Age, provenance and tectonic setting of the Canastra and Ibiá Groups (Brasília Belt, Brazil): Implications for the age of a Neoproterozoic glacial event in central Brazil

• Published in: Journal of South American earth sciences 2010-03, Vol.29 (2), p.512-521
• Main Authors: Rodrigues, J.B., Pimentel, M.M., Dardenne, M.A., Armstrong, R.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brasília Belt; Canastra Group; Ibiá Group; Neoproterozoic glacial event; Provenance; TDM; Zircon
• ISSN: 0895-9811; 1873-0647
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsames.2009.08.008

The Brasília Belt is one of the best preserved Neoproterozoic orogens in Brazil. It comprises a thick Meso–Neoproterozoic sedimentary/metasedimentary pile including the Canastra and Ibiá Groups, which are the object of this study. The Canastra Group constitutes a regressive sedimentary sequence made mainly of greenschist-facies metapelitic and metapsammitic rocks, including phyllite, sandy metarhythmite and quartzite, with minor intercalations of limestone, as well as carbonaceous and carbonatic phyllite. The Ibiá Group is formed of a basal diamictite followed upwards by phyllites and calc-schists. It rests on an erosional unconformity on top of the Canastra Group. A provenance study based on U–Pb zircon geochronology on a selection of seven samples helped to establish the various source areas and maximum depositional ages of the original sediments. In addition, seven new Sm–Nd analyses are presented and discussed together with previously published data. LAM-ICP-MS U–Pb dating of detrital zircon grains indicates a maximum depositional age of the Canastra and Ibiá Groups of ca. 1030 and 640 Ma, respectively. The provenance signature of the Canastra Group comprises a wide range of detrital zircon ages with a significant Paleoproterozoic component (∼1.8 and ∼2.1 Ga) and an important Mesoproterozoic source (1.1–1.2 Ga), especially for the Paracatu Formation, indicating the São Francisco–Congo Craton as main source. These provenance data, in particular the absence of Neoproterozoic zircon grains, typical of the active margin of the Brasília Belt, allied with the homogeneous Paleoproterozoic T DM values are consistent with the previous interpretation that the Canastra Group represents a sedimentary sequence deposited on a passive margin setting. Zircon grains from the diamictite of the Ibiá Group yielded ages ranging from 936 to 2500 Ma. In contrast, the overlying calc-phyllite of the Rio Verde Formation reveals a dominant Neoproterozoic provenance pattern with important peaks at 665, 740 and 850 Ma. The São Francisco-Congo Craton and Goiás Magmatic Arc are, most probably, the two main source regions for the Ibiá Group which may represent, therefore, a former fore- or back-arc sedimentary sequence. Tectonically, therefore, the Ibiá Group is equivalent to the Araxá Group exposed in central Goiás and both represent syn-orogenic sedimentary sequences formed with important detrital contributions derived from the Neoproterozoic Goiás Arc. The provenance data presente