Аннотация:SERRA DO M AR The origin of the subparallel mountain systems which compose the coastal Serra do Mar and the inland Serra da Mantiqueira is related to the Upper Cretaceous.These features -distributed along a quite singular continental atlantic border -nave a complex evolution arising controversial questions.The answers to these problems are mainly dependentto the dating of the Japi erosional surface and other younger ones, a study still faced by the small amount of detailed-scale surveys.The scarp domains covered by dense vegetation often impose difficult trail access.Nevertheless, the present knowledge stage allows us to admit that during Tertiary the evolution of the local relief hás affected into a considerable extent the synchronic oceanic phase sediments of the Santos Basin.There is a lot of evidence and proofs that the Serra do Mar hás been developed from a very different geographical position as compared to the existing one.The hypothesis supported by the present authors is a long-term scarp retreat from southeast to northwest due to erosional processes approximately starting at the Santos fault line in the present continental platform.
