Os solos e a evolução de paisagens na Serra do Espinhaço Meridional, Brasil

Abstract

The Serra do Espinhaco Meridional (SdEM) is a mountain range in the orogenic belt range of the Proterozoic Eon, whose lithology is formed mainly by quartzites and phyllites, which originate shallow and acidic soils. Its relief comprises a succession of planing surfaces, such as Chapadao do Couto, separated by dissected areas. e objective of this work was to understand the distribution and characterize the soils of a toposequence, to contribute to the understanding of the evolution of the landscape of Chapadao do Couto and SdEM. Evidence has been found that the Chapadao do Couto planing surface was formed in the Paleocene/ Eocene and dissected intermittently since then, with the soils of the tops and slopes of its hills being formed and eroded cyclically. e depressions were also intermittently filled by mineral and organic sediments. e installation of the drainage network and the formation of the hills began in the Tertiary, while the genesis of current soils began in the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene.