interestingly, these massive granite rocks that exist in rio de janeiro and niteróiwere thus formed  deep in the interior crust of the earth,  underground at a depth of at least 25 kilometers - they did not 'emerge' to their current locations above sea-level until much later, when gondwana fractured about 65 million years ago, during what is known as the mesozoic era.

geologists estimate that pão de açúcarand other granite slopes are approximately 560 million years old. during the mesozoic era, the present-day africa and south america separated to form the atlantic ocean - mountain ridges were created in this process, as they took with them large portions of the earth's outer crust.