EXPEDIÇÃO BIOCRONORTE À BACIA DO PARNAÍBA: DECIFRANDO A VIDA ANTIGA E O REGISTRO HISTÓRICO DO PLANETA TERRA

Abstract

The Parnaíba Basin documents successions of sedimentary rocks and fossil occurrences that allow us to reconstitute past ecosystems, expanding the knowledge about its geological evolution and potential in terms of exploration of mineral resources. This paper presents the main motivations, stages and results of the BIOCRONORTE Expedition, carried out in October 2021, which is linked to an inter-institutional project involving the productive sector and public universities in the country and abroad. Outcrops of certain lithostratigraphic units in the basin, of different ages (between approximately 346 and 145 million years ago), were visited in the vicinity of José de Freitas and Floriano, in Piauí, and Balsas and Riachão, in Maranhão. The methods used include analyzes of sedimentology and stratigraphy, construction of stratigraphic profiles, sampling for analysis of microfossils (palynomorphs, conodonts and foraminifera), of sedimentary provenance and absolute dating by Re-Os. Preliminary data suggest changes in the age conceptions of some stratigraphic units, as well as in the geological evolution model of the region. In addition to supporting academic work, the resulting reports and publications expand the basin's geoscientific database, with application in the productive sector for the purpose of exploring mineral and energy resources.

Keywords: Geochronology. Micropaleontology. Parnaíba Basin. Stratigraphy.