The sedimentary record of wet and dry eolian systems in the Cretaceous of Southeast Brazil: stratigraphic and paleogeographic significance

Abstract Sedimentologic and stratigraphic studies of paleo-deserts from the Brazilian Cretaceous are of great potential to understand the paleoclimate and paleogeography of Gondwana during its final rifting stage. Herein, we describe and discuss two depositional units characterized by two distinct eolian systems that are bounded by a long-lived unconformity. The Lower Unit (Barremian/Aptian) encompasses a wet eolian system composed of dune, interdunes, and ephemeral alluvial deposits. A continuous paleosol horizon in the upper part of the Lower Unit records dune stabilization and end of eolian...