Mostardas Low (Pelotas Basin, South America) – An example of a graben evolution and infilling in passive

margins of the South Atlantic Ocean

Sabrina Mattiello de Ramos*a, Ernesto Luiz Corrêa Lavinaa, Mateus Rodrigues Vargasa, Claudia Domingues Teixeiraa, Henrique
Serratta, Marcelo Kehl de Souzaa, Tiago Jonatan Girellia, Gisela Serêjo de Oliveiraa, Farid Chemale Jr.a
a Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geologia - Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS) Av. Unisinos, 950, Bloco C01, São
Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP 93022-750, Brazil

Introduction Results and Discussions

• Nearshore NE-SW Half-grabens domain
The Pelotas Basin (PB) is located at the extreme south of the Brazilian
continental margin that according to its tectonic-sedimentary evolution,
developed as a precursor to other marginal basins. In the central domain of the
basin, there is the Mostardas Low, an asymmetrical and elongated NW-SE
shape on the slope and extends for ~50 km seaward and in the nearshore is
composed by NE-SW half-grabens. This structure acted as the main
depositional locus of the basin until the Chattian (ca. 27 Ma), being filled at
its base mainly by a wedge of basaltic rocks, overlaid by conglomerates,
followed by fine lithologies as sandstones and shales.
This structure corresponds to a regional geomorphological feature that
encompasses transgressive and regressive systems tracts related to allogenic
controls. An analysis of this area, allowed us to characterize the architecture
of the Mostardas Low generation, and attribute the causes for its generation
and the impacts to the Proto-South Atlantic evolution.

Geological setting
The structural evolution of the PB mainly inherited the NE-SW trend of
Brasiliano orogeny’s shear zones, related to a Vendian magmatic arc (Costa,
1997; e.g., Dorsal de Canguçu Shear Zone). During the rift evolution, these
NE-SW shear zones acted as preferential planes to the evolution of half-
grabens and tilted blocks.
These fracture zones are being used to discretize the PB into three domains
(Stica et al., 2014): (i) North, bounded by Florianópolis Fracture Zone (FFZ)
and Porto Alegre Fracture Zone (PAFZ), characterized by a thin sedimentary
thickness, (ii) Central, bounded by Porto Alegre Fracture Zone (PAFZ) and
Chuí Fracture Zone (CFZ), diagnosed by thick sedimentary thickness due to
the influence of both the Mostardas Low and the Rio Grande submarine fan
complex, and (iii) South, also characterized by a thin sedimentary thickness,
bounded by Chuí Fracture Zone (CFZ) and the Polônio morphostructural high. NW-SE dip seismic section in time. A) Uninterpreted with tecVA seismic attribute. B)
Interpreted seismic section and application of the tecVA seismic attribute. The NE-SW Half-
grabens are located in the nearshore of the basin and encompasses a wedge of dipping
reflectors oceanward (SDRs). They are characterized by normal faults, ranges from the
Acoustic basement to the drift phase, and is responsible for the control of these structures in
the area. Legend: LML = Lower Mostardas Low, UML = Upper Mostardas Low.
• NW-SE Graben domain (Mostardas Low)

Location map of the Pelotas Basin, with the main structures that subdivided the
basin into North, Central, and South domains, 2D seismic lines, and well-logs used
in this study. The study area, the Mostardas Low (red polygon) is located in the
Central domain of the basin. (Simplified from Chemale Junior et al., 2021).

