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Genesis and evolution of the South Atlantic volcanic islands offshore Brazil

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Abstract

The Brazilian continental margin includes several volcanic islands, submerged volcanic seamounts, and a unique non-volcanic archipelago located in a transform segment of the Equatorial South Atlantic. The mechanism of formation of these islands is related to post-breakup magmatic episodes dated as Late Cretaceous to Pleistocene. Diverse Late Cretaceous to Paleogene alkaline magmatic episodes are registered in southeast Brazil, resulting in igneous plugs onshore and volcanic structures offshore. The Abrolhos Volcanic Complex in eastern Brazil is characterized by several volcanic features on the continental shelf, including small islands that expose Paleogene sedimentary layers interbedded with volcanic sequences. The adjacent Vitória-Trindade Chain extends to oceanic crust forming basaltic to alkaline seamounts that outcrop at the Trindade Archipelago, the easternmost islands in Brazil with the youngest volcanic eruptions. The Fernando de Noronha lineament in northeast Brazil is characterized by Neogene alkaline igneous plugs. The small islets in the São Pedro—São Paulo archipelago, located near the mid-Atlantic ridge, are formed by exhumed mantle rocks related to compressional episodes a transform fault zone. The Rio Grande Rise in southern Brazil is characterized by shallow Paleogene seamounts and a large oceanic plateau probably related to subaerial spreading centers formed in the Late Cretaceous. Multiple mechanisms are responsible for the origin and evolution of the volcanic islands offshore Brazil in continental, transitional, and oceanic crust settings, including volcanic build-ups, leaking fracture zones, and hotspots. Some of the islands might be related to mantle plume activity, as indicated by comparisons with modern mantle plume analogues in the South Atlantic.

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Acknowledgments

I thank the organizing committee of the First Brazilian Symposium on Marine Geology and Geophysics for their kind invitation to present a special lecture at the successful meeting that was held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2018, and their indication to prepare a full review paper for the special publication “From the Coastal Zone to the Deep Sea” in the GeoMarine Letters.

I am grateful to several colleagues at Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro State University, University of São Paulo, and other academic and research institutions for their technical contributions, lifelong cooperation, and enthusiastic discussions on the geology of the volcanic islands in the South Atlantic, particularly P. Szatmari, M. Geraldes, and A. C. Santos. I thank A. P. Bischoff (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) for reading the first draft and providing enlightening suggestions. I also express my gratitude to two anonymous referees who provided a most thorough critical review of the manuscript, and provided many detailed and constructive comments that substantially improved the scientific contents, organization and focus of this paper.

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    Webster Mohriak

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Mohriak, W. Genesis and evolution of the South Atlantic volcanic islands offshore Brazil. Geo-Mar Lett 40, 1–33 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-019-00631-w

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