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The Guanabara Bay, a Giant Body of Water Surrounded by Mountains in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area

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Landscapes and Landforms of Brazil

Abstract

The Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro is one of the most important Brazilian morphological features, both in terms of its geological and geomorphological evolution as well as considering its historical importance to the development of Brazil. The existing morphological contrast, varying from mountain escarpments , hills, fluvial, and marine coastal plain s, beaches, and lagoons, results from a complex evolution that imprinted in the landscape an intriguing diverse morphology which constitutes a highly attractive touristic natural scenario that is well known internationally. Its geological and geomorphological history is related to the Paleogene extensional faults and alkaline magmatism within the Guanabara Graben that was filled by Cenozoic continental and/or fluviomarine sediments. In this landscape, the use of natural resources has constrained human occupation for more than 500 years. It was only in the 2000s that improved environmental consciousness promoted measures toward minimizing environmental degradation processes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the following for enabling the composition of this chapter’s illustrations: Professors Dieter Muehe (Department of Geography/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and Paulo Rosman (COPPE—Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa de Engenharia/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) for authorizing the use of their sketches; Marcelo Estaky for authorizing the use of his photographs; and David Coimbra for making Henry Chamberlain’s engraving (1822) available on his blog. We would also like to thank Mrs. Maria Lucia Borges de Assis Brazil for the final revision of the English text, as well as the part about the historical evolution and Rio de Janeiro City’s growth performed by Professor César Augusto Menezes.

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Correspondence to Telma Mendes Silva .

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Silva, T.M., Ferrari, A.L., Tupinambá, M., Fernandes, N. (2015). The Guanabara Bay, a Giant Body of Water Surrounded by Mountains in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area. In: Vieira, B., Salgado, A., Santos, L. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Brazil. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8023-0_36

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