Tectonic aspects of the Rio Parnaíba Lineament, Duque Bacelar Region, Maranhão State, based on the record of Dinosauria, Spinosaurinae

Abstract

This article shows the tectonic influence of the Parnaíba River Lineament located in the Parnaíba Basin through a paleontological finding of a Cretaceous age close to a Permian sequence. The studied region is in the northeast of the State of Maranhão, near the town of Duque Bacelar, in the vicinity of the lineament. A normal fault in the NNE-SSW direction was responsible for the lowering of the Itapecuru Formation strata (Cretaceous) and the relative upward movement of the Pedra de Fogo Formation (Permian). The unprecedented finding of a Mesozoic (mid-Cretaceous) theropod tooth located topographically at the same level as a Paleozoic unit represents evidence of tectonic activity affecting the stratigraphic successions of the Parnaíba Basin. Keywords: Parnaíba River Lineament, Pedra de Fogo Formation, Itapecuru Formation, Spinosauridae.