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A detailed field mapping, coupled with structural analyses and morphological investigation, has been carried out along the northern and western borders of the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily), in order to define the nature and the kinematics of a major Quaternary fault belt. This, here designed as the Scicli Line Fault Belt, is composed of two N50 oriented extensional basins that, linked by a regional N10 trending transfer zone, originated during the Early Pleistocene and experienced, since the Late Quaternary, a positive tectonic inversion. In both the two stages of deformation, the Scicli Line Fault Belt has been characterised by displacement-rate comparable with the relative velocities measured between the distinct plates composing the central Mediterranean region. In the period going from 1.5–1.2 to 0.85 Ma, the fault belt accommodated the entire divergence between Adria and Nubia. At present, the Scicli Line Fault Belt absorbs most of the Nubia–Eurasia convergence, while the western divergent margin of the Adria microplate has jumped to the eastern and the southern margins of the Hyblean Plateau, along the Late Quaternary Siculo–Calabrian Rift Zone. The off-shore prolongation of the two tectonic boundaries of the Hyblean Plateau has been recognised in the Sicily Channel, where they are both interrupted by a WNW-ESE oriented dextral fault. According to our reconstruction, the Hyblean Plateau represents an isolated lithospheric block, whose evolution can be related to the propagation of the western divergent margin of the Adria microplate, accompanied with the southward migration of the triple junction between Eurasia, Nubia and Adria. In this new large-scale kinematic picture, the GPS velocity measured in the Hyblean region, at the permanent site of NOTO, is actually representative of the local kinematics, rather than of the entire African promontory of southern Italy. This implies a correction of previous regional kinematic models based on combination of GPS vectors

Southern Italy is dominated by extensional tectonics that in the Calabrian arc and Eastern Sicily produced the development of the Siculo–Calabrian Rift Zone (SCRZ). This zone is represented by a ≈ 370 km-long fault belt consisting of 10 to 50 km long distinct fault segments which extend both offshore and on land being also responsible of the crustal seismicity of this region. The geological and morphological observations indicate that the active normal faults of the SCRZ are characterized by throw-rates ranging from 0.7 to 3.1 mm/a. They accommodate an almost uniform horizontal extension-rate of about 3.0 mm/a along a WNW–ESE regional extension direction. Based on our field observations and following empirical relationships between magnitude and surface rupture length connections between large crustal earthquakes and distinct fault segments of the SCRZ have been also tentatively tested. Our data indicate moreover that the magnitudes (M) of the historical and instrumental earthquakes are consistent with the estimated values and that the geometry and kinematics of the fault segments and the related different crustal features of the SCRZ control the different seismic behaviours of adjacent portions of the active rift zone.

Southern Italy is dominated by extensional tectonics that in the Calabrian arc and Eastern Sicily produced the development of the Siculo–Calabrian Rift Zone (SCRZ). This zone is represented by a ≈ 370 km-long fault belt consisting of 10 to 50 km long distinct fault segments which extend both offshore and on land being also responsible of the crustal seismicity of this region. The geological and morphological observations indicate that the active normal faults of the SCRZ are characterized by throw-rates ranging from 0.7 to 3.1 mm/a. They accommodate an almost uniform horizontal extension-rate of about 3.0 mm/a along a WNW–ESE regional extension direction. Based on our field observations and following empirical relationships between magnitude and surface rupture length connections between large crustal earthquakes and distinct fault segments of the SCRZ have been also tentatively tested. Our data indicate moreover that the magnitudes (M) of the historical and instrumental earthquakes are consistent with the estimated values and that the geometry and kinematics of the fault segments and the related different crustal features of the SCRZ control the different seismic behaviours of adjacent portions of the active rift zone.

A detailed field mapping, coupled with structural analyses and morphological investigation, has been carried out along the northern and western borders of the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily), in order to define the nature and the kinematics of a major Quaternary fault belt. This, here designed as the Scicli Line Fault Belt, is composed of two N50 oriented extensional basins that, linked by a regional N10 trending transfer zone, originated during the Early Pleistocene and experienced, since the Late Quaternary, a positive tectonic inversion. In both the two stages of deformation, the Scicli Line Fault Belt has been characterised by displacement-rate comparable with the relative velocities measured between the distinct plates composing the central Mediterranean region. In the period going from 1.5–1.2 to 0.85 Ma, the fault belt accommodated the entire divergence between Adria and Nubia. At present, the Scicli Line Fault Belt absorbs most of the Nubia–Eurasia convergence, while the western divergent margin of the Adria microplate has jumped to the eastern and the southern margins of the Hyblean Plateau, along the Late Quaternary Siculo–Calabrian Rift Zone. The off-shore prolongation of the two tectonic boundaries of the Hyblean Plateau has been recognised in the Sicily Channel, where they are both interrupted by a WNW-ESE oriented dextral fault. According to our reconstruction, the Hyblean Plateau represents an isolated lithospheric block, whose evolution can be related to the propagation of the western divergent margin of the Adria microplate, accompanied with the southward migration of the triple junction between Eurasia, Nubia and Adria. In this new large-scale kinematic picture, the GPS velocity measured in the Hyblean region, at the permanent site of NOTO, is actually representative of the local kinematics, rather than of the entire African promontory of southern Italy. This implies a correction of previous regional kinematic models based on combination of GPS vectors