Journal of South American Earth Sciences 58 (2015) 1e8

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Journal of South American Earth Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsames

Strain rates estimated by geodetic observations in the Borborema

Province, Brazil
~o Francisco Galera Monico b,
Giuliano Sant'Anna Marotta a, *, George Sand Frana a, Joa
rio R. Bezerra c, Reinhardt Adolfo Fuck d
Francisco Hila
rio Sismolo
gico, Instituto de Geoci^
Observato
encias, Universidade de Braslia, Braslia, DF, Brazil
Departamento de Cartograa, Faculdade de Ci^
encias e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista Jlio de Mesquita Filho, Presidente Prudente, SP, Brazil
c
Departamento de Geologia, Centro de Ci^
encias Exatas e da Terra, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil
d
rio de Geocronologia, Instituto de Geoci^
Laborato
encias, Universidade de Braslia, Braslia, DF, Brazil
a

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 26 June 2014
Accepted 29 December 2014
Available online 7 January 2015

The strain rates for the Borborema Province, located in northeastern Brazil, were estimated in this study.
For this purpose, we used GNSS tracking stations with a minimum of two years data. The data were
processed using the software GIPSY, version 6.2, provided by the JPL of the California Institute of
Technology. The PPP method was used to process the data using the non-ducial approach. Satellite
orbits and clock were supplied by the JPL. Absolute phase center offsets and variations for both the
receiver and the satellite antennaes were applied, together with ambiguity resolution; corrections of the
rst and second order effects of the ionosphere and troposphere models adopting the VMF1 mapping
function; 10
elevation mask; FES2004 oceanic load model and terrestrial tide WahrK1 PolTid FreqDepLove OctTid. From a multi annual solution, involving at least 2 years of continuous data, the coordinates
and velocities as well as their accuracies were estimated. The strain rates were calculated using the
Delaunay triangulation and the Finite Element Method. The results show that the velocity direction is
predominantly west and north, with maximum variation of 4.0 1.5 mm/year and 4.1 0.5 mm/year for
the x and y components, respectively. The highest strain values of extension and contraction were
0.109552  106 3.65  1010/year and 0.072838  106 2.32  1010/year, respectively. In general,
the results show that the highest strain and variation of velocity values are located close to the Potiguar
Basin, region that concentrates seismic activities of magnitudes of up to 5.2 mb. We conclude that the
contraction direction of strain is consistent with the maximum horizontal stress derived from focal
mechanism and breakout data. In addition, we conclude that the largest strain rates occur around the
Potiguar Basin, an area already recognized as one of the major sites of seismicity in intraplate South
America.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Borborema Province
Geodetic network
South American plate
Surface strains

1. Introduction
Several studies involving deformation analysis of the earth
surface using geodetic observations have been conducted to understand the dynamics of the strain applied to intraplate regions.
Among them, Li et al. (2001) established a model of rigid motion,
elasticeplastic and strain for eight intraplate blocks and peripheral
areas in China. The model was consistent with the strain parameters, obtained using geological and geophysical methods. Calais

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: marotta@unb.br (G.S. Marotta).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2014.12.006
0895-9811/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

et al. (2006) combined independent geodetic solutions, using the

continuous data from GPS stations covering the central and eastern
regions of the US and showed that surface deformation in the North
American Plate interiors is qualitatively consistent with that expected from GIA (Glacial Isostatic Adjustment). They also showed
that, with 95% condence level, no residual motion was detected in
the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Cloetingh et al. (2006) combined
seismicity data and strain indicators with geodetic and geomorphological observations to show that the deformation of the
northern Alpine Foreland is still ongoing and will continue in the
future. Banerjee et al. (2008) studied three of the major historic
intraplate earthquakes (Magnitude > 7.5) that happened in the
Indian subcontinent, which, considering the surface velocities

