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Alexandre Sales, Universidade Regional do Cariri - URCA (Brazil)
Paulo Boggiani, Universidade de São Paulo - USP (Brazil)
Carlos Delphim, Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional ? IPHAN (Brazil)
Margareth Lima, Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional ? IPHAN (Brazil)
Gilson Martins, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil)
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One the most important natural areas of Brazil is the Pantanal wetland, which was recognized in part as belonging to the World Natural Heritage by UNESCO. The 65 100 km2 of the potential area Geopark include the geological record of the terminal Neoproterozoic era as well as evidence of the Quaternary evolution of the Pantanal and karst relief of the Serra da Bodoquena, with seven points accepted by the Brazilian Commission of Geological and Paleobiological Sites (SIGEP) for the Global Indicative List of Geological Sites (GILGES), ready candidates for geotopes. More specifically, there are diamictites and Iron Formation attributed to Neoproterozoic Marinoan glacial event, which provide a natural starting point for the "Snowball Earth" hypothesis; the ensuing diversification of metazoan life is represented by occurrences of the Late Ediacaran age fossils Corumbella and Cloudina, the later associated with radiometrically dated ash-beds. Stromatolites exemplify the predominant evidence of life in the Precambrian and abundant carbonate tufas in rivers and hypersaline lakes in the Pantanal testify to the complexity of the modern environment of the carbonate sedimentation.
Deformed metassedimentary rocks, in the eastern Serra da Bodoquena, provide good examples of tectonic deformations and mountain genesis, possibly related to complete Wilson Cycle, beginning with the opening of an ocean (Rodinia rifiting) under glacial conditions, where later upwelling ocean currents as important source of nutrients for Neoproterozoic life and a possible stimulus for early diversification of metazoans, until closure of this ocean by agglutination of the continental mass of Gondwana. The area is under study by scientific projects and associated with IGCP-478, and embraces mining activities with great potential interest for Geociences-Educations projects. The geopark will provide the opportunity to increase tourism rationally while preserving the cultural heritage and the development of local community strategy (geoprograms and geoproducts).The initiative of its creation is of national heritage institute (IPHAN) but the management may be done for a pull of different organizations, public and private, under coordination of state government foundation that could be especially created to this finality.
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