Abstract

Here we reply to the comment by Alessandretti and Warren, (2021) on the paper “Devonian to Permian post-orogenic denudation of the Brasília Belt of West Gondwana: insights from apatite fission track thermochronology” by Fonseca et al. (2020). We have the impression that many of the remarks, at least to some extent stem from a misunderstanding of our manuscript, also considering that they did not propose any alternative hypothesis for interpretation of our results presented in the aforementioned paper. We, thus, reiterate our interpretations from our low-temperature thermochronology data. The basement of the Brasilia Belt was subject to a significant exhumation during the Devonian to the Permian through erosion, and was likely a source area for detrital sediments deposited in parts of the northeastern Paraná Basin at that time. Apatite fission-track data show that Meso-Cenozoic events had limited effect on post-orogenic exhumation of the Brasília Belt, in contrast to e.g. the Araçuaí Belt.

Highlights

  • We appreciated the comments by Alessandretti and Warren (2021) to our recent work on low-temperature thermochronology of the Brasília Belt (BB) (Fonseca et al, 2020), since they give us the opportunity to clarify some aspects of our research and its geological interpretation and significance

  • In order to address these comments, we present some clarifications with respect to: (i) the method, (ii) the Devonian to Permian exhumation of the Brasília Belt and (iii) the relative Meso-Cenozoic stability of the BB from the perspective of thermochronology

  • We here reinforce that our study was never designed to present a source-to-sink model for the Parana Basin as a whole, but the data obtained in Fonseca et al (2020) suggest an important basement cooling event in the BB during the Devonian–Permian

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Summary

Introduction

We appreciated the comments by Alessandretti and Warren (2021) to our recent work on low-temperature thermochronology of the Brasília Belt (BB) (Fonseca et al, 2020), since they give us the opportunity to clarify some aspects of our research and its geological interpretation and significance. Alessandretti and Warren (2021) raise issues that, according to them, our results contradict available previous data, mainly pertaining to our interpretation in respect to (1) erosion of the BB in the Devonian to Permian, and (2) the Meso-Cenozoic relative thermal stability of the BB basement. As mentioned, that these main points raised by Alessandretti and Warren (2021) are a result of primary misconceptions of our data These misconceptions can essentially be explained by an insufficient understanding of AFT methodology and interpretation, and by the different order of scale between thermochronometry signals and sedimentology. In order to address these comments, we present some clarifications with respect to: (i) the method, (ii) the Devonian to Permian exhumation of the Brasília Belt and (iii) the relative Meso-Cenozoic stability of the BB from the perspective of thermochronology

Clarification on the method
Clarification on the Devonian to Permian exhumation of the Brasília Belt
Clarification on the Meso-Cenozoic thermal stability of the Brasília Belt
Final remarks

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