Search

This study presents new geological and seismological data that are used to assess the seismic hazard of a sector of the Po Plain (northern Italy), a large alluvial basin hit by two strong earthquakes on May 20 (M-W 6.1) and May 29 (M-W 6.0), 2012. The proposed interpretation is based on high-quality relocation of 5369 earthquakes ('Emilia sequence') and a dense grid of seismic profiles and exploration wells. The analyzed seismicity was recorded by 44 seismic stations, and initially used to calibrate new one-dimensional and three-dimensional local Vp and Vs velocity models for the area. Considering these new models, the initial sparse hypocenters were then relocated in absolute mode and adjusted using the double-difference relative location algorithm. These data define a seismicity that is elongated in the W-NW to E-SE directions. The aftershocks of the May 20 mainshock appear to be distributed on a rupture surface that dips similar to 45 degrees SSW, and the surface projection indicates an area similar to 10 km wide and 23 km long. The aftershocks of the May 29 mainshock followed a steep rupture surface that is well constrained within the investigated volume, whereby the surface projection of the blind source indicates an area similar to 6 km wide and 33 km long. Multichannel seismic profiles highlight the presence of relevant lateral variations in the structural style of the Ferrara folds that developed during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. There is also evidence of a Mesozoic extensional fault system in the Ferrara arc, with faults that in places have been seismically reactivated. These geological and seismological observations suggest that the 2012 Emilia earthquakes were related to ruptures along blind fault surfaces that are not part of the Pliocene-Pleistocene structural system, but are instead related to a deeper system that is itself closely related to re-activation of a Mesozoic extensional fault system. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Palynological studies are considered as an excellent tool for palaeoaltitude estimates as sedimentary basins receive abundant pollen grains from surrounding uplands, especially through riverine detritic inputs. Here, we provide new evidence for estimating the palaeoaltitude of the Northern and Central Apennines (Italy) during the late Neogene (from the late Tortonian to the early Zandean), based on vegetation data derived from pollen analysis of five sections (Trave, Legnagnone, Cava Li Monti, Maccarone and Stirone). The past vegetation changes reflect shifts in the vegetation belts on the nearby massifs. The climate reconstruction realised on these sites, at sea-level, suggests that mean annual temperatures were higher than today at the end of the Neogene. Therefore, the different vegetation belts occurred at higher elevation than at present to compensate for the higher temperatures. The results obtained in our study suggest that the Northern and Central Apennines were uplifted as early as the Tortonian attaining significant minimum altitudes around 1350 m up to 1500 m at the end of the Miocene in the Central part, a minimum altitude around 1900 m during the Messinian and around 2150 m during the early Zandean in the Northern part. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Geophysical studies point to a complex tectonic and geodynamic evolution of the Alboran Basin and Gulf of Cadiz. Tomographic images show strong seismic waves velocity contrasts in the upper mantle. The high velocity anomaly beneath the Alboran Sea recovered by a number of studies is now a well established feature. Several geodynamic reconstructions have been proposed also on the base of these images. We present and elaborate on results coming from a recent tomography study which concentrates on both the Alboran and the adjacent Atlantic region. These new results, while they confirm the existence of the fast anomaly below the Alboran region, also show interesting features of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system below the Atlantic. A high velocity body is imaged roughly below the Horseshoe Abyssal plain down to sub-lithospheric depths. This feature suggests either a possible initiation or relic subduction. Pronounced low velocity anomalies pervade the upper mantle below the Atlantic region and separate the lithospheres of the two regions. We also notice a strong change of the upper mantle velocity structure going from south to north across the Gorringe Bank. This variation in structure could be related to the different evolution in the opening of the central and northern Atlantic oceans.

Along the similar to 500 km long Sicily-Calabria segment of the Nubia-Eurasia plate boundary GPS data highlight a complex, and debated, kinematic pattern. We focus on eastern Sicily, where the style of crustal deformation rapidly changes in the space of few tens of kilometers. In southeastern Sicily, struck by the 1693 M-W similar to 7.4 earthquake, GPS measurements highlight a steep velocity gradient, with similar to 2.4 mm/yr of similar to N-S shortening in similar to 10 km, changing to broader extension (similar to 3 mm/yr in similar to 60 km) in northern Sicily and shortening in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. GPS data and kinematic elastic block models highlight a complex fragmentation of the Sicilian domain into three tectonic blocks, which move independently from Nubia, describing an overall clockwise rotation of this crustal domain with respect to Eurasia. Shortening in southeastern Sicily is associated with a system of high-angle reverse faults resulting from tectonic inversion of extensional faults at the northern tip of the Hyblean plateau. Extension in northern Sicily occurs on a broader deformation belt, developed on the former Kumeta-Alcantara line, extending west of Mount Etna toward the southwestern Tyrrhenian Sea, accommodating the faster rotation of the northeastern Sicily block with respect to central Sicily. Although the seismic potential of inland faults is not negligible, our results strengthen the hypothesis that the Malta escarpment is the likely source of the large 1693 earthquake and tsunami. The observed kinematics appears only subordinately driven by the Nubia-Eurasia convergence and the dynamics of the Mediterranean subduction system is likely playing a major role in governing block motions and active tectonics in Sicily. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In the westernmost Ionian Sea lies a steep, tectonically active marine basin influenced by turbidity currents generated by terrigenous river input from the adjacent mountains and strong tidal currents propagating through the Strait of Messina. Like many young marine rifts, the basin is lined by steep streams draining the uplifting coasts and supplying sediment across narrow shelves. However, unlike many rifts, this basin is semi-enclosed. The present study explores the seabed morphology and sediment structures in this complex environmental setting, based on multibeam sonar, chirp profiler and seismic reflection data collected in 2006. Offshore channels include many that can be directly linked to onshore streams, suggesting that hyperpycnal flows are important for their formation. Near the Strait of Messina in depths shallower than 400 m, the channels are subdued, plausibly explained as an effect of strong tidal currents. The Messina Channel is characterised by abundant mass-wasting features along its outer bends, particularly on the Calabrian side. Coincidence of the channel course with faults suggests that the channel is structurally controlled in places. The chirp profiles generally show only shallow penetration, the evidence for coarse texture being consistent with the steep gradient of the basin that inhibits deposition from turbidity currents. By contrast, some locally discontinuous mounds exhibiting layered sub-bottom reflectors in the chirp profiles are interpreted as modern levee deposits formed from channelised turbidity current overspill. Overall, this semi-enclosed basin shows little evidence of substantial accumulations associated with modern turbidity current activity, any contemporaneous sediment supply evidently bypassing the area to be deposited in the Ionian Trench; as a consequence, this trench should be an archive of local slope failure and flood events.

Despite the clear evidence of active flank dynamics that is affecting the eastern side of Mount Etna, the contribution of tectonic processes has not been yet understood. So far, the various models proposed to explain the observed flank deformation have been based on onshore structural data, coming from the volcanic edifice. The Ionian offshore of Mount Etna has been only recently investigated using multichannel seismic profiles, and offers the opportunity to image the structural features of the substrate of the unstable flank of the volcano. This contribution aims at describing the deformation located offshore Mount Etna using multichannel seismic profiles recently acquired during three seismic surveys. The onshore flