ABSTRACT A U-Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronological study was carried out in the Nico Pérez Terrane in the central-eastern portion of Uruguay with the aim of constraining its geological evolution and its cratonic affinity. Nico Pérez Terrane is made up by a mosaic of tectonic blocks with diferente lithologies and sizes. This terrane is limited to the west by the Piedra Alta Terrane through the Sarandí del Yí shear zone, and to the east, is in tectonic contact through the Retamosa thrust with the Dom Feliciano Belt (Brasiliano orogenic cycle). Lithologically, the Nico Pérez Terrane is composed by medium to high grade metamorphic rock contained in three tectonic blocks (Pavas, Valentines and Rivera blocks) represented mainly by granitoids, as well as ortho and parametamorphic rocks, such as amphibolites, metapyroxenites, BIFs, schists, quartzites with fuchsite, among others. Archean inheritance, Rhyacian, Statherian, and Neoproterozoic magmatic ages are reported here. Similar ages, which show Archaean inheritance and Neoproterozoic imprint, reported in units of the Piedra Alta Terrane modify the idea that the Río de La Plata Craton only corresponds to a juvenile Paleoproterozoic tectonic unit. This, together with recently published geophysical information, supports the cratonic affinity of the Nico Pérez Terrane with the Río de La Plata Craton.

RESUMEN Un estudio geocronológico U-Pb SHRIMP en circón fue realizado en rocas del Terreno Nico Pérez, con el objetivo de circunscribir la evolución geológica y su afinidad cratónica. Este terreno, localizado en la porción central del Uruguay, está constituído por un mosaico de tres bloques tectónicos y se encuentra limitado al oeste por el Terreno Piedra Alta a través de la zona de cizallamiento Sarandí del Yí. Al este, se encuentra en contacto tectónico a través del corrimiento Retamosa con el Cinturón Dom Feliciano (Ciclo Orogénico Brasiliano). Litológicamente, el Terreno Nico Pérez está compuesto por rocas metamórficas de grado medio a alto (bloques Pavas, Valentines y Rivera) representados principalmente por granitoides, así como por rocas orto- y parametamórficas, tales como anfibolitas, metapiroxenitas, BIFs, esquistos, cuarcitas con fucsita, entre otras. Se presenta en este trabajo un conjunto de edades magmáticas que poseen herencia arqueana, y edades riacianas, estaterianas y neoproterozoicas. Edades similares a estas, que muestran herencia arqueana e impronta neoproterozoica, reportadas en unidades del Terreno Piedra Alta, modifican la idea de que el Cratón del Río de La Plata corresponde a una unidad tectónica paleoproterozoica juvenil. Esto, junto con la información geofísica publicada recientemente, respalda la afinidad cratónica del Terreno Nico Pérez con el Cratón del Río de La Plata.

Abstract U/Pb ages of detrital zircon from two samples of Ordovician sediments were determined and, based on similar published data, were compared with xenocrystal inheritance of Triassic and Oligocene granitoids of the Cordillera Real in order to better understand their genetic relationship and sources. The results show that the detrital zircon in the Ordovician sandstone and the inherited zircon cores in granitoids are statistically correlated. This correlation suggests assimilation of these sedimentary units by the felsic melts. Ages ranging from 300 to 2300 Ma are recorded in these inherited zircons. A high peak of Cambrian to late Neoproterozoic ages (500-750 Ma) is observed throughout metasedimentary units of the entire belt. Candidates for the main sources of these zircons include: Brasiliano or Pampean belts and/or an “in situ” hidden belt within the Central Andes or via recycling of detrital zircons in pre-existing sedimentary rocks. It is also possible that the sources lie below modern sedimentary covers but, at the time, formed high relief structures supplying recycled material into the Ordovician basins.

