Depositions. Faces in Late Cretaceous-?Lower Tertiary Deposits from Northwestern Maranhao State, Brazil
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Revista Brasileira de Geociencias 29(2):237-244, junho de 1999 DEPOSITIONS. FACES IN LATE CRETACEOUS-?LOWER TERTIARY DEPOSITS FROM NORTHWESTERN MARANHAO STATE, BRAZIL RODRIGO DIAS LIMA* & DILCE DE FATIMA ROSSETTI* ABSTRACT Late Cretaceous-?Lower Tertiary deposits from northwestern Maranhao State (northern Brazil) were investigated using facies analysis in outcrops in combination with subsurface data provided from gamma-ray profiles. Four facies associations were recognized in this area and attributed to: a) mouth bar (facies association 1); b) braided fluvial/distributary channel (facies association 2); c) distal mouth bar/crevasse lobe (facies association 3); and d) interdistributary bay/prodelta (facies association 4). Mouth bar deposits consist of well-sorted, fine- to very-fine grained sandstone with a variety of sedimentary structures, mostly including: convolute lamination; overturned foresets; sigmoidal, trough, and tabular cross stratifications; and massive bedding. Growth faults and slumpings are common features associated with these deposits. Braided fluvial/distributary channel deposits are characterized by poorly-sorted, coarse-grained cross-stratified sandstone with sharp, locally concave-up, basal surfaces mantled by lags. Distal mouth bar/crevasse lobe deposits consist of a succession of strata formed by coarsening upward cycles represented by massive and cross-laminated sandstones that are interbedded with mudstones containing abundant plant remains. Finally, interdistributary bay/prodelta deposits include mudstones with abundant plant remains and streaks of silt and very-fine grained sandstones. The four facies associations described above characterize depositional environments typical of delta settings, an interpretation consistent with the funnel-shaped gamma-ray patterns observed in well logs. Correlation of these deposits with a wave-dominated estuarine system (i.e., Cujupe Formation) exposed in the eastern of Sao Luis Basin led to attribute them to a bayhead delta complex located in the innermost portion of this estuary. The sedimentological and stratigraphic data presented in this paper support the continuity of the Cujupe estuarine system southward of the Ferrer-Urbano Santos Arch. These results thus suggest a paleogeographic reconstruction in which the Sao Luis and Grajau basins behaved as a unique basin at least from the late Cretaceous on. Keywords: estuary, facies analysis, bayhead delta, Cretaceous, stratigraphy INTRODUCTION Recent sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic stratigraphically correctable deposits were formed entirely by storm studies of late Cretaceous to ?Lower Tertiary rocks exposed in the and/or tidal processes within estuarine depositional settings (Rossetti northeastern margin of the Sao Lufs Basin (Maranhao State) allowed to 1996a,b; Rossetti 1998). Detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic the recognition of two depositional sequences bounded by regional studies in that area led to distinguish two depositional sequences unconformities (Rossetti 1996a, b). These were formally referred to as representing portions of incised paleovalleys, which are referred to as the Alcantara and the Cujupe formations of the Itapecuru Group the Alcantara (late Albian-Cenomanian) and the Cujupe (late Creta- (Rossetti & Truckenbrodt 1997). Combination of outcrop and ceous-?Lower Tertiary) formations of the Itapecuru Group (Rossetti subsurface data led to propose that these sedimentary successions and Truckenbrodt 1997). The Alcantara Formation records middle to formed under strong storm and/or tidal influence, and that they might upper shoreface, foreshore, tidal channel and lagoon/washover depo- represent the more seaward portions of incised paleovalley estuarine sitional settings, which represents a prograding wave-dominated estu- settings developed during transgressive and highstand stages of relative arine system formed during the turnaround of the transgressive to sea level fluctuation (Rossetti 1996a, b). Subsurface correlation highstand systems tracts (Rossetti 1996a, b, 1997). The Cujupe For- revealed that the paleovalleys would have extended for distances up to mation records tidal channel, subtidal bay fill, tidal shoal/sand flat, and 150 km southwestward. However, there is no geological data tidal delta depositional settings formed in an estuarine setting that characterizing the sedimentological features of the deposits formed changed through time from a wave-dominated to a tide-dominated type as headward in these estuaries. relative sea level rose during transgression and highstand (Rossetti The goal of this paper is to describe the sedimentological aspects of 1998). late Cretaceous