Senventh International Gondwana Symposium, Instituto de Geociencias-USP SAO PAULO, 1991, 317-336

I. PETER MARTINI¹ and ANTONIO C. ROCHA-CAMPOS²

1Department of Land Resource Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada N1G 2Wl, Canada
²Institute de Geociencias, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Cidade Universitaria, C.P. 20.899, Sao Paulo, CEP 01498, Brazil

Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian Gondwanan coals of the Parana Basin occur both in interglacial/interstadial and post-glacial sequences. The first ones are found exclusively in the northeastern part of basin, in the State of Sao Paulo, included in the Itarare Subgroup. They are usually thin (max. 50 cm), dull, rich in mineral matter and silt intercalations. They are associated with pre-Gangamopteris (Monte Mor coals) and Gangamopteris (Cerquilho coals) floras, abundant exotic-bearing diamictites, striated boulder pavements and synsedimentary foldings in part related to glacier action. The post-glacial coal measures are found in the Lower Permian Rio Bonito Formation of the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul where the coals are thick enough to be mined. They are characterized by Glossopteris floral assemblages. Many coals in Rio Grande do Sul State derive from limno-telmatic peatlands developed in paleovalleys, others are associated with deltaic and barred coastal plains. In Santa Catarina and Parana States coals are associated with upper deltaic to fluvial sequences.