Abstract The appearance of complex megascopic multicellular eukaryotes in the Ediacaran occurred just when the dynamics of a cooling Earth allowed establishment of a new style of global tectonics that continues to the present as “modern-type plate tectonics”. The advent of this style was first registered in 620 Ma-old coesite-bearing Ultra-High Pressure eclogites within the Transbrasiliano-Kandi mega-shear zone along the site of the West Gondwana Orogeny (WGO). These eclogites comprise the oldest evidence of slab-pull deep subduction capable of inducing continental collisions and producing high-relief Himalayan-type mega-mountains. Life, prior to this time, was essentially microscopic. Yet with increasing Neoproterozoic oxygenation and intensified influx of nutrients to Ediacaran oceans, resulting from the erosion of these mountains, complex macroscopic heterotrophic eukaryotes arose and diversified, taking the biosphere to a new evolutionary threshold. The repeated elevation of Himalayan-type mega-mountains ever since then has continued to play a fundamental role in nutrient supply and biosphere evolution. Other authors have alluded to the influence of Gondwana mountain-building upon Ediacaran evolution, however we claim here to have identified when and where it began.

Abstract The Iriri-Xingu domain, located in the central part of the Amazonian craton, consists of extensive occurrences of Paleoproterozoic volcanic rocks and granites with published ages of ca. 1990 to 1840 Ma, which show a strong crustal contribution for their magmas. Exposures of basement rocks are small and rare. Samples from two areas were dated in this work by U-Pb SHRIMP in zircon. In the northern Maribel area, a high-grade pelitic paragneiss presented an age of 2160 ± 8 Ma and the leucosome of a migmatitic orthogneiss, probably a diatexite, crystallized at 2149 ± 20 Ma. These Rhyacian ages suggest that it is part of the Bacajá domain, related to the Trans-Amazonian cycle. The Morro Grande area occurs in the central part of Iriri-Xingu domain, where a high-grade muscovite gneiss with a protolith of 2120-2180 Ma is dated at 1982 ± 7 Ma, and the leucosome of a migmatitic orthogneiss is crystallized at 1979 ± 8 Ma. These are the first records of high-grade metamorphism at ca. 1980 Ma in the Central Brazil shield and may be related to the generation of this Orosirian felsic magmatism, which is widespread throughout the nearby Ventuari-Tapajós province.

Abstract Salinas Formation occurs in a large region of the Northern Araçuaí orogen, Southeastern Brazil. It includes turbiditic wackes (> 10% matrix) to arenites (< 10% matrix), pelites and clast-supported conglomerates, metamorphosed from the biotite zone of the greenschist facies to the sillimanite zone of the amphibolite facies. Salinas Formation lies unconformably on the top of or in tectonic contact with the Macaúbas Group, and hosts Cambrian granitic intrusions dated between 540 and 500 Ma. Aiming to unravel sediment provenances for the Salinas basin, we present a detailed lithochemical (45 samples) study on low-grade rocks preserved from the regional deformation, which are found in the type area of the Salinas Formation. In addition, we compare them with deformed and more metamorphic rocks of similar composition but located in other basin sectors. The lithochemical data indicate limited chemical weathering in the sediment sources, good correlations with the mineralogical compositions in respect to the variable amounts of metamorphic minerals typical of pelitic (micas, garnet, and other peraluminous silicates) and psammitic (feldspars, quartz) fractions. The main provenances of sedimentary protoliths are clearly related to continental magmatic arc and active continental margin environments. U-Pb (SHRIMP) analyses performed on zircon grains from clasts of intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks, extracted from a clast-supported metaconglomerate, yield concordant zircon Pb 206 /U 238 ages from ca. 579 Ma to ca. 697 Ma, with most of the ages in the interval of 587 to 630 Ma. This indicates that the main primary sediment source is the Rio Doce magmatic arc (630-580 Ma), in very good agreement with the arc-related lithochemical signature. Eleven zircon crystals yield a Concordia age of 620 ± 10 Ma, representing an important Ediacaran volcanic episode in the tectonic evolution of the Araçuaí orogen.

