Amazonian Craton

The Amazonian Craton is a geologic province in South America. It covers a large part of the center, north, and east of the continent. It is one of Earth's biggest cratonic areas. The Guiana Shield and Central Brazil Shield (Guaporé Shield) are the northern and southern parts of this craton that we can see. Between these two shields is the Amazon Rift, where the craton is weaker.

Small pieces of very old rocks from the Precambrian era south of the Amazonian Shield include the Río de la Plata Craton and the São Francisco Craton, located to the east. The Río Apa Craton, near the border of Paraguay and Brazil, may be the southern part of the Amazonian Craton. The rocks here were shaped during the Sunsás orogeny.

Some think that a big event in Earth’s history, called the Sveconorwegian Orogen in Fennoscandia, might have happened when the continents of Amazonia and Baltica met. Scientists are still learning if a piece of land called Telemarkia terrane in Norway came from the Amazonian Craton.