Amazonian Craton

The Amazonian Craton is a geologic province in South America. It covers a huge part of the central, north, and eastern areas of the continent and is one of Earth's largest cratonic regions. The Guiana Shield and Central Brazil Shield (Guaporé Shield) make up the northern and southern exposed parts of this craton. Between these two shields lies the Amazon Rift, an area where the craton is weaker.

Smaller 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, found near the border of Paraguay and Brazil, is thought to be the southern part of the Amazonian Craton. The rocks here were shaped during the Sunsás orogeny.

There is an idea that a big event in Earth’s history, called the Sveconorwegian Orogen in Fennoscandia, might have happened when the continents of Amazonia and Baltica bumped into each other. Scientists are still figuring out whether a piece of land called Telemarkia terrane in Norway came from the Amazonian Craton, but this doesn’t necessarily mean there was a big crash between continents.