Abstract The Huayna Potosi, Zongo and Taquesi are Triassic plutons located at the core of the Real Cordillera of Bolivia. In this paper, several Rb-Sr and K-Ar ages obtained in the past at the São Paulo Geochronology Laboratory, yet unpublished, will be presented, along with newer U-Pb Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) determinations made in the same laboratory, allowing us to redefine the geologic history of this part of the Central Andes. Rb/Sr analyses of some low grade metapelitic country rocks of the early Paleozoic (Amutara and Cancañiri Formations) yielded a Rb-Sr isochron age of 344 ± 38 Ma, indicating the action of an early Gondwanide regional event. A five-point Rb-Sr isochron from a granite outcrop of the Huayna Potosi pluton yielded an age of 224 ± 28 Ma. In addition, an important Ar loss in micas was detected in the Zongo granitoids and their country rocks, recording a thermal event that opened this isotopic system in the Oligocene. Newer U-Pb SHRIMP zircon ages of ca. 221 Ma were obtained in two other granitic outcrops of the Huayna Potosi granite. They confirmed its Triassic crystallization age, and a similar U-Pb SHRIMP age of 221.9 ± 1.5 Ma was obtained for one sample of the Taquesi pluton. For the Zongo pluton, many of the zircon grains obtained from one sample of its Kuticucho facies yielded extremely high uranium content, which produced reverse discordant apparent ages. However, due to the fair alignment of the analytical points in the Concordia diagram, possibly corresponding to a linear correlation, we made a regression calculation and the interception of the Concordia curve resulted in a rather imprecise age of 220 ± 20 Ma. Our conclusion was that the final magmatic crystallization and the intrusion of plutons in the central part of the Cordillera Real of Bolivia have occurred close to 221.5 ± 2.0 Ma, in late Triassic times. Finally, the U-Pb SHRIMP ages obtained in inherited zircon xenocrysts from the four available granitic rocks yielded very different ages, and many of them are related to previous magmatic episodes of the Andean Tectonic System. A few other age measurements indicated sources related to much older Proterozoic magmatic events associated with rocks from the Andean basement.

RESUMO No Brasil colonial, apesar de intensa atividade mineira na busca de ouro e diamantes, não houve práticas geocientíficas relevantes. No século XIX ocorreram diversas explorações geológicas, das quais resultou uma vasta contribuição escrita. Além disso foram criadas importantes instituições, como o Observatório Nacional, o Serviço Meteorológico, o Observatório Magnético de Vassouras e a Escola de Minas de Ouro Preto em 1876. O ensino formal de Geociências no Brasil foi iniciado apenas em 1957, com a Campanha de Formação de Geólogos (CAGE), que criou e forneceu recursos materiais e humanos para quatro cursos de graduação em Geologia. Na Meteorologia a graduação se iniciou em 1963, na Oceanografia em 1971, e na Geofísica em 1983. Atualmente, 47 universidades brasileiras oferecem 71 cursos de graduação nas Geociências. Há 33 cursos de Geologia, três de Engenharia Geológica, 14 de Meteorologia, 13 de Oceanografia e 8 de Geofísica. Há no Brasil 57 programas de pós-graduação em Geociências, 13 dos quais considerados de excelência, indicando que a situação atual da área é de consolidação e maturidade. Geólogos e geofísicos foram absorvidos, em sua maioria, pelas atividades de mapeamento geológico, exploração mineral e de petróleo. Meteorologistas dedicaram-se ao monitoramento meteorológico e climático, e também a projetos de energia hidroelétrica, eólica e solar. Na Oceanografia, os formados atuaram em órgãos relacionados com ambiente, agricultura e no Ministério da Marinha. Quanto à pesquisa, as ciências atmosféricas e oceanográficas são de grande relevância global, no estudo das mudanças climáticas e o aquecimento global. Por sua vez, o maior desafio de geólogos e geofísicos é o de melhorar do conhecimento do território brasileiro, na escala local ou regional.

