Rocks of the Brazilian cycle today are manifested in a series of orogenic belts—developed mainly on previously deformed continental crust—that were formed during the amalgamation of the Precambrian cratons into the first supercontinent in late Proterozoic time (1 billion to 540 million years ago). Most of present-day South America, encompassing the platforms of Brazil, Guyana, and southern Venezuela, was accreted at this time—together with Africa—to form the western part of the huge southern supercontinent of Gondwana; Precambrian blocks that were not part of Gondwana—notably the Santa Marta Massif in Colombia, the Arequipa block in Peru, and Patagonia in Argentina—were accreted later during Paleozoic times.

The Brasilides in the southern Brazilian state of Matto Grosso represent the type locality of the Brazilian orogenic cycle. There, important sequences of green schists, platform limestones, and quartzites, as well as red bed molasse formations (associated with granitoids), permit a reconstruction of the collision between the Amazonia craton’s passive (i.e., without active volcanoes) margin and the Alto Paraguay craton’s active margin (now partially covered by the Paraná basin).