink shale and siltstone-laminated beds, as thick as 10 m
(Fig. 28), occur in the middle part of the lower Poti unit and later-
ally may pinch out completely. This is documented in some sections and
wells around, where these shale beds are missing. Della Fávera and
Uliana (1979) described a quartzite boulder on the road between Ga-
turiano and Floriano towns (State of Piauí), which is associated with sus-
pension deposits of the Poti Formation (Fig. 28). A smaller boulder was
also observed by one of the authors (M.V.C) on the same road, within a
suspension deposit.
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Fig. 28. Quartzite boulder included in suspension deposits of the Poti Formation (Della
Fávera and Uliana, 1979). The boulder caused the bending of underlying strata (it ap-
pears to squish down into the bed), interruption of lateral stratification and draping of
sediment over its upper surface.
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Fig. 29. A) Poti Formation consisting of gray diamictite cored in a shallow well with irregular-shaped and angular clasts immersed in a clayey–silty–fine sandy matrix. The clasts are made
of granitic, basic rocks, quartz and sedimentary rocks. B) Massive gray diamictite core from the same well that was drilled in 2006 close to the Tocantins River near Tupiratins Town, State
of Tocantins. Samples courtesy of the Themag Engineering and Management Co.
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Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx
Sediment deposition by melting of ice rafts may also have taken
place (Fig. 28). This suggests the presence of ice-rafted lonestones in a
periglacial environment, about 400Km apart from known glacial diamic-
tite outcrops.
Many shallow-wells were drilled in 2006 by the Themag Engineer-
ing and Management Company for the construction of a dam in the To-
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cantins River near Tupiratins Village, State of Tocantins (Fig. 29). The
cores from some wells were studied by Caputo et al., 2006,a, 2008).
They contain sandstones, silty shales, and dark-gray to gray diamictites
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of late Viséan age (Streel et al., 2012). The Poti diamictites in Petro-
bras and Themag wells are very similar to the end-Devonian diamic-
tites that occur at the top of the Cabeças Formation. However, the Poti
diamictites and shales contain well-preserved late Viséan sporomorphs
(Andrade and Daemon, 1974; Streel et al., 2012).
Several shale beds intercalated with diamictite deposits may be of
glaciomarine origin because some of them contain lonestones made of
sedimentary clasts (Fig. 30 A). Dark-gray diamictite outcrops of the Poti
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Formation in the Tocantins River valley contain angular to subrounded,
sand- to cobble-sized clasts (Fig. 30 B).
Ojeda and Bembom (1966) recorded sandstone dykes ca. 3 cm
thick and about 20 m long in the upper Poti member, which can be in-
terpreted as either injected sandstone dykes or fossil ice wedges, filled
with sand after ice melting in a periglacial environment.
The sedimentary facies and terrestrial megaflora suggest a predom-
inantly transitional to marine environment for parts of the upper Poti
Formation in outcrops of the southwestern portion of the basin. The va-
riety of sizes and nature of clasts suggest a high-energy environment
common to fluvial systems. On the other hand, due to the presence of
rafted boulders (Fig. 28), a fluvioglacial environment is more likely
for the section below the diamictites. In this lower section (Fig. 28),
fluvial sandstone with pebble- to boulder-sized clasts and conglomer-
ates may represent outwash deposits caused by glacier outburst floods
(jökulhlaups) during the occasional release of large volumes of water
stored in mountainous source areas. Marine incursions are character-
ized by the presence of storm-influenced marine facies (sandstone with
HCS) in the lowermost part of the Poti Formation (Ponciano and Della
Fávera, 2009). These beds contain sparse, poorly preserved marine
shelly faunas (Edmondia, Nucula, and Lingulidiscina) in the lowest part
of the lower member of the formation (Kegel, 1954; Mesner and
Wooldridge, 1964). The upper portion, above and within the diamic-
tite of the Poti Formation, bears a particularly rich, yet carbonized land
plant megaflora of “Paraca type” (Iannuzzi, 1994 (,; Iannuzzi and Pf-
efferkorn, 2002) and thin coal films (Dolianiti, 1954). These fos-
sil plants indicate climate improvement in the interglacial and post-
glacial intervals of the late Viséan. The genera identified include Archae-
calamites, Nothorhacopteris, Triphyllopteris, Sphenopteridium, and Diploth
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Fig. 30. A) Poti Formation. Core made of laminated siltstone and shale interbeds, with outsized sandy lonestones, as old as late Viséan. Photo: Courtesy of the Themag Engineering and
Management Company. B) Dark-gray diamictite outcrop, as old as Middle Mississippian (late Viséan) containing angular to subrounded sand- to cobble-sized clasts in the Tocantins River
Valley. Some voids indicate detached clasts. Photo: M.V.C.