ABSTRACT In colonial times, in Brazil, although intense mining activities occurred in the search for gold and diamonds, relevant geoscientific actions did not occur. In the 19th century, a few geological exploratory trips were made, from which several written contributions resulted. Moreover, important institutions were created, such as the National Observatory, the Meteorological Service, the Magnetic Observatory at Vassouras and the Mining School of Ouro Preto in 1876, The formal teaching of Geosciences in Brazil started only in 1957, with the ”Campaign for the training of geologists” (CAGE), that created and provided material and human resources to four Geology undergraduate courses. In Meteorology the first course was in 1973, in Oceanography in 1971 and in Geophysics in 1983. Now, 48 Brazilian universities offer 71 undergraduate courses in Geosciences, 33 in Geology, 3 in Geological Engineering, 14 in Meteorology, 13 in Oceanography and 8 in Geophysics. Fifty-seven graduate programs exist in Brazil, 13 of which are considered of excellence, indicating that the area is mature and consolidated. Most geologists and geophysicists were absorbed in geological mapping activities, as well as mining and oil exploration. Meteorologists dedicated themselves to meteorological and climatic monitoring, as well as to projects in hydroelectric, wind and solar energy. Graduates in Oceanography worked in institutions related to the environment, agriculture, and to the Ministry of the Navy. The atmospheric and oceanographic sciences are of global relevance in studies of climatic changes and global warming. In turn, the major challenge of geologists and geophysicists is to improve knowledge of the Brazilian territory, at the local and regional scale.

RESUMO O ensino de Ciências foi incorporado aos currículos escolares somente no século XIX. No Brasil-Império o ensino das Ciências Naturais era incipiente, embora ciências já fizessem parte do currículo do ensino secundário desde a criação do Colégio Pedro II, em 1837. Os primeiros cursos de nível superior em Geociências (Geologia, Geofísica, Meteorologia e Oceanografia) começaram a ser criados somente a partir da segunda metade do século passado. Atualmente, há cursos nessas modalidades em todo o país, que enfrentam, contudo, sérios obstáculos para que o ensino evolua de acordo com as necessidades atuais do mercado de trabalho, e das tendências impostas pelo avanço tecnológico. Neste trabalho analisamos entraves e lacunas profissionais no Ensino Superior e destacamos algumas práticas educacionais capazes de melhorar o aprendizado, que poderiam ser universalizadas. É inadiável expandir a área de Geociências nos cursos de formação e capacitação de professores para a Educação Básica; o artigo reúne alguns fatores essenciais para atingir essa meta.

ABSTRACT The teaching of Science was incorporated into school curricula only in the nineteenth century. In Imperial Brazil, the teaching of the natural sciences was incipient, although, since the creation of the Colégio Pedro II in 1837, Science was already part of the curriculum of secondary education. But only in the second half of the last century the earliest courses in Geosciences (Geology, Geophysics, Meteorology, and Oceanography) began to be created. Currently, there are courses in these modalities across the country. However, there are serious obstacles for teaching to evolve in keeping with the current needs of the professional market and the trends imposed by technological advances. In this work, we analyze obstacles and professional gaps in Higher Education, and highlight some educational practices capable of improving learning and which could be universalized. It is no longer possible to put off the expansion of the area of Geosciences in teacher training and qualification courses for Basic Education. This article brings together some essential factors to achieve this goal.

RESUMO: Este trabalho inclui diversas idades U-Pb SHRIMP e LA_ICP-MS em zircão, produzidas para contribuir com o conhecimento da história geológica da província tectônica Rio Negro-Juruena na parte noroeste do Craton Amazônico. A região é constituída por rochas granitoides, descritas como gnaisses, granitos e migmatitos cálcio-alcalinos, afetadas por metamorfismo de fácies anfibolito, em nível crustal médio. As novas datações, com as idades K-Ar e Rb-Sr previamente existentes, indicam a formação dessas rochas numa série de arcos magmáticos essencialmente juvenis, associados a processos de subducção. A sistemática Sm-Nd indica que todas as amostras analisadas, quaisquer que sejam as suas idades, apresentam idades modelo TDM entre 1,9 e 2,2 Ga, sugerindo ausência de material crustal mais antigo. Na parte nordeste (áreas de Puerto Inírida e San Carlos), a Faixa Atabapo inclui rochas formadas num período de 60 Ma, entre 1800 e 1740 Ma. Na parte sudoeste, que inclui as vilas de Mitú e Iauaretê, os granitoides foram formados entre 1580 e 1520 Ma na Faixa Vaupés. Finalmente, as idades K-Ar disponíveis indicam o advento do importante aquecimento intraplaca cobrindo a região inteira, acima de 300oC, denominado Nickerie-K'Mudku, com ca. 1200 - 1300 Ma.

