Geology & Brazil

Brazil's Volcanic Activity Brazil is located at the center of the South American plate, which means it is far away from the edges of tectoni c plates. Unlike Chili and other countries located on the continent’s western edge, and are part of the volcanic “Ring of Fire”. This is the reason why there hasn’t been any active volcanoes in Brazil in a while. W hile there hasn’t been any active volcanic eruptions in Brazil in recent years, there are many signs that suggest that the country has experienced volcanic activity in the past. Rio’s Sleeping Giant (O  Gigante Adormecido ) Just above Rio de Janeiro is the “Patole” which is a 60-mile-long sheet of pure granite that was formed by consolidated igneous rock from an ancient volcanic eruption. This was once a massive reservoir of magma but because it never made its way to ground level it instead formed the Serra dos Orgaos mountains. It is believed that in the past the Patole was a gigantic volcano but has since...

Brazils Seismic Risk  Seismic risk is relatively low in Brazil especially compared to other South American countries, such as Chile. Due to the fact that Brazil is located in a stable region with very old topography (the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area)  in the interior of a tectonic plate. However low to medium intensity tremors do happen with a certain frequency in Brazil, and depending on the location in which these happen, they can cause big consequences to the people and the land. Magnitude 3 tremors, occur about twice a month on average in Brazil, magnitude 4 tremors, occur twice a year, while magnitude 5 tremors cause damage and occur once every 50 years. Brazil is more commonly known for its flooding and landslides.  How Brazil Stays Prepared  Around the year 2011 Brazil joined the International Space and Natural Disaster organization Charter, "Space and Major Disasters" whose purpose is to make timely dat...

Brazil is located on the South American Plate. This is the smallest of the major plates and is about 43,600,000km^2 in size. This plate includes the continents of South America and a large part of the Atlantic Ocean. This plate is bounded by the African plate in the east, Nazca plate to the west, Antarctic plate and Scotia plate in the south, and the Caribbean plate and North American plate in the north. The eastern side lies on the Atlantic Ocean at the divergent plate boundary (two plates that are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from magma that rises to the surface between them). On the other hand the west side of the South America experiences many harsh earthquakes because of the convergent plate tectonic boundaries (two plates that are moving toward each other). The South American Plate pulls apart from the African Plate and by doing this they create the youngest oceanic crust in the world (divergent). However on the other side the Nazca plate has overtime c...