Amazonian Craton Explained

The Amazonian Craton is a geologic province located in South America. It occupies a large portion of the central, north and eastern part of the continent and represents one of Earth's largest cratonic regions.^[1] The Guiana Shield and Central Brazil Shield (Guaporé Shield) constitute respectively the northern and southern exhumed parts of the craton. Between the two shields lies the Amazon Rift, a zone of weakness within the craton. Smaller cratons of Precambrian rocks south of the Amazonian Shield are the Río de la Plata Craton and the São Francisco Craton, which lies to the east.

The Río Apa Craton at the Paraguay-Brazil border is considered to be likely just the southern part of the Amazonian Craton.^[2] The rocks of Río Apa were deformed during the Sunsás orogeny.^[3]

It has been suggested that the Late Mesoproterozoic–Early Neoproterozoic aged Sveconorwegian Orogen in Fennoscandia could have been caused by a continent–continent collision between the Amazonia and Baltica.^[4] The question is open if Telemarkia terrane in Norway was derived from the Amazonian Craton, but this possibility does not imply necessarily that there was a continental collision.^[5]

Further reading

• Web site: Orogenic Systems: The Andes . George . Zandt . Spring 2002 . University of Arizona . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151109062356/http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geo527/Andes/tectonicandes.html . 2015-11-09 .

Notes and References

1. Bonilla . Amed . Cramer . Thomas . De Grave . Johan . Alessio . Brandon . Glorie . Stijn . Kroonenberg . Salomon . 15 July 2021 . The NW Amazonian Craton in Guainía and Vaupés departments, Colombia: Transition between orogenic to anorogenic environments during the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic . Precambrian Research . 360 . 106223 . 10.1016/j.precamres.2021.106223 . 236266292 . 17 December 2022.
2. Book: Mantovani . Marta S.M. . de Brito Neves . Benjamin B. . Benjamin Bley de Brito Neves . 2010 . The Paranapanema Lithospheric Block: Its Nature and Role in the Accretion of Gondwana . Neoproterozoic-Cambrian tectonics, global change and evolution: a focus on south western Gondwana . Gaucher . Claudio . Sial . Alcides . Haverson . Galen . Elsevier . 258 . 10.1016/S0166-2635(09)01619-3.
3. Tohver . E. . Trindade . R.I.F. . Solum . G.F. . Hall . C.M. . Riccomini . C. . Nogueira . A.C. . 2010 . Closing the Clymene ocean and bending a Brasiliano belt: Evidence for the Cambrian formation of Gondwana, southeast Amazon craton . . 38 . 3 . 267–270 . 10.1130/G30510.1 . 2010Geo....38..267T .
4. Slagstad . Trond . Roberts . Nick M. W.. Markens . Rogens . Røhr . Torkil. Schiellerup . Henrik . 2013 . A non-collisional, accretionary Sveconorwegian orogen . . 25 . 1 . 30–37 . 10.1111/ter.12001. 2013TeNov..25...30S . 129199992 . free .
5. Bingen . Bernard . Nordgulen . Øystein. Viola . Giulio . 2008 . A four-phase model for the Sveconorwegian orogeny, SW Scandinavia . . 88 . 43–72 .