Palaeoenvironmental considerations about the Itarare subgroup at Aracoiabada Serra, state of Sao Paulo (Upper Carboniferous, Parana Basin), Brazil

Detailed qualitative and quantitative palynological analyses of cores from the Geomater well (A-IG-85) and samples from four outcrops along the Raposo Tavares highway (SP-270) at km 118.6, 122.7, 123.7, and 125.8, Aracoiaba d e Serra, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, revealed a highly diversified microflo ra of pteridophyte spores and gymnosperm pollen grains which have led to ne w ideas about the age and geological evolution of the Itarare Subgroup in t he northeastern Parana Basin. The species Deusilites tenuistriatus Gutierre z, Cesari and Archangelsky, is found throughout most of the studied section (about 212 m thick) of mainly claystones, siltstones and rhythmites, as we ll as in the studied outcrops composed of sandstones, siltstones and diamic tites. This species is found in Lower Permian strata of the Chacoparanense Basin of Argentina and in the Parana Basin of Southern Brazil. Its occurren ce in Aracoiaba da Serra, whose Late Carboniferous age is based on sporomor phs, extends its range from this age to the Early Permian. Palaeoenvironmen tal considerations are put forth.