Parnaíba Basin, Mirador State Park

The Parnaíba Basin is a large cratonic sedimentary basin located in the North and Northeast portion of Brazil. About 50% of its areal distribution occurs in the state of Maranhão, and the other 50% occurring in the state of Pará, Piauí, Tocantins, and Cearâ. It is one of the largest Paleozoic basins in the South American Platform. The basin has a roughly ellipsoidal shape, occupies over 600,000 km², and is composed of ~3.4 km of mainly Paleozoic sedimentary rock that overlies localized rifts. ()