As part of our South Atlantic Digital Atlas we are finding out new important features about the early history of the South Atlantic margins. We have made a detailed animated video of the opening of the South Atlantic in conjunction with Dr. Colin Reeves, Earthworks, Delft, Netherlands, and Dr. Alan Smith, University of Cambridge, UK.

Our latest findings include:

• The earliest marine influence in the South Atlantic is during the pre-salt sag phase in the latest Barremian (abstract Davison Bate & Reeves. 2004).

• The first marine influx was from the north and brought Tethyan ostracods and stemless crinoids of Tethyan affinity (Davison et al. 2004).

• Figure of TETHYAN OSTRACODS

• The Aptian salt basin consists of several individual sub-basins with different ages of salt. ranging from 123-124 Ma to 112-113 Ma (Davison and Jones 2005). (South Atlantic SALT BASIN diagram as .PDF )

• The last land bridge between South America and Africa was along the Romanche Fracture Zone in the Barreirinhas Ghana Basins, and not as previously believed in the Pernambuco-Niger delta area.

South Atlantic margins video 140-100 Ma

Davison 2005 Brazil salt tectonics abstract

Davison, I., Bate, R., Reeves, C. 2004

Davison, I., and Jones, R.W., 2005