G.S. Marotta et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 58 (2015) 1e8

determined from GPS data, suggest the possibility of signicant

intraplate deformation with shortening rate from north to south of
0.3 0.05  109/year. Southward motion from 4 to 7 mm/year
located over the Shillong plateau, in northeastern India, reects the
fast shortening and danger of a large earthquake associated with
active thrust faults that limit the plateau.
Regarding the South American plate, most eld models of active
stresses suggest the presence of stress formed predominantly by
the Mid-Atlantic ridge push, collision with the Nazca plate, intraplate density variations, drag or basal resistance exerted by the
asthenosphere, and resistance associated to faults. According to
Lima (2000), the South American plate is under horizontal
compression and shortening, which can be demonstrated by a
compilation of stress data, numerical eld models of intraplate
stresses and results based on geodetic observations. Based on the
processing of GPS, SLR and DORIS data collected over the course of
three years (1994, 1995 and 1996), Norabuena et al. (1998) and
taux et al. (1998) reported that about 10e15 mm/year of crustal
Cre
shortening occur in the interior of the South American plate, thus
indicating that the Andes region is still in a process of continuous
formation. Marotta et al. (2013a) estimated deformation between
pre- and post-seismic periods in Latin America using geodetic observations and from their results it was possible to analyze the
interactions between lithospheric plates from the directions of
contraction and extension between points located on separate
plates.
Turning to the interior of the South American plate, the models
of strain currently known are derived mostly from studies involving
seismological and geological data, such as focal mechanisms and
breakouts, according to work presented by Zoback (1992),
~o (1992, 1998), Coblentz and Richardson (1996), Lima
Assumpa
et al. (1997), Ferreira et al. (1998, 2008), Bezerra et al. (2011),
Heidbach et al. (2009), and Lopes et al. (2010a).
Recent studies about strain rates by geodetic observations seek
to associate them to known strain models. From the coordinates
and velocities estimated for a grid of points of geodetic network,
Marotta et al. (2013b) estimated strain rates for the South American
intraplate region and suggest that the large supercial motions
occur in regions with more heterogenous geological structures and
multiple rupture events; that large earthquakes are concentrated in
areas with predominantly contraction strain rates, oriented
southwestenortheast; and, that the change of direction in the
movement of the geodetic points in the South American plate
shows predominantly tectonic inuence with some variations that
can be attributed to the strain interactions with local geological
characteristics. However, little is known about the relationship
between strain rates and stress directions and structures in the
upper crust in intraplate areas.
This work aims to determine the strain rates of the Borborema
Province, northeastern Brazil, from velocity vectors estimated by
GPS positioning methods using data of a geodetic network of
continuous monitoring. We seek to understand these strain rates
and their relationship with the present-day stress eld and the
structural framework of the region.
2. Tectonic strain at the Borborema Province
Brazil is located in the low seismic activity continental intraplate
region of South America. However, there are some regions in Brazil
characterized as active seismogenic zones, such as the Northeast,
which features recurring seismic activity (Takeya et al., 1989;
Ferreira et al., 1998; Lopes et al., 2010b; Rossetti et al., 2011) associated with recent tectonic activity (Fig. 1).
The Borborema Province is located in the eastern margin of the
South American plate. The coastal areas of the mainland and the