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Fig. 31. A) Cabeças Formation thin-section of Strunian diamictite from the Parnaiba Basin outcrops close to Pedro Afonso Town, with very angular to subangular corroded quartz grains
(q) with variable particle sizes (1.5–0.1 mm) and rock fragment of chlorite schist (c). Sand grains and sideritic nodules (dark-brown color) are rarely in contact with one another and “float”
in a silty/clayey sideritic-chloritic matrix. B) Poti Formation thin-section (plane polarized light) of a core from well SM 204, drilled by Themag company. The diamictite mainly shows
fine- to coarse-grained, angular and irregular-shaped sand grains “floating” in a silty–clayey sideritic matrix (dark-brown color). Almost all sand grains are corroded and rarely in contact
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with one another.

mema. They also occur in Mississippian beds of Africa, India, and Aus-
tralia (Iannuzzi and Pfefferkorn, 2002).
Andrade (1968, 1972), did not interpret the depositional environ-
ment of the pebbly mudstone, or did he recognize any glacial influence
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genic nature (Swart and Hiller, 1982; Theron, 1994). The Kom-
madagga Subgroup consists of the Miller, Swartwaters-poort, Soutkloof,
and Dirkskraal formations. This subgroup intervenes between the up-
per Waaipoort Formation of the underlying Witteberg Group and the

in the sedimentation of the Poti Formation, in a paper prepared by An-
drade and Daemon (1974). Later, Andrade (written communication,
2006) raised the hypothesis that all diamictites found in the Pimenteira,
Cabeças, Longá, and Poti formations could be the result of tectonism.
However, the presence of clast striations in diamictites, intraformational
folding, and boulders within suspension deposits, suggests glacial and
periglacial deposition. Thin-sections of latest Devonian diamictites from
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basal Dwyka Group diamictite. The Miller Diamictite occurs discontin-
uously and has a sharp paraconformable basal contact with the upper
Waaipoort Formation of the Wittenberg Group. It records the oldest Car-
boniferous glacial episode in the Late Paleozoic section (Theron, 1994).
The basal portion of the Kommadagga Subgroup, comprising the Miller
Diamictite, is of Viséan age (Theron, 1994; Evans, 1999). However,
the glacial origin for this diamictite is being challanged (see Grobbe-

Parnaíba Basin outcrops (Fig. 31) A) and Middle Mississippian diamic-
tites from a Themag well core (Fig. 31 B) display very similar textures.
The thin-sections show grain shapes characteristic of ice abrasion. There
are no rounded quartz grains in those thin-sections.Iannuzzi and Pfef-
ferkon (2002) suggested a Late Viséan age for the fossil macroflora of
the Poti Formation. This flora is dominated by pteridosperms with as-
sociated arboreal lycopsids and sphenopsids. In conclusion, pebble stri-
ations in diamictites, boulders in suspension deposits, and lonestones
in laminites suggest continental, periglacial, and glaciomarine environ-
ments in the Viséan Poti Formation.
