The São Francisco Ridge (''in Portuguese'', Serra de São Francisco) is a topographic elevation in the

Brazilian Highlands The Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian Plateau ( pt, Planalto Brasileiro) are an extensive geographical region, covering most of the eastern, southern and central portions of Brazil, in all approximately half of the country's land area, or some 4,5 ...

, situated in the south of the cities of

Votorantim Votorantim () is a city located at the southwest of São Paulo (state), São Paulo State in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba. The population is 123,599 (2020 est.). The city is located about away from the São Paulo, capi ...

and

Sorocaba Sorocaba () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the eighth-largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, São José dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto. It ...

, state of São Paulo, Brazil.

History

The origin of the name dates from the founding of

1654 by

Baltasar Fernandes Captain Baltasar Fernandes (also spelled ''Baltazar'' or ''Balthazar'') (c. 1580 - c. 1667) was a Portuguese colonist of Brazil who led the expeditions called Bandeirantes into the interior seeking gold, silver, and iron. He was the founder and o ...

and as the aim was to transform the local village, built a chapel dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Ponte. Esteves Brás Leme stood near the mouth of the Sarapuí River and his son-

Pascoal Moreira Cabral Leme Pascoal Moreira Cabral Leme (born 1654 in Sorocaba, died 1730 in Cuiabá) was a bandeirante who operated in the central region of South America. He found gold at the site which became the city of Cuiabá. Gold In 1719 he was camped near the s ...

in place that would be called Serra de São Francisco (Votorantim). Braz Tevês and

built their big house in Itapeva starting the planting of sugar cane and the consequent use of milling. The farm, which was named São Francisco.

Geology

The relief of the mountain is held by Granitic Massif São Francisco or simply Granite São Francisco, which is an elongated body according to a northeast–southwest intrusive metasedimentary rocks of the São Roque Group. It is a

biotite Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more alumino ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

dominant pink color, composition syenogranitic with fluorite as locally accessory

amphibole Amphibole () is a group of inosilicate minerals, forming prism or needlelike crystals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Its IMA symbol is A ...

and sodic. It subalkaline nature, type A, with locally rapakivi texture. Form extensive fields and rocky boulders. The age of this granite is Neoproterozoic, estimated at 560 million years. It is one of the granites with high natural radioactivity of the

state of Sao Paulo State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, either by their frequent exposure of rocky, with fractures, either by the same mineralogical composition. The highest values of natural radioactivity are recorded in the canyon of the

Sorocaba River The Sorocaba River (Portuguese, ''Rio Sorocaba'') is a river of São Paulo state in southeastern Brazil. It is a tributary of the Tietê River. The river runs large and important part of the municipality of Sorocaba. Geography Sorocaba headwate ...

, downstream from the Dam Itupararanga. At the time of World War II was to search

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...

in the São Francisco Ridge. The work was done by geologist Theodoro Knecht, who described the mineral occurrences of

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

and wolframite in the western portion of the mountain, and endograisens associated with

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

veins. Adjacent to the northern flank of the São Francisco ridge are the mining of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

for cement

Votorantim Group Votorantim S.A. is a permanently capitalized investment holding company, with a long-term investment approach. Its portfolio companies operate in 16 countries and in different economic sectors, as building materials, finance, aluminum, clean and r ...

, the factories of St. Helena and Santa Rita, and other mines near the Pirapora river in the west part of the ridge. Along the eastern edge of the mountain is the municipality of Aluminium, next to the aluminium plant of Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio (CBA).

Geomorphology

The ridge is part of the

, where the basement crystalline rocks dominate and shape the Appalachian fall line, as defined by Professor Ab'Saber, being the limit with the low-lying areas of the Peripheral Depression, dominated the rocks of the Parana Basin, the latter with gentle slope and mound. The highest elevations in the São Francisco ridge reach 1035 m (above sea level) in the eastern portion, near the headwaters of the river Pirajibú. The mountain becomes progressively lower toward

Salto de Pirapora Salto de Pirapora () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba. The population is 45,860 (2020 est.) in an area of . The elevation is . See also *Cafundó language ''Cafundó'' ( ...

in the west, where the altitudes are located around 800 m in this region there is an intersection of the mountain by the Pirapora River. The region of the mountain is the source of the Sorocaba River, formed by the rivers Sorocabuçu and Sorocamirim. The

Itupararanga Dam The Itupararanga Dam is a dam, located on the Sorocaba River in the Sorocaba region of São Paulo state. It was built by Light S.A. from 1913 to 1914. The plant started its operation on 25 March 1914.http://www.sigrh.sp.gov.br/sigrh/ARQS/RELATORI ...

was built in Sorocaba river canyon. Dominate steep slopes on the north flank of the mountain, overlooking the

and

, and softer on the south flank toward Piedade.

Environment

Much of the São Francisco ridge is within the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of

that aims to protect all water sources, such as

. The site is of special ecological interest because it represents one of the last refuges of wild fauna and flora and the region. Because the saw is supported by granitic rocks dominate lithosols paved and rock, where there is lush vegetation, except in reforestation located. On the northern flank of the mountain there is intense mining activity.

Tourism and leisure

From the top of the mountain are views of the region of Sorocaba, including Ipanema Hill. In view of the foothills of São Francisco ridge, from the higher parts of Sorocaba and Votorantim, the mountain appears to be majestic, and similarly, from the Chilena viewpoint high on the Ipanema Hill. In the higher parts of the mountain there is the Penha Chapel, rebuilt in 1724 by Tim de Oliveira, still exists today in the hills. It is a landmark of the region and has been held annually for Votorantim pilgrimage to the site.http://www.memoriaviva.org.br/default.asp?id=1&mnu=1&ACT=5&content=1136 Pilgrimage to the Chapel Penha Near the Penha Chapel, given the strategic point for telecommunications, television towers had. In

water sports and camping there. In recent years he has noticed an increase of cyclists visiting the mountain.

Access

Access roads are Route SP-79, Raimundo Soares Antunes, connecting

to Piedade, the old-Piedade Sorocaba road that passes through the São Francisco Farm, the road Votorantim linking to

, roads departing from Brigadeiro Tobias and Inhaíba villages,

Alumínio Alumínio (Portuguese meaning aluminum) is a Brazilian municipality of the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba. The population is 18,767 (2020 est.) in an area of 83.66 km². The elevation is 790 m. Alumín ...

and access between Votorantim and

References

External links

Serra de São Francisco biodiversity (pt)Photos of Itupararanga Dam at São Francisco Ridge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Francisco Ridge Mountains of Brazil Landforms of São Paulo (state)