Introduction
The Brazilian coastline (Fig. 4.6.1 ) lies between latitudes 4°N and 32°S and is about 7,400 km long, although various estimates range between 6,000 km and more than 10,000 km (Muehe 2003). It is backed by extensive continental plateaux of igneous and metamorphic Pre-Cambrian rocks with basins of Palaeozoic sediment, and fronted by a continental shelf that widens in the North, in front of the Amazon. Sedimentary terraces, pediments of Tertiary age, of varied composition (Barreiras Group), extend from the North to the Southeast regions and represent an important element of the coastal landscape. The flat topped surface was deeply incised during Pleistocene low sea levels while the distal portions of the deposits were eroded by the sea during marine transgressions, leaving a coastline of fossil and active bluffs several metres high, preceded by narrow beaches. Rocky sectors are found mainly in the Southeast region, in places where the Pre-Cambrian basement structures of the...
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Notes
- 1.
This is an abridged version of a chapter by O. Cruz; P.N. Coutinho; G.M. Duarte; A. Gomes and D. Muehe which was published in The World’s Coastline (edited by E.C.F. Brid and M.L. Schwartz) in 1985 pp. 85–91.
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Muehe, D. (2010). Brazil. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of the World's Coastal Landforms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_36
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