Chemical, physical and mineralogical attributes as markers in the identification of depositional events in the Eastern Northeast of Brazil

Geochemical discontinuities have been used to identify the provenience and degree of sediment alteration from easily mobilized elements during weathering, as well as the most resistant ones such as zircon (Zr) and titanium. Therefore, the aim of this article is to contribute to the interpretation of the origins of depositional landforms in a sector of the Borborema Highlands Piedmont, Eastern Northeast of Brazil, by means of assessing the geochemical signature of sediments. For this purpose, samples were collected in morphostratigraphical sections, and subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major and minor elements by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Morphological and geochemical evidences confirmed the allochthonous character of the sediments from the correlation with previously known autochthonous material. The results suggest the sediments that underlie the geomorphic units were deposited in hillslope and fluvial environments, being later disarticulated of their respective base levels and remobilized. •The chemical compositions of sediments are important in understanding the behavior of evolucionary cycles.•Geochemical markers are based on the seletive removal of "mobile" and "immovable" elements.•The molar ratio Ki and Kr aims to show possible trends in weathering processes.•The geochemical proxies used, it was also possible to infer possible paleoclimatic controls.