The Miller Diamictite Formation (Karoo Basin, South Africa) of the
Kommadagga Subgroup of the Witteberg Group is possibly of glacio
laar, 2015). The diamictite is massive and does not exhibit stratifi-
cation, cross-bedding, grading, or other sedimentary structures, which
tend to exclude debris flow deposition. Thin-sections and hand samples
of the Miller Diamictite (Fig. 32 A, B) present quartz composition, with
angular fragments similar to those of glacial diamictites of Brazil. Its tex-
ture is consistent with mechanical erosion and short-distance transporta-
tion under very cold climate. Older, dark-gray diamictite fragments im-
mersed in the Miller diamictite are also observed in outcrops (Fig. 32
B).
The Miller Formation is overlain by the Swartwaterspoort Forma-
tion sandstone with soft-deformation. Sandstone thickness, at Campher

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M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
Fig. 32. Miller Diamictite from South Africa, Karoo Basin. A) Thin-section of diamictite, with angular fragments “floating” in a silt-shale matrix, where they are rarely in contact with one
another. B) Several angular clasts, inside the gray massive Miller Diamictite, are mainly made of sedimentary rocks (white color), quartz, and feldspar minerals (pink), older diamictites
(dark-gray fragments) and coal streaks (black color). The diamictite is ungraded (Grobbelaar, 2015).
spoort and Kommadagga Kop, is a few meters, reaching a maximum
92 m at Kruidfontein (Grobbelaar, 2015).
According to Swart (1982), these sandstone units are discontinuous
in the eastern portion of the basin where they are easily recognized by
their coarse grain size, clean white weathering nature, the presence of
iron oxide staining, and frequent slump structures. A 0.1 cm–3 cm thick
horizontal lamination, defined by iron oxide staining, is usually seen in
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the overlying Swartwaterspoort sandstone with soft-sediment deforma-
tion structures as the only sedimentary structure commonly observed.
These slump structures mentioned by Swart (1982) were related
to the beginning of the Dwyka glaciation by Bell (1981). This sub-
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ject was polemic, because there are two non-deformed formations un-
derlying the Dwyka diamictites. The Dwyka beds rest unconformably
on older stratigraphic units, covering different formations of the Kom-
madagga Subgroup. A large time span, of about 15 My, is present be-
tween Dwyka and Miller diamictites deposition (Stapleton, 1977). In
our view, this soft-sediment deformation or slumping structures are re-
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lated to the end of the Miller glaciation like for the Late Devonian glacia-
tion in the Parnaíba Basin. These features were interpreted as resulting
from tectonics by Grobbelaar (2015), but they may be attributed to the
retreat of glaciers as well. Microscopic study of the deformed sandstone
indicates that all the structures originated definitively prior to lithifica-
tion (Bell, 1981). These soft-sediment structures suggest deglaciation at
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the end of the Miller diamictite deposition instead of later tectonism.
In many other regions, debris flow deposits were reinterpreted as
glacially influenced deposits and vice-versa. The age of the Miller di-
amictite is the same as that of the Poti Formation (Middle Mississippian).
Therefore, more studies are necessary for working out this uncertainty
relative to age and nature of the South African Miller Diamictite.
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14. Age of Poti Formation diamictites
Melo and Loboziak (2000) studied well-preserved miospore
species with both southern Euramerican and Gondwanan affinities from
Poti Formation sections of some Petrobras wells in the Parnaíba Basin.
