ABSTRACT. The Transbrasiliano Lineament (TBL) corresponds to a NE-trending mega shear zone of late Neoproterozoic age with an extensive segment underneath the Parnaíba Basin (northeastern Brazil); the Eopaleozoic to Mesozoic section of the basin evidence the lineament’s brittle reactivation events. This paper presents a case study of TBL in the east-central portion of Parnaíba Basin with a special concern to the characterization of pre-Silurian grabens in the basement. The approach involves the interpretation of potential field data and seismic reflection line based on a plastic dextral transcurrent mega shear zone model. The gravity anomaly belts display a curvilinear shape joining the NE trend of the TBL, in accordance to a dextral S-C pair. A retrogressive stage with narrower ductile-brittle dextral structures controlled the opening of pull-apart grabens. Magnetic anomalies seem to be related to these late structures. The integration of the map analyses, seismic interpretation and 2D gravity modeling led to the conclusion that the sources causing the gravity and magnetic anomalies in the basin result from mass variations related to anisotropies of the crystalline basement and crustal heterogeneities, such as granite plutons, metasedimentary belts, shear zones and pre-Silurian grabens. The delimitation of grabens underneath the Parnaíba Basin suffers severe restrictions when solely interpreted based on potential field data. Keywords: gravity forward modeling, Transbrasiliano Lineament, magnetic anomaly. RESUMO. O Lineamento Transbrasiliano (LTB) corresponde a uma megazona de cisalhamento com direção NE, de idade Neoproterozoica, com um extenso segmento subjacente à Bacia do Parnaíba; a seção Eopaleozoica a Mesozoica da bacia evidencia seus eventos de reativação. Este trabalho aborda o LTB na porção centro-leste da Bacia do Parnaíba, com especial atenção à caracterização de grabens pré-Silurianos do embasamento. A abordagem envolve interpretações de dados de métodos potenciais e de linha sísmica de reflexão baseadas em um modelo de megazona de cisalhamento plástica transcorrente dextral. As faixas de anomalias gravimétricas exibem uma geometria curvilínea, aproximando-se em direção ao trend NE do Lineamento Transbrasiliano, em consonância a um par S-C dextral. Um estágio retrogressivo com estruturas dúcteis-frágeis mais estreitas controlaram a abertura de grabens pull-apart. As anomalias magnéticas imageam essas estruturas tardias. A integração da análise de mapas de anomalia, interpretação sísmica e modelagem gravimétrica 2D permite concluir que as fontes causadoras das anomalias gravimétricas e magnéticas na bacia resultam de variações de massa relacionadas a heterogeneidades crustais e às anisotropias do embasamento cristalino, tais como plútons graníticos, faixas de metassedimentos e zonas de cisalhamento, com contribuição subordinada dos grabens pré-Silurianos. A delimitação desses grabens subjacentes à Bacia do Parnaíba sofre severas restrições quando interpretadas unicamente com base nos dados de métodos potenciais. Palavras-chave: modelagem gravimétrica direta, Lineamento Transbrasiliano, anomalia magnética.

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This work proposes a 2.5D modeling for a section crossing a segment of the Transbrasiliano Lineament in the southern part of Parnaiba Basin, NE Brazil-based on joint inversion of magnetic and gravimetric data. This study points out that the thickness of the sedimentary cover is related to tectonic features such as graben and horsts. Euler deconvolution technique was used in this work aiming to reduce ambiguities of the model as well as to contribute for a better quantification of anomalous source depths. A previous qualitative analysis was necessary to obtain an understanding of different types of sources that might be responsible for magnetic and gravimetric signatures in the area. This analysis was important to a better interpretation of the anomalous sources as long as not all given solutions offered by the Euler technique are those that are aimed to be analyzed.