Gravity map of Brazil: 2. Regional and residual isostatic anomalies and their correlation with major tectonic provinces

Abstract

An isostatic residual gravity map of Brazil has been computed by removing from a 0.5° × 0.5° Bouguer anomaly grid a regional gravity field calculated for compensating masses of surface topography. The coherence function, a statistical measure of the correlation between Bouguer anomaly and topography, was first computed in order to constrain the compensation mechanism within Brazil. Similar to results for North America and Australia, the coherence function of South America has a broad transition between high and low coherence values, suggesting a combination of tectonic provinces with different flexural rigidities and/or loading processes. In view of this result, we have considered, as a first approximation, a model in which the surface topography is the only load acting on a nonrigid lithosphere. A regional gravity field has been computed assuming Airy‐Heiskanen isostasy with compensation at the crust‐mantle boundary. The residual gravity map, which was obtained by removing the computed regional gravity field from the observed Bouguer anomaly, shows a long‐wavelength N‐S trending negative anomaly over most of Brazil. This gravity feature of approximately 3000 km width is the southern continuation of the western North Atlantic negative geoid/gravity anomaly and reaches at least ∼15 mGal in the northern portion of Brazil. Using the upward continued isostatic residual gravity field at 300 km, this long‐wavelength component, which may be dynamically induced, has been removed to first approximation. The final isostatic residual gravity anomaly map depicts anomalies with wavelengths between 100 and 1000 km which correlate with major tectonic provinces. Negative anomalies occur mainly over Paleozoic intracratonic and Cretaceous rift‐type sedimentary basins, and granitic intrusions and along Proterozoic thrust belts. Positive residual anomalies are generally observed over regions affected by igneous activity and volcanism such as in the Amazon basin and the Paraná flood basalt province. Positive anomalies are also associated with overthrust crustal plates which define a suture zone in central Brazil and over sub‐Andean Tertiary foreland basins.