They assigned the Poti Formation to the lower and middle parts of the
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upper Viséan. Several age-significant miospore species were identified
in their study, which included a succinct systematic description of the
most important species and comments on their biostratigraphy. Based on
correlations with the Western European Carboniferous miospore zona-
tion, the Poti Formation palynofloras were compared with the Perotrilites
tessellatus–Schulzospora campyloptera (TC) and Raistrickia nigra–Triqui-
trites marginatus (NM) zonal range (Melo and Loboziak, 2000). This
characterizes the upper portion of the Holkerian and the whole Asbian
according to Higgs et al. (1988, Fig. 1), which are the British re-
gional stages for the lower to middle parts of the upper Viséan. Co-
eval miospores illustrated from the Grand Erg Occidental, in the Alger
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ian Sahara (Lanzoni and Magloire, 1969), were compared with those
in the Parnaíba Basin (Andrade and Daemon, 1974; Melo and
Loboziak, 2000). The Poti Formation miospore assemblages were later
referred to a distincive Gondwanan Viséan biozone, the Reticulatisporites
magnidictyus (Mag) Range Zone (Melo and Loboziak, 2003; Melo and
Playford, 2012).
Coeval Viséan diamictites are also present in the Amazon and
Solimões basins (Caputo et al., 2008; Melo and Playford, 2012). Be-
sides, they were newly recognized in the Paraná Basin, underlying lat-
est Pennsylvanian diamictites of the Itararé Group (Rosa et al., 2019).
Mid-late Viséan diamictites are present in Argentina and Bolivia (Reyes,
1972), indicating glacial waxings and wanings in South America. Viséan
diamictites were reliably dated in the upper member of the Cortaderas
Formation, in the Río Blanco Basin of northwestern Argentina. The
glacial deposits in this basin consist of shales, dropstone-bearing shales,
massive matrix-rich diamictites, massive clast-rich diamictites with stri-
ated clasts, and stratified diamictites, all of which were deposited in dis-
tal glaciomarine settings (Perez-Loinaze et al., 2010). The Cortaderas
Formation diamictites are of the same age as those of the Poti Forma-
tion (i.e., late Holkerian to Asbian, further confirmed by radiometric dat-
ings in Argentina), and both formations share identical palynofloras (see
Melo and Playford, 2012, and references therein).
Late Mississippian (Serpukhovian) glaciogenic deposits, documented
in other South American countries like Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina,
are yet unproven in Brazil, except possibly in the Paraná Basin, where
pre-Itararé (pre-Pennsylvanian) diamictites were newly discovered and
dated palynologically as middle Viséan–early Serpukhovian (Rosa et
al., 2019).
In the Acre Basin, close to Peru and Bolivia, the oldest, Phanerozoic
section observed in outcrops and wells, the Apuí Formation (conglomer-
ates, sandstones, thin shales, and diamictites), correlates with the Mis-
sissippian Ambo Group (Caputo, 2014) of Peru and Bolivia.
15. Viséan glacial geochemistry
Indirect evidence of glaciation, preserved in unconformity-bounded,
low latitude ramp carbonate sequences, in the Illinois Basin, United
States, suggests that the geographically extensive continental (and ma-
rine) glaciation of Gondwana actually began in the late Viséan (Smith
and Read, 2000). The late Viséan age of the Poti Formation diamictites
correlates with that of incised valleys in the Illinois Basin.
Bruckschen et al. (1999, Fig. 12) reported the atmospheric CO2
decline and cooling in the Early and Middle Mississippian based on sta-
ble isotope studies of brachiopod shells in Western Europe and the for-
mer USSR. This corresponds more precisely to the late middle to early
late Tournaisian and early to middle parts of late Viséan glaciations in
the Parnaíba and other South American basins.
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
The 87Sr/86Sr record for the European Carboniferous presents a
middle Viséan minimum and sharp increase during the late Viséan
(Bruckschen et al., 1999). This may indicate a high flux of fluvial sed-
iments rich in radiogenic Sr derived from continents to the deep-sea due
to Gondwanan glaciation and concomitant sea-level fall during the early
late Viséan.