Material and Methods

The dataset used for this study included 35 2D seismic lines, three wells, and
potential methods (e.g., magnetometry and gravimetry) and was provided by
the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels
(ANP). The wells were used with biostratigraphic markers proposed by
Gomide (1989) and from these markers seismic horizons were mapped (S1 to
S4) and extrapolated to the study area.
SW-NE strike seismic in time. A) Uninterpreted with tecVA seismic attribute. B) Interpreted
seismic section and application of the tecVA seismic attribute. The NW-SE normal faults are
located in the slope of the basin and extend towards the ocean. These faults range from the
Acoustic basement to the drift phase and they are responsible for the asymmetric graben
geometry given to the Mostardas Low. Legend: LML = Lower Mostardas Low, UML =
Upper Mostardas Low.
 Results and Discussions

• Magnetic Signature of Basement

- The study area is characterized by thick sediment (ca. 5 km), cover,

and a thin crust (ca. 30 km);

- The general trends pattern of high magnetic field NE-SW reflects a

shallow depth of magnetic sources associated with igneous intrusions

(SDRs);

- These anomalies are related to faults that have generated horst and

graben structures, which can also be explained by magnetic basaltic

A) Vertical Derivate (VDR), B) Horizontal Gradient Total (GHT). Black lineaments with NE
extrusions associated with the NW-SE faulting trend.
and NW orientations are visible in the study area. The black polygon is the area of interest
and the black lines are the lineaments.

• Gravity Inversion

- A significant positive anomaly evidence the presence of a higher

density mass in this region, and the positive anomaly extends to the
ocean;
- Most of the volcanic rocks occurs along the faults implying that the
faults act as pathways for volcanic migration;
- In the proximal region, anomalous areas are observed from shallower
levels as wide-body converging at greater depth;
- Increasing depth, this body appears related to fault structures that
acted as conduits during the ascent and emplacement of the basalt.

Density slices at 500 m intervals from VOXI inversion. A) 2000 m depth. Note
the location of nearshore half-grabens and border faults that form the Mostardas
Low, B) 2500 m depth, C) 3000 m depth, D) 3500 m depth, E) 4000 m depth, and
F) 4500 m depth.

• Mostardas Low – Structural Framework and Sedimentary Infilling

- The origin of the ML is related to the N-S Cretaceous rifting generated by the Pangea
break-up related phenomena. This graben is one of the oldest responses of the basin for
- The strong density contrast identified in gravimetry is delimitated by
tectonism (Gonçalves et al., 1979);
gravitational faults that separate Mostardas Low’s graben from the rift
basin that evolved nearshore;
- Lower Mostardas Low is composed by two main depositional
environments. Due to its proximity to the main fault, the first is
composed of facies association (i.e., conglomerates interspersed with
mudstones) deposited in a fluvial fan context. Distally, the most likely
facies association is related to lacustrine sedimentation caused by
gravity flows and decantation;
- The Upper Mostardas Low probably corresponds to a similar facies
association. Nonetheless, there are considered more high-energy
reflectors that might represent isolated sand bodies deposited along the
rift axis;
- The sedimentation of the drift phase is composed by marine mudstones
that already represent distinct high-hierarchy transgressive systems
tracts that culminate into the Oligocene.

Conclusion

The Mostardas Low is a structure found in the central domain of the PB

A) Continental crust and previous structures. B) Volcanic emplacement using previous
structures as a preferential magmatic conduit at 129 Ma, the NE-SW rifting process took
place in a crystalline crust composed by Brasiliano\Pan-Africano Granitoids. C) Mechanical
subsidence of the nearshore rifting and the Mostardas Low graben. SDRs are developed
inside the Mostardas Low synchronous to normal fault displacement. Note the cut
perpendicular to the block diagram illustrating the SDRs internally. D) This event was
followed by clastic sedimentation formed by gravitational flow facies association. E) This
was overlaid by a transgressive event generated by the sum of eustatic and thermal
subsidence at 118 Ma.
in which the tectonic structures can be divided into two domains. The
first occurred nearshore and is composed by NE-SW (half-grabens)
rifting onto a granitic basement. The second is an NW-SE graben, which
occurred after a deep-crustal main fault that dip towards the ocean and
evolved onto a stretch continental crust / transitional crust filled by
volcanic and sedimentary rocks. We suggest new studies to identify the
nature of the lower crust that generated the Mostardas Low.

Acknowledgments
This project was supported by UNISINOS-PETROBRAS Cooperation Agreement (#5900.0109881.18.9). The authors thank the Brazilian Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels
(ANP) for all the data provided.