Gravitational deformation affects the entire marine sequences of the Foz do Amazonas basin, including the sedimentary successions of the Amazon Fan. Associated gravity-driven structures, imaged by 2D multichannel seismic profiles, were driven by gravity in a linked extensional-contractional system gliding on weak levels, and driven by sedimentary loading and by the bathymetric slope. Sliding of the sedimentary section took place along distinct décollement surfaces and, apparently, at different stages of the margin's evolution. At least three main stratigraphic levels have acted as décollement surfaces, at either regional or local scale. Gravity-driven deep-water fold-and-thrust belts stand as the most remarkable structures along the margin. Their geometry and structural complexity vary along strike, owing to lateral changes in the development of the Amazon fan's depocenters. These structures are significantly more complex along the Northwestern Compartment, where the major margin's depocenters are located, exhibiting evidence of long-lasting deformation from multiple partially-overlapping fronts. In the South-eastern Compartment, the system is restricted to a pair of active reverse faults causing no major sea-bottom relief (inactivated belt). At local scale, antithetic normal growth faults detach on an upper décollement level and exert structural control on the segmentation of the fan's depocenters.
gravity tectonics; gravitational fold-and-thrust belts; Amazon Deep-sea Fan; Brazilian equatorial margin
