PARAN PLATEAU

lava plateau, one of the world's largest, lying mostly in Rio Grande do Sul and So Paulo states, southern Brazil. Its formations of solidified sheets of lava rock (diabase) also appear in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. Where the diabase is exposed at the surface, it weathers into a well-drained, dark purple soil known as terra roxa, famous as a producer of coffee. Other crops grown there include feijo (beans), corn (maize), rice, cotton, and potatoes. The plateau is dissected by rivers, between which the surface is flat-topped.