Serra da Mantiqueira

Geological Travel / Brazil – The geological history of the Mantiqueira mountain chain (Serra da Mantiqueira) started about 70 million years ago, during the Upper Cretaceous, with a series of alkaline magmatic events in southeast Brazil and the formation of large volcanoes of up to 6.000 meters.

The tectonic shocks reactivated ancient Precambrian fault lines causing a large continental block to sink up to 2.000 m into the Earth's crust. The upper Paraíba valley (central part of the Continental Southeast Rift) was formed.

During the Cenozoic, the softer volcanic cones eroded and the subterranean magmatic chambers appeared at the surface. Many of the peaks of the actual Serra da Mantiqueira are remnants of the roots of these extinct volcanoes (eg. Itatiaia / Serra Fina).

With up to 2.800 meters, despite the erosion, they still represent nowadays the highest elevations on the Atlantic side of South America and a great eco tour destination – Brazil Tours / Geology.

See also: Trails & Tours