Pliocene-Quaternary fault control of sedimentation and coastal plain morphology in NE Brazil

Although the last major tectonic event in the Brazilian passive margin was the South America–Africa breakup during the Mesozoic, there is pervasive evidence in northeastern Brazil for pronounced faulting since the late Tertiary. The faulting was partitioned between strike-slip and normal-slip and it reactivated Precambrian shear zones as well as generating new structures. A 040–060° -trending fault set and a 300–320° -trending set have strongly influenced both the deposition of alluvial and aeolian sediments and coastal evolution. Vertical throws have attained 260 m since the Pliocene, and topographic breaks resulting from cumulative late Tertiary to Quaternary slip have attained 30–40 m. Fault control of sediment deposition and coastal morphology may have affected the entire South American passive margin.