The Rio Bonito Formation is a

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

of the Paraná and Pelotas Basins of

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

age. It is represented by a succession of cyclic

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

packages of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

s and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

s which bear extensive deposits of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

that has been extracted since the 19th century.White, I.C. (1908) Comissão de Estudos das Minas de Carvão de Pedra do Brazil – Relatório final. (relatório bilíngüe, português e inglês); 617 p. + ilustr.; Imprensa Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. IN: CPRM (2008). 30 cm. Edição comemorativa: 100 anos do Relatório White. Edição facsimilar. CDD 553.209816. The Rio Bonito Formation was deposited in a coastal environment, formed by rivers, deltas, bays and estuaries with tidal plains, barrier islands and shallow marine platform, at a time when the Paraná Basin was a large

gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

of the ancient supercontinent

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

. This gulf was open to the southwest, to the old ocean Panthalassa. The Rio Bonito Formation outcrops occur mainly in the eastern border of the Paraná Basin, in a narrow band in the states of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Paraná, Santa Catarina,

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. The Rio Bonito Formation belongs to the second-order stratigraphic supersequence called Gondwana I.

''Glossopteris'' flora

The '' Glossopteris'' flora is characteristic of fossil sequences of the

supercontinent; it developed and became the dominant flora of the southern

to early

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

, and became extinct at the end of that period. This flora is not only the main fossil content of the Rio Bonito Formation

s, the coal extracted as in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

's first work to record the occurrence of horizons megaflora associated with coal seams within a paleogeographic approach and palaeoclimatic in the Paraná Basin, was the study by White in 1908. This allowed a large correlation between

coal deposits in southern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and those registered in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, including showing that the latter has been in latitude near the south pole less than today, allowing the occurrence of an extensive flora.

Fossil content

Among others, the following fossil flora have been recovered from the formation:Criciuma area
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org * ''

Araucarites ''Araucarites'' is an extinct genus of conifer, used to refer to female conifer cones that resemble those of the family Araucariaceae. Species assigned to the genus lived in the Permian to Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (ge ...

'' * '' Asterotheca'' * ''

Cordaites ''Cordaites'' is an important genus of extinct gymnosperms which grew on wet ground similar to the Everglades in Florida. Brackish water mussels and crustacea are found frequently between the roots of these trees. The fossils are found in rock s ...

'' * '' Coricladus'' * '' Glossopteris'' * '' Pecopteris'' * ''

Phyllotheca The genus Phyllotheca was created in 1828, when Brongniart described the type species ''Phyllotheca australis'' coming from Hawkesbury River, Australia. Species * '' Phyllotheca australis'': Initially described by Brongniart coming from Austral ...

'' * '' Samaropsis'' * ''

Sphenopteris ''Sphenopteris'' is a genus of seed ferns containing the foliage of various extinct plants, ranging from the Devonian to Late Cretaceous. One species, ''S. höninghausi'', was transferred to the genus ''Crossotheca'' in 1911. Biology The frond ...

'' * '' Voltzia''

References

{{Reflist, 2 Geologic formations of Brazil Geologic formations of Uruguay Permian System of South America Permian Brazil Permian Uruguay Artinskian Stage Sakmarian Sandstone formations Formations Permian southern paleotemperate deposits Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America Paleontology in Brazil Geography of Rio Grande do Sul Geography of São Paulo (state)