ABSTRACT: Here we report the results of several U-Pb zircon ages, made to generate an integrated history for the Rio Negro-Juruena tectonic province, for the northwestern part of the Amazonian Craton. This region comprises granitoid rocks, described as calc-alkaline syntectonic gneisses, granites and migmatites, affected by medium level amphibolite facies metamorphism. The new measurements, with the available Rb-Sr and K-Ar ages, indicate the formation of these rocks within a series of essentially juvenile magmatic arcs, that are closely related with subduction. Sm-Nd analyses indicate that all samples, regardless of their zircon ages, yielded TDM model ages roughly between 1.9 and 2.2 Ga, suggesting the absence of a much older source material. In the northeastern part (areas of Puerto Inírida and San Carlos), the Atabapo belt comprises rocks formed within a period of about 60 Ma, from 1800 to 1740 Ma. In the southwestern region, including the towns of Mitú and Iauaretê, the granitoids formed in the Vaupés belt between 1580 and 1520 Ma. Finally, the available K-Ar measurements indicate the onset of the Nickerie-K'Mudku intraplate heating event, with temperature above 300oC within the entire region at 1200 - 1300 Ma.

The Las Lozas volcanic sequence, which crops out at northwestern border of the Famatina belt-southeastern Puna, NW Argentina, is constituted mainly by rhyolites and a lesser volume of basalts and trachytes, and volcanoclastic deposits. These rocks, previously considered of Early Paleozoic age, are now assigned to the Lower Pennsylvanian (320 Ma U-Pb age). They represent a bimodal volcanic succession that plot in the subalkaline/tholeiitic (rhyolites), alkaline basalts (basalts) and alkaline (trachytes) fields on the total alkali-silica diagram. The basalts display features comparable to transitional MORB and within-plate tholeiites, with contributions from a mantle source affected by crustal contamination. The acid members also show geochemical affinities to within-plate magmas, and their composition suggest a derivation from continental crustal material with mantle source interaction or a juvenile essentially mantle derived crust. The 320 Ma age from the Las Lozas volcanic succession as well as the 342 and 348 Ma U-Pb ages, from rocks in the nearby Cazadero Grande section, to the south, and the U-Pb ages from Sierra Pampeanas granites (332-357 Ma) highlight the importance achieved by Carboniferous magmatic activity in that region, framed between 320 and 350 Ma. Low strontium initial ratios from the Las Lozas (0.70479-0.70164) indicate a predominant contribution by a juvenile component, while the ratios in the nearby Cazadero Grande (0.71433-0.71233) and Sierras Pampeanas granites (0.717 to 0.7124) point to an input by enriched sources with restricted contribution of a mantle component. Nd isotopes from a basalt from the Las Lozas section (εNd(320) with +3.11, T DM with 774.6 Ma) indicates a possible asthenospheric source, with evidence for some mixture between juvenile and reworked crustal material. In contrast Sr-Nd isotopes in a rhyolite from Cazadero Grande (εNd(t) of -2.91 and -0.3, T DM of 1.09 and 1.1 Ga) and of Sierra Pampeanas granites (εNd(t) of -0.6, T DM of 1.19 and 1.1 Ga) suggest a crustal source with minor juvenile input. Taking in account the age difference in the region between Mississippian and the Lower Pennsylvanian magmatism, this would indicate a change in the magma source consistent with a more pronounced extensional tectonic regime for the Lower Pennsylvanian. This assumption need to be considered together with observations along a transect at 27°30'S, where the Carboniferous Eastern Sierras Pampeanas granitic rocks show, regardless of age, a greater contribution ofjuvenile material of mantle character to the west. Among these rocks, with a major juvenile component, are those of the Las Lozas succession as well the Cerro Gloria Granite, the eastern manifestations of the Carboniferous Eastern Sierras Pampeanas magmatism. From the foregoing emerges that the contribution of juvenile material could be continuously varied in the region through the Carboniferous, due to varying lithospheric extension. An example of this arise from the presented data of the Lozas succession, which indicate that this rocks resulted from reworking of supra-crustal material with input of juvenile magmas, linked to the change in the lithospheric extension.