It should be noted that the late Viséan glacial episode identified
physically in South America (Caputo et al., 2008; Fielding et al.,
2008; Lakin et al., 2016; present study), restricted to the early to mid-
dle parts of late Viséan, is not equivalent to the Vice Event reported
by Liu et al. (2018), which is early Viséan in age. Rocks of latest Tour-
naisian–early Viséan age are absent in the Parnaíba Basin (Melo and
Loboziak, 2000), and also in the Amazon and Solimões basins (Melo
and Loboziak, 2003; Melo and Playford, 2012). Latest Tournaisian
or early Viséan fossiliferous strata seem to occur in northwestern Ar-
gentina (Malimán and El Ratón formations: see discussion in Melo and
Playford, 2012); however, no undoubted glacial evidence has been rec-
ognized thus far in this particular interval.
16. Discussion
Until recently, the Silurian glaciation was not known in Brazil, and
Devonian and/or Mississippian glaciations were unrecognized both in
Brazil (Ludwig, 1964; Mabesoone, 1975, 1977; Lima, 1978), and
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elsewhere in the world (; Schermerhorn, 1971; Heckel and Witzke,
1979; Thompson and Newton, 1989; Brand, 1989; Dickins, 1993;
Becker, 1993a, b; House, 1996).
Thompson and Newton (1989) and Brand (1989) suggested a
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worldwide warming instead of cooling at the end-Frasnian. According
to Dickins (1993), “the Late Devonian apparently had a warm climate.
The climate of the Early Carboniferous was warm and equable. No cold
climate can be identified, and apparently no ice was present at the poles.
Even a cold temperate climate is difficult to identify”. “In addition, some
reservation seems necessary on the data presented for the Late Devonian
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in South America and South Africa by Caputo and Crowell (1985) and
Caputo (1985)”. However, in those areas there is a robust evidence for
the latest Devonian glaciation in the international literature since 1979
(Carozzi, 1979, 1980; Crowell, 1983; Caputo, 1985; Caputo and
Crowell, 1985; Díaz-Martínez, 2004; Caputo et al., 2006, 2008).
These glacial events have been studied by many researchers ever since.
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Moura (1938) was the first who interpreted Devonian diamictites
as deposited under glacial conditions based on the rock texture observed
in borehole cores from the Curuá Formation of the Amazon Basin. Later,
a Petrobras Amazon Basin study by Bouman et al. (1960) documented
striated clasts of Late Devonian age in well cores, but Ludwig (1964)
refuted the glacial nature of these sediments by considering them as tur-
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bidites. Other authors (Caputo and Vasconcelos, 1971; Rodrigues et
al., 1971; Caputo and Vasconcelos, 1971; , ; Carozzi, 1979, 1980)
reinterpreted the Late Devonian diamictites as a result of glacial activity
based on rock texture, clast striae, lonestones in rhythmites, and strati-
graphic correlations. In spite of its short duration, this glacial episode
attained widespread distribution in Brazilian sedimentary basins.
The Late Devonian diamictite is very rich in clay, which was prob-
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ably incorporated from the Curuá Formation shale substratum during
glacier advances. The abundant presence of latest Famennian marine
palynomorphs in the coeval diamictites and rhythmites (Streel et al.,
2000b) attests that the glaciation reached the Brazilian Paleozoic in-
tracratonic marine basin margins, and was not restricted to mountain-
ous areas. Latest Devonian glaciers are recorded on almost the entire
South American continent, from Venezuela to southern Brazil (Caputo
et al., 2008), including also Peru, Bolivia (Díaz-Martínez, 2004),
and possibly central Argentina. Venezuela is on the northern side of
the Guiana Shield, i.e., the main location of glacial centers that fed
ice to the northern margins of the Solimões and Amazon basins, and
possibly also to basins on the northern side of the Guiana Shield in
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Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx
Venezuela (Caputo et al., 2008). The Devonian beds in this country
are very deep in the subsurface (Stover, 1967), possibly in part meta-
morphosed in the Eastern Venezuela Basin Province, and have not been
investigated in sufficient detail thus far.