to ?Lower Tertiary deposits exposed along the BR-316 Road, between Nova Olinda and Zé Doca towns in northwestern DEPOSITIONAL FACIES Four depositional facies assemblage were Maranhao State. Here, we provide detailed facies and stratigraphic recognized in the study area (Tables 1 and 2). They include: 1) cross- analysis of these strata, and relate them to the more landward areas of stratified sandstone facies assemblage; 2) deformed to massive the estuarine setting represented by the Cujupe Formation. This ap- sandstone facies assemblage; 3) interbedded sandstone and mudstone proach combines the concepts of facies models within the context of facies assemblage; and 4) mudrock facies assemblage. lithostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy. The beds can not be traced laterally for more than a few hundreds of meters, then we used surface Deformed to massive sandstone (facies assemblage 1) and subsurface data to analyze the strata within a plausible framework This facies assemblage is up to 15m thick, being well represented in for correlations. Although these correlations are inevitably interpretative due to the lack of biostratigraphic information, the results presented in Table 1 - Summary of sedimentary facies and sedimentary processes this study furnish additional data to discuss the estuarine model recognized in the study area. proposed for the Cujupe Formation (Rossetti, 1998). This methodology allowed to analyze the deposits of the study area within the context of a testable wave-dominated estuarine setting developed during the earlier evolutionary stages of an incised paleovalley. In addition, the stratigraphic correlation proposed in this paper leads to reconsider the importance of the Ferrer-Urbano Santos Arch as a geographic barrier between the Sao Luis and Grajau basins during the evolution of this estuarine deposits. GEOLOGICAL SETTING The studied area is located in the northernmost portion of the Grajau Basin, only a few kilometers south of the Ferrer-Urbano Santos Arch (Fig. 1). This basin has recently been distinguished from the intracratonic Parnafba Basin through the Rio Parnaiba-Xambioa Lineament (Goes 1995) uplifted in the Aptian as a result of the South America and Africa split up. The sedimentary fill of the Grajau Basin is up to 800 m thick, and consists of lacustrine black shales and fluvio-deltaic sandstones of the Aptian Codó and Grajau formations, respectively. The thickest deposits (circa 450m), however, accumulated during the Albian, and consist of sandstones and mudstones of the Itapecuru Formation. This unit has been traditionally attributed to fluvio-deltaic environments (e.g., Aguiar 1971); however, recent studies in the adjacent Sao Luis Basin have shown that Departamento de Ecologia-Museu Paraense Emflio Goeldi MPEG/CNPq, Av. Magalhaes Barata, 376 CP399 Betem-Para CEP 66040-170 e-mail: rossetti @ museu-goeldi .br 238 Revista Brasileira de Geociencias, Volume 29,1999 Figure 1 - Location map of study area and simplified stratigraphy of the Itapecuru Group in the São Luís Basin. Table 2 - Summary of fades assemblages and interpreted depositional vi) trough and tabular cross-stratified sandstone (St); and vi) laminated environments of the study area. mudstone (facies Ml). The deformed sandstones are invariably associated with massive beds, being characterized by convolute laminations with cusps, large scale folds, and overturned foresets. These facies intimately intergrade with medium- to large-scale (up to 1m thick) sigmoidal cross sets (Fig. 2 B), which are commonly amalgamated, being defined only by thin mudstone veneers displaying abundant plant remains (facies Ml). The foresets have shapes that change from concave to sigmoidal. They are arranged into packages 5-20 cm thick marked by reactivation surfaces. Reactivation surfaces also occur in association with sigmoidal and medium-scale (0,3-0,4 m thick), trough and tabular cross stratifica- tions. At some places, the sandstones display either cross lamination or alternating cross and parallel laminations. Where sandstone lenses are a number of exposures throughout the study area. It consists of bounded by mudstone layers, they form coarsening upward cycles (Fig. 2 micaceous, well-sorted, fine- to very fine-grained, kaolinitic (pseudo- D). morph from feldspar) sandstones. The beds form either amalgamated A remarkable feature of this facies assemblage is the presence of bodies or horizontal to slightly dipping (<10°) lenses (0,2 to 1 m thick growth faults up to 50 m wide at the outcrop level. Fault offsets are and 50 m long), the latter separated by thin mudstone layers (Fig. 2 usually in the order of few tens of centimeters, though larger displace- A-C). A variety of facies is recognized within this association, including: ments are observed, when the deformed to massive sandstones i) deformed sandstone (facies Sd);