The Acampamento Velho Formation, a Lower Cambrian Bimodal Volcanic Package: Geochemical and Stratigraphic Studies from the Cerro Do Bugio, Perau and Serra De Santa Bárbara (Caçapava Do Sul, Rio Grande Do Sul, RS - Brazil)

Abstract

During the late stages of the Brasiliano orogenic cycle (Lower Cambrian), the Camaquã Basin was gradually filled by the alkaline-trending, bimodal volcanic rocks of the Acampamento Velho Alloformation. This volcanic package consists of two facies associations: the lower one composed of andesites and basaltic andesites, and the upper one of rhyolitic rocks. The rhyolitic association comprises alternating pyroclastic rocks (lapilli, tuffs and welded tuffs) in the middle section and flows at the top. Geochemical evidence, especially trace elements and REE, confirmed the stratigraphic succession proposed herein for the volcanic rocks, as well as their co-genetic relationships and the fractional crystallization of the felsic sequence. The Acampamento Velho Formation seems to have been generated in an extensional regime preceding the collision of the Rio de la Plata and Kalahari continental plates. This extensional regime probably occurred during subduction of the Adamastor oceanic plate beneath the Rio de la Plata plate in a retroarc setting.