According to Lakin et al. (2016), the interpretation of the deposi-
tional environment and age of Tournaisian diamictites in the Solimões
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Basin cannot be validated. However, figure 26 B herein shows the
stratigraphic relationship of Devonian and Tournaisian diamictites in
some areas of this basin. The abundant miospore assemblages found in
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cored diamictites of the Parnaíba Basin are clearly representative of the
Spalaeotriletes pretiosus-Colasporites decorus (PD) miospore interval Zone,
which specifically dates the Longá glacial sediments as late middle to
early late Tournaisian (Playford et al., 2012). On the other hand, the
occurrence of Mississippian miospores in the higher diamictites of the
otherwise end-Devonian Itacua Formation of Bolivia suggests probable
superposition of latest Famennian and Early Mississippian diamictites,
as noted in wells in the Solimões Basin of northern Brazil (Fig. 27 B),
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according to Streel et al. (2012). However, both glacial events are
widely separated in geological time.
Lakin et al. (2016) stated that “Viséan glaciation in Brazil has not
yet been supported by any published measured sections or palynolog-
ical descriptions”. Therefore, “detailed sedimentological and biostrati-
graphic data regarding Viséan diamictites in Brazilian basins are ex-
tremely limited and difficult to validate”. However, Andrade and Dae-
mon (1974) and Streel et al. (2012) recorded palynomorphs as old
as Viséan in the Poti Formation diamictites of the Parnaíba Basin.
Clast striations in diamictites and large lonestone (boulders) in sus-
pension deposits suggest continental, periglacial, and glaciomarine de-
positional environments in the late Viséan Poti Formation. In addition,
Smith and Read (2000) suggested that the late Viséan glaciation
marks the beginning of the extensive Permocarboniferous continental
and marine glaciation in Gondwana. However, in our opinion, a signifi-
cant, though intermittent Paleozoic cooling, after the Early Silurian one,
commenced at the Frasnian-Famennian boundary.
Tournaisian (Wicander et al., 2011) and mid-late Viséan (Reyes,
1972) glacially-influenced diamictites are also present in Argentina and
Bolivia, indicating glacial waxings and wanings in other parts of South
America.
Based on present data, the glaciation in the Karoo Basin (South
Africa) may have begun in either the end-Devonian or Mississippian
(Plumstead, 1964). The upper Witpoort diamictites of the upper Witte-
berg Group of the Karoo Basin have a glacigenic origin (Almond et al.,
2002). The Witpoort Formation is as old as Late Devonian (Famennian)
based in palynomorphs and fish (Streel and Theron, 1999).
Additional direct evidence of Tournaisian and Viséan glaciations/
deglaciations is likely to occur in Africa. Some references are available,
but the information is still poor due the lack of geological mapping and
subsurface data. Glacial sediments, at the base of sedimentary sections
of the Congo Basin and Zambezi Block (Chappell and Humphreys,
1970), may have been deposited in the Mississippian (Frakes and
Crowell, 1970). In South Africa, the Miller Formation (lowest part of
the Kommadagga Subgroup) may include glacially influenced strata of
Viséan age. The formation contains diamictites with clasts derived from
the underlying Cape Supergroup, and soft-sediment deformation was as-
cribed by Streel and Theron (1999). The study of these authors con-
firms an age not older than middle Tournaisian based on the presence of
miospores like Schopfites cf. delicatus and Spelaeotriletes pretiosus in the
unit underlying the Miller Diamictite, that is, the Waaipoort Formation.
The Tournaisian age of the Waaipoort Formation matches that of the up-
per Longá Formation in the Parnaíba Basin (Playford, et al., 2012),
but it has not found yet glacial evidence in this unit.
The Miller Diamictite corresponds to the Poti Formation, of early
late Viséan age. Far-field geochemical evidence, discussed in the text for
Devonian–Mississippian glaciations, is abundant in Europe and North
America.
