The structure of the earth’s crust of South America


As a result of the split of Gondwana 180 million years ago, South America separated from Africa and began to move westward. So there was the South American lithospheric plate. Thus, at the heart of South America is the “remnant” of Gondwana – the ancient South American platform, occupying the entire eastern part of the continent. Its age is several billion years. In some places, the crystalline basement of the platform comes to the surface, forming shields. The largest of them are in the east the Brazilian shield and in the north-east of Guiana. Another part of the platform has a thick cover of sedimentary rocks, under which the foundation is deeply submerged.

The southern part of the continent is occupied by a young platform, the foundation of which was formed 300 million years ago and covered with a very thick sedimentary cover.

About 65 million years ago, the South American lithospheric plate collided with Pacific oceanic plates, which led to the formation in the west of the continent of the young belt of the folding of the Andes. The process of collision continues in our time, so the Andes are characterized by frequent volcanic eruptions and destructive earthquakes.


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The structure of the earth’s crust of South America