La sucesión volcánica que aflora en Las Lozas, noroeste del Sistema de Famatinasureste de la Puna (noroeste Argentina), está constituida principalmente por riolitas y en menor volumen por basaltos, traquitas y depósitos volcanoclásticos. Estas rocas, previamente consideradas de edad paleozoica inferior, son asignadas actualmente al Pensilvaniano Inferior (edad U-Pb 320 Ma). Representan una sucesión volcánica bimodal encuadrada en los campos subalcalino/toleítico (riolitas) y alcalino (basaltos y traquitas) sobre la base álcalis-sílice. Los términos básicos muestran características comparables y transicionales a MORB-toleitas de intraplaca, con una fuerte contribución mantélica y contaminación cortical. Los miembros ácidos también muestran afinidades con magmas de intraplaca, sugiriendo su derivación de la interacción de material cortical con una fuente mantélica o de una corteza juvenil esencialmente derivada del manto. La edad U-Pb de 320 Ma obtenida para la sección de Las Lozas, al igual que las edades de U-Pb 342 y 348 Ma reportadas para rocas aflorantes en la zona de Cazadero Grande, hacia el sur; junto con las edades U-Pb reportadas para granitos de las Sierra Pampeanas (332-357 Ma) confirman la importancia alcanzada por la actividad magmática carbonífera, encuadrada entre 320 y 350 Ma, en dicha región. Las bajas razones iniciales de estroncio en las rocas volcánicas de Las Lozas (0,70479-0,70164) indican contribución de un componente juvenil, mientras que las mismas relaciones observadas en las riolitas de Cazadero Grande (0,71433-0,71233) y en los intrusivos graníticos de Sierras Pampeanas (0,717-0,7124), apuntan a magmas con participación de componentes corticales. Los valores isotópicos de Nd sobre un basalto en Las Lozas (εNd(320) con 3,11, T DM con 774,6 Ma) permiten argumentar una fuente astenosférica, con evidencia de mezcla entre elementos juveniles y corticales. Los isótopos Sr-Nd determinados, en cambio, para una riolita que aflora en Cazadero Grande (εNd(t) 2,91 y -0,3, T DM: 1,09 y 1,1 Ga) y en granitos de las Sierras Pampeanas (εNd(t): -0,6, T DM: 1,19 y 1,1 Ga) sugieren participación cortical. Dada la diferencia de edades en la región entre el magmatismo misisipiano y pensilvaniano inferior, dichas variaciones indicarían un cambio en la fuente magmática, consistente de un régimen tectónico extensional más pronunciado durante el Pensilvaniano Inferior. Esta presunción debe ser considerada teniendo en cuenta las observaciones a lo largo de una transecta a los 27°30'S, donde las rocas graníticas carboníferas de las Sierras Pampeanas Orientales muestran, sin importar la edad, un mayor aporte hacia el oeste de material juvenil de carácter mantélico. Entre estas rocas, con una mayor componente juvenil, se encuentran: la sucesión de Las Lozas y el Granito Cerro Gloria, manifestaciones occidentales de dicho magmatismo. De lo anterior se desprende que la contribución de material juvenil podría variar continuamente durante ese tiempo como respuesta a una extensión litosférica variable. Un ejemplo de esto surge de los datos de la sucesión de Las Lozas presentados, los que indican a la misma como resultado del retrabajo de material supracortical, con el aporte de magmas juveniles asociados a cambios extensionales de la litósfera.