M.V. Caputo and R.OliverBrasil dos Santos
17. Conclusions
There is robust evidence for the deposition of various Paleozoic sedi-
mentary formations under glacially influenced conditions, based on typ-
ical glacial depositional, erosional and deformational sedimentary fea-
tures. They were probably deposited by ice masses fed from multiple up-
land glacial centers along the former borders of the Parnaíba Basin. Sed-
iments generated by the oldest Paleozoic (Early Silurian) glaciation were
deposited in a chiefly terrestrial setting, whereas those of the other three
(Strunian, Tournaisian, and Viséan) were accumulated in glacio-deltaic
(transitional) and/or glaciomarine environments. The Silurian continen-
tal glaciation in the central portion of the Parnaíba Basin may have
shifted to transitional and glaciomarine environments, because there
was a major marine opening on the western and northwestern sides of
the Parnaíba Basin (Fig. 1 B).
Striated pavements in the Santa Brígida Graben and Sergipe–Alagoas
Basin are envisaged here as possibly related to Silurian glaciers. These
pavements were attributed to the Pennsylvanian by several previous au-
thors cited in the text, but the coeval climate was warmer according
to lithological indicators in neighboring areas (Caputo, 1984). There
are no fossils in the Alagoas State Mulungu diamictites and below and
above the mentioned pavements; therefore, their age is an open ques-
tion. Here, this unfossiliferous unit is inferred to be as old as early Llan-
dovery and may be correlated with the upper Ipu diamictites of the
D
Parnaíba Basin. The Mulungu diamictites overlie the Karapotó Forma-
tion (formerly named the Tacaratu Formation), which possibly corre-
lates with the Ipu Formation of the Parnaíba Basin. Silurian diamictites
were found in sedimentary basins and on cratonic areas as well.
TE
Glacially influenced deposits of Devonian and Mississippian age were
accumulated in close association with marine sediments, favouring their
easy burial, preservation, and dating. Sheared diamictites and deeply
striated pavements indicate that glacial deposition also took place in
marginal outcrop basin areas under a thick and heavy ice cover. The
latest Devonian (Strunian) glaciation was certainly the most widespread
EC
of all in the four intracratonic basins discussed here, with well-known
records in parts of three modern continents (Africa, South America, and
North America).
Late Mississippian (Serpukhovian) glaciogenic deposits, documented
in other South American countries like Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina,
are yet unproven in Brazil, except possibly in the Paraná Basin, where
RR
pre-Itararé (pre-Pennsylvanian) diamictites were newly discovered and
dated palynologically as middle Viséan–early Serpukhovian (Rosa et
al., 2019).
Younger (latest Pennsylvanian) glaciation/deglaciation ice ages oc-
curred in southern Brazil (e.g., Itararé Group in the Paraná Basin) and
southern South America, whereas northern and northeastern Brazilian
CO
basins experienced warm climate conditions during most of the Penn-
sylvanian time. The glaciation continued elsewhere in Gondwana in re-
sponse to the migration of glacial centers across Gondwana during the
Paleozoic (Caputo and Crowell, 1985; During the drift of the Gond-
wana Supercontinent, northwestern Gondwana rotated toward the trop-
ics, whereas eastern Gondwana moved toward the South Pole.
The glacially influenced beds and pavements of the Santa Fé Group
of the San Francisco Craton need to be studied in greater detail in order
UN
to accurately determine their geological age.
Additional mapping is required to reliably identify more Paleozoic
glaciogenic strata in other parts of Brazil and elsewhere in Gondwana.
Uncited references
,,,,,,,,,.
24
Earth-Science Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial in-
terests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
F
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge Petrobras and Themag Engineering and
OO
Management Company for permission to study well cores and pub-
lish the results. We acknowledge doctors Marivaldo dos Santos Nasci-
mento, Peter Szatmari and Wagner Souza-Lima for the pictures in fig-
ures where their names are mentioned. We also acknowledge Francisco
de Assis Mattos de Abreu and Wagner Souza-Lima for field assistance,
and anonymous journal reviewers. We did not receive any specific grant
from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sec-
tors.
PR
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