Brasiliano orogeny

West Gondwana with major cratons in brown and Pan-African orogenies in grey

Brasiliano orogeny or Brasiliano cycle (Portuguese: Orogênese Brasiliana and Ciclo Brasiliano) refers to a series of orogenies of Neoproterozoic age exposed chiefly in Brazil but also in other parts of South America. The Brasiliano orogeny is a regional name for the larger Pan-African/Brasiliano orogeny that extended not only in South America but across most of Gondwana. In a wide sense the Brasiliano orogeny includes also the Pampean orogeny. Almeida et al. coined the term Brasiliano Orogenic Cycle in 1973. The orogeny led to the closure of several oceans and aulacogens. The oceans closed by the Brasiliano orogenies include the Adamastor Ocean, the Goianides Ocean, the Puncoviscana Ocean and the Peri-Franciscano Ocean.

Attempts to correlate the South American Brasiliano belts with the African Pan-African belts on the other side of the Atlantic has in many cases been problematic.

Belts and belt provinces

Name	Modern location	Nearby cratons	Associated closed ocean	Details
Apiaí Belt	Southeast Brazil, South Brazil
Araçuaí Belt (Portuguese: Faixa Araçuaí)	Northeast Brazil, Southeast Brazil	São Francisco Craton		The Araçuaí Belt is the west portion of an orogen that included the West Congo orogen. The rifting and opening of the South Atlantic divided the orogen into an Africa and a South American part. The Araçuaí Belt lies east if the São Francisco Craton and northeast of the Brasilia and Ribeira belts.
Borborema Province	Northeastern Brazil			The Borborema Province is a geologic province in Northeastern Brazil that contains various Brasiliano orogeny belts. The Borborema Province lies between the São Francisco Craton and the São Luis Craton. The belts African counterpart and continuation lies between the Congo Craton and the West African Craton.
Brasilia Belt	Northeastern Brazil, Southeastern Brazil	São Francisco Craton, Paranapanema block
Dom Feliciano Belt	Southern Brazil, Eastern Uruguay	Río de la Plata Craton	Brazilides Ocean	The Dom Feliciano Belt is an orogenic belt in Southern Brazil and Eastern Uruguay. It has been suggested that the Damara Belt in Southern Africa formed the eastern part of the belt before the South Atlantic rifted. The belt contains the remnants of a volcanic arc that possibly was the result of the subduction of the Adamastor Ocean lithosphere or of lithosphere from a tectonic plate west of the belt. The Dom Feliciano Belt distinctly lack high temperature metamorphic rocks or evidence for a suture.
Pampean Orogen	Argentina	Río de la Plata Craton	Pampean Ocean
Paraguai Belt	Central-West Brazil	Amazonian Craton, São Francisco Craton, Paranapanema block, Río de la Plata Craton	Brazilides Ocean	The Paraguai Belt lies in the area in between the Amazonian, São Francisco and Río de la Plata cratons. Its oroclinal bend is probably indebted to the irrebular shape of the Amazonian Craton. The formation of the Paraguai belt is associated with the closure of the Clymene Ocean. The belt has assimilate ages of deformation as the Pampean orogen further south in Argentina.
Rioacho do Pontal Belt	Northeastern Brazil
Ribeira Belt (Portuguese: Faixa Ribeira)	Southeastern Brazil	São Francisco Craton, Paranapanema block, Luís Alves Craton	Brazilides Ocean	The Ribeira Belt is a deeply eroded orogen in Southeastern Brazil. The Ribeira Belt resulted from the collision of two continents. Most of the orogenic deformation occurred 590 to 563 million years ago.
Rio Paraná Belt	Central-West Brazil
Rio Pardo Belt	Northeastern Brazil
Rio Preto Belt	Northeastern Brazil
Sergipano Belt	Northeastern Brazil	São Francisco Craton		The Sergipano Belt lies northeast of the São Francisco Craton. The metamorphism of the rocks of the belt reaches the amphibolite facies.