interior comprise a Precambrian crystalline basement overlain by

Cretaceous and Cenozoic sedimentary basins Almeida et al. (2000).
These basins were formed mainly by the reactivation of the shear
zones during the breakup of Pangea in the Cretaceous de Castro
et al. (2012). The Neogene record consists primarily of the Barreiras Formations, of Miocene age, and Quaternary sedimentary deposits Rossetti et al. (2011).
The Borborema Province constitutes the central part of a wide
orogenic belt deformed during the Pan-African/Brasiliano orogeny
(750e540 Ma), covering an area of 900 km long and 600 km wide.
Ductile shear zones are among the most striking features of the
Borborema Province. They form continental scale structures linked
to Precambrian terrains. In some cases, they mark a collage of large
Proterozoic crustal blocks. Several of the major shear zones
continue in Africa, in a Pangea pre-breakup reconstruction.
Seismological and studies using data from the oil industry
focused on the Borborema Province presented preliminary esti~o (1992) presented a
mates of the stresses in the region. Assumpa
compilation of the lithospheric stress directions for the South
American continent and the main patterns of the intraplate stress
regional eld. He also suggested that in northeastern Brazil, seismicity is characterized mainly by strike-slip earthquakes in the
upper crust. A model was proposed for the region where the stress
eld would be the result of an overlapping of regional and local
stress elds, characterized by EeW-trending compression and
NeS-trending extension. Lima et al. (1997) studied the crustal
stresses in Brazil and presented a detailed analysis of breakout data
performed in 541 wells distributed in sedimentary basins
throughout the country, from which 481 were from basins along
the continental margin and 60 were from intracratonic basins. The
authors veried in the Potiguar Basin that average orientation of
maximum horizontal stresses (SHmax) by breakout is consistent
with the orientation of the maximum horizontal stresses (SHmax)
inferred from focal mechanisms around the basin. The breakouts
also show that (SHmax) is approximately parallel to the northern
coastline. From the results, they suggested that this pattern is also
~o (1992).
consistent with the model by Assumpa
In northeastern Brazil, indicated that earthquakes tend to occur
around the border of the Potiguar Basin in the crystalline basement,
with strike-slip focal mechanisms at depths between 1 and 12 km
~o, 1998; Ferreira et al., 1998; Bezerra et al., 2007). These
(Assumpa
studies also suggested that the combination of regional stresses,
local exion effects of thick sediment loads and a presumably
weaker crust, explains the main patterns of seismicity in the area.
While studying a series of earthquakes with local networks,
Ferreira et al. (2008) and Lopes et al. (2010a) helped to increase the
stress database in Brazil. From the analysis of clusters of seismic
activities along the Pernambuco shear zone, included in the Borborema Province, the works showed the reactivation of Pernambuco shear zone with normal and strike-slip faults, thus indicating
NeS-trending extension and EeW-trending compression.
3. Study area
The study area shown in Fig. 2 consists of the entire region
covered by a network of geodetic points in the Borborema Province.
Among the points that make up the geodetic network are those
belonging to Brazilian Continuous GNSS Network (RBMC) (<www.
ibge.gov.br>, accessed on 01/02/2013), controlled by Brazilian
Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and Potiguar GPS
Network (RGP), controlled by the Federal University of Rio Grande
do Norte (UFRN).
The geodetic points belonging to RBMC, besides being for
civilian use, are also part of the SIRGAS-CON network, which is used
to perform the Geocentric Reference System for the Americas

G.S. Marotta et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 58 (2015) 1e8

(SIRGAS). Its denition follows that of IERS ITRS and its realization
are compatible with those of the ITRF (IERS Terrestrial Reference
Frame).
The geodetic points of RGP (Fig. 2) were deployed for tectonic
studies around the Potiguar Basin, in locations that present recurrent seismic activity, different lithological types and near active
shear zones.
4. Estimating coordinates and velocities vectors for the
points of the geodetic network
In this work, daily coordinate were estimated for each selected
point in the study area for the period between 2004 and 2010 and,
subsequently, these values were combined into a single solution of
coordinates and velocities for a preset period of time. For this,
version 6.2 of the GIPSY software, provided by the JPL of the California Institute of Technology, was used (<https://gipsy-oasis.jpl.
nasa.gov/>, 2012).
The Precise Point Positioning (PPP) method (Zumberge et al.,
1997; Monico, 2000) by using the module written in Perl called
gd2p.pl (GPS Data 2 Position) was used to process the daily GPS
data. The individual solutions were combined to provide the coordinates and velocities of each station. The Reference Frame used
was IGS 2008 and the reference epoch for the coordinates estimation was 2008.0.

Fig. 1. Seismic activity in continental Brazil between 1720 and 2013.

Source: <www.obsis.unb.br/websisbra>, 2013.

The processing strategy involved to treat the errors that originated in the satellites, atmosphere, local environment, as well as
from the characteristics of the station, antenna and receiver, according to the error source classication described by Seeber
(2003) and Monico (2008). Among the information used to correct the aforementioned errors, it should be cited: the use of precise
orbits (non-ducial) and clocks; absolute phase center offsets and
variations for both the receiver and the satellite antennaes, provided by IGS (International GNSS Service); ambiguity resolution;
correction of the rst and second order effects of the ionosphere
and troposphere model adopting the VMF1 (Vienna Mapping
Function 1); 10
elevation mask; FES2004 oceanic load model and
terrestrial tide WahrK1 PolTid FreqDepLove OctTid.
In order to determine the strain the tridimensional geocentric
Cartesian system (X, Y, Z) was transformed to the geocentric
geodetic system (l, f, h) and, from this to the local geodetic system
(x, y, z), following methodology described by Monico (2008).
The coordinates of the geocentric geodetic system were used
both for forming triangular connections between the geodetic
points, using the Delaunay triangulation, and for dening the origins of the local geodetic system, given by the centroid position of
each triangle.
Once the origin and points that make up each triangle were
dened, which is called the network, the tridimensional coordinates in the local geodetic system were calculated.

G.S. Marotta et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 58 (2015) 1e8

Fig. 2. Network of geodetic points in the Borborema Province.

5. Resulting planimetric strain rates for the geodetic network

From a small plane with dimensions dened according to a
Cartesian coordinate system, a two-dimensional stress state was
considered, oriented so that there are no surface forces in the
vertical direction. The Finite Elements Method was used to estimate
the strain rates when considering a plane in a two-dimensional
stress state. According to Deniz and Ozener (2010), this method is
adequate to determine the strain parameters independent of the
data, since it uses the relationship of the distance between points or
base lines, for two distinct periods. According to Marotta et al.
(2013a), this method applied to a geodetic network does not account for translations, only the strains.
The strain rates determined using the Finite Element method
was performed for each at region formed for each plane dened
by the Delaunay triangulation.
The linear expression to determine the strain rate 3 resulting
from a baseline in a network is given by Marotta et al. (2013b):

S0  S
Dt$S

exx $cos2 Az exy $sin2Az eyy $sin2 Az

(2)

E1


q



2

2
1

exx eyy
exx  eyy 2$exy
2

(3)

E2


q



2

2
1

exx eyy 
exx  eyy 2$exy
2

(4)


b arctan

exy
E1  exy


(5)

To estimate the accuracy of each step, the Covariance Propagation Law for a given general model Y F(X) was used (Gemael,
1994; Marotta et al., 2013b):

CY J$CX $J T

(6)

(1)

where S and S0 are the planimetric distances between two network

points at times 1 and 2, respectively. Dt is the time interval of 1 year
between times 1 and 2. To determine S0 , the coordinates at time 2,
estimated from the coordinate values and velocity vectors at time 1,
were used.
Since the analyzed geodetic network was formed by triangles
properly oriented, we used a general equation to estimate the strain
rate resulting in the two-dimensional state as function of the strain
parameters (exx, exy, eyy) and azimuth (Az) calculated for each base
(Turcotte and Schubert, 2002; Deniz and Ozener, 2010; Marotta
et al., 2013a). The principal components of maximum (E1) and
minimum (E2) strain rate were also estimated together with its
orientation (b).

Table 1
Period of GPS data used.
Geodetic point

GPS data
2004

ALAR
BRFT
CGPT
CHPT
CRAT
PBCG
PEPE
PISR
RECF
RNMO
RNNA
TGPT

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

G.S. Marotta et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 58 (2015) 1e8

Table 2
Positions and velocities (V) of the geodetic stations, in m/year.
Geodetic point

ALAR
BRFT
CGPT
CHPT
CRAT
PBCG
PEPE
PISR
RECF
RNMO
RNNA
TGPT

Geodetic coordinates

Velocities (local geodetic system)

l (
)

f (
)

h (m)

Vx (m/yr)

sVx (m/yr)

Vy (m/yr)

sVy (m/yr)

Vz (m/yr)

sVz (m/yr)

36.653420
38.425538
37.301461
38.299572
39.415606
35.907138
40.506124
42.702759
34.951517
37.325465
35.207708
38.040481

9.749223
3.877446
5.806386
4.418423
7.238017
7.213676
9.384417
9.030692
8.050962
5.204233
5.836139
5.919480

266.20249
21.66479
108.95806
26.45550
436.02616
534.07148
369.08498
366.78415
20.11785
23.36422
45.94238
158.46580

0.00342
0.00396
0.00387
0.00577
0.00174
0.00450
0.00362
0.00576
0.00420
0.00322
0.00358
0.00472

0.00039
0.00022
0.00110
0.00152
0.00018
0.00037
0.00036
0.00064
0.00017
0.00051
0.00049
0.00084

0.01171
0.01129
0.01282
0.00975
0.01169
0.01164
0.01222
0.01159
0.01213
0.01382
0.01167
0.01301

0.00016
0.00007
0.00039
0.00051
0.00006
0.00014
0.00014
0.00026
0.00007
0.00018
0.00018
0.00030

0.00024
0.00078
0.00449
0.00152
0.00125
0.00118
0.00070
0.00895
0.00631
0.00434
0.00044
0.00275

0.00042
0.00023
0.00116
0.00160
0.00019
0.00040
0.00037
0.00064
0.00018
0.00054
0.00054
0.00088

where CY is the variance-covariance matrix of Y; J, the Jacobian

matrix formed by the partial derivatives; and Cx, the variancecovariance matrix of X.
Once the strain parameters and subsequently, the principal
components of the strain rate were estimated, the latter was
compared with the stress directions known in the region.

6. Results and discussions

The velocity vectors of each one of the 13 geodetic points
located in the Borborema Province are described in Table 2 and
shown in Fig. 2. The results were estimated using the GPS tracking
data collected continuously over a period of at least two years
(Table 1).

The results (Table 2 and Fig. 3) show that the velocity direction is
predominantly west and north with maximum variation of
4.0 1.5 mm/year and 4.1 0.5 mm/year for the x and y components, respectively. This variation was observed between the points
CHPT and CRAT and the points CHPT and RNMO, where one of them
is located on the edge of the Potiguar Basin, near the shear zones
Senador Pompeu, and in regions with higher seismic intensities.
In the vertical component, the maximum velocity variation of
15.3 0.7 mm/year was observed between the points PISR and
RECF. These points are close to Pernambuco Lineament.
Assuming that all these variations are due to local and regional
tectonic strains, the component values of the strain rate were
calculated (Table 3 and Fig. 4), where the inuence of the strains on
the continental crust, more precisely on the Earth surface can be

Fig. 3. Planimetric velocities (V) of the geodetic stations, in mm/year, estimated in the ITRF08 reference frame.

G.S. Marotta et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 58 (2015) 1e8

Table 3
Strain rates and principal strain components in planimetry.
Network of points triangulated Geodetic coordinates of the barycenter of each network Planimetric analysis
Principal components of strain

l( )

s( )

E1 (106/yr) sE1 (106/yr) E2 (106/yr) sE2 (106/yr) b (
)

36.986237
40.874830
40.181301
38.713572
38.585220
38.016858
38.858383
37.888506
37.325388
36.611545
37.555802
37.787742
35.837358
36.138769
37.083027
35.355454

4.972606
8.551042
6.715385
5.177962
5.858640
4.500034
8.790552
5.180712
8.066972
5.615586
5.643366
6.790391
8.337954
6.285401
6.313181
7.033593

0.001554
0.011144
0.019700
0.017737
0.005518
0.109552
0.003405
0.024608
0.000092
0.015327
0.015519
0.011791
0.000844
0.002676
0.012419
0.007046

RNMO RNNA BRFT

PISR PEPE CRAT
BRFT PISR CRAT
CHPT BRFT CRAT
TGPT CHPT CRAT
RNMO BRFT CHPT
PEPE ALAR CRAT
RNMO CHPT TGPT
CRAT ALAR PBCG
CGPT RNNA RNMO
TGPT CGPT RNMO
TGPT CRAT PBCG
PBCG ALAR RECF
CGPT PBCG RNNA
CGPT TGPT PBCG
PBCG RECF RNNA

seen. The values of strain rate and the values of standard deviation
are expressed as 106/year.
In Table 3, the region formed by the geodetic points RNMO, BRFT
and CHPT shows the highest strain value of extension, with
0.109552  106/year 3.65  1010/year, while the geodetic points
CHPT, BRFT and CRAT show the highest strain value of contraction,
with 0.072838  106/year 2.32  1010/year. In general, the
results in Table 3 and Fig. 5 show that the highest strain values are
located near the Potiguar Basin, region that concentrates seismic

0.000005
0.000005
0.000018
0.000045
0.000021
0.000365
0.000005
0.000044
0.000004
0.000041
0.000034
0.000025
0.000010
0.000015
0.000143
0.000015

0.039037
0.003966
0.002906
0.072838
0.021433
0.008175
0.003518
0.018514
0.007190
0.001044
0.008622
0.009352
0.001325
0.001913
0.001553
0.003423

0.000076
0.000013
0.000003
0.000232
0.000045
0.000007
0.000005
0.000018
0.000005
0.000008
0.000117
0.000007
0.000006
0.000022
0.000040
0.000004

41.953116
15.517682
10.571091
26.967033
30.090746
48.698127
83.647887
41.743309
47.941522
15.630026
10.969766
19.860865
2.679201
2.261410
34.313603
48.199594

sb (
)
0.140363
0.075426
0.019565
0.152550
0.092771
0.177530
0.107769
0.118347
0.166972
0.263421
0.304666
0.019034
0.329224
0.323240
0.716995
0.101697

activities of magnitudes 5.2 mb (Ferreira et al., 1998, 2008;

Bezerra et al., 2011).
The strains, seen by the principal component of strain rates,
extend predominantly in the northeast direction. Extensional
strains are roughly perpendicular to the northern shoreline of the
Borborema Province, whereas the contraction strains are roughly
parallel to the coast. To the eastern shoreline of the Borborema
Province, there is contraction in the perpendicular direction and
extension parallel to the coast. Towards the inland of Borborema

Fig. 4. Principal components of strain rates.

G.S. Marotta et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 58 (2015) 1e8

Fig. 5. Principal components of strain rates estimated by geodetic observations and strains by focal mechanisms and breakouts.

Province, strain rate values are smaller for both extension and
contraction. It is, therefore, suggested that these small values are
associated with the low density of geodetic points and low concentration of seismic activity.
The principal components of strain rates were, for purpose of
result verication, compared to stress directions estimated by
inversion of focal mechanisms and breakouts (Fig. 5) compiled from
~o (1992, 1998), Coblentz and Richardson (1996), Lima
Assumpa
et al. (1997), Ferreira et al. (1998, 2008), Frana et al. (2004),
Bezerra et al. (2007, 2011) and Lopes et al. (2010a).
Fig. 5 shows that the directions of the strains estimated by
geodetic observations are in agreement with the stress directions
estimated by other instrumental methods, except in places with
lower density of geodetic points. However, it is suggested that the
geodetic network, independent of density, can present regional
strains, which in turn, may bring insight on how strain and stresses
interactions occur in regions with or without seismic activity. This
can be conrmed by the good agreement between strain directions
of the principal component of strain rates aligned with the ductile
shear zones within the study site, as shown in Fig. 4, where we can
suggest present-day fault reactivation.

7. Conclusion
Based on the coordinates estimated from GPS data and using the
Delaunay triangulation and Finite Element Method, the strain rates
of the geodetic network located in the Borborema Province were
estimated and compared with the stress directions estimated by
focal mechanisms and breakouts.
In the Potiguar Basin region, the vectors of the principal components of strain presented suggest a direct correlation with
seismic events by the behavior of the contractions and extensions
found in studies involving focal mechanisms and breakout.

Towards the inland in the Borborema Province we conclude that

despite the lower values compared to the Potiguar Basin, the
principal components of the strain rates are parallel to the direction
of major ductile shear zones in the Borborema Province.
Consequently, the sensitivity of the GPS network is veried and
it is conclude that the applied strain distribution originating from
the terrestrial dynamics, whether local, regional or global, affects
the geodetic network studied in different ways and, thus, it can be
used as a complement in intraplate tectonic studies. We also
conclude that the methodology presented is consistent with the
proposed goals.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank SIRGAS for providing geodetic preliminary
information used in the analyses. Thank JPL for providing the
version 6.2 of the GIPSY OASIS software. This research is supported
CNPq/INCT 573713/2008-1. We special thank all technicians from
UnB, USP and UFRN, for their efforts in the eld work, maintenance
of equipment, and preliminary readings of data. GSF and JFGM
thank CNPq for their PQ grants. Ruth Vidotti Kakogiannos for
improvement of the English.
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