A stratigraphic chart of the Late Carboniferous/Permian succession of the eastern border of the Parana Basin, Brazil, South America

Abstract

Sequence stratigraphy, lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the Late Carboniferous/Permian succession of the eastern border of the Parana Basin are organized in the form of a detailed chart in order to provide a useful and updated synthesis of that stratigraphic interval. The traditional lithostratigraphic subdivision is shown together with a third-order stratigraphic framework and a complete biostratigraphic scheme based upon palynomorphs, plants and invertebrate macrofossils. Based on the regional occurrence of features that indicate base level fall and formation of a sequence boundary (e.g., marine to fluvial facies shift, pebbly lags, bonebeds) seven LPTS's (=Late Paleozoic Third-Order Sequences) were recognized and are shown in the stratigraphic chart, enclosed as an color-printed appendix at the end of the paper. The text includes a brief characterization of the main facies and depositional systems of the lithostratigraphic units, a description of the fossil content of each lithostratigraphic unit, and a characterization in terms of sequence stratigraphy, with a brief description of eight third order sequence boundaries as depicted in the stratigraphic chart, including recent advances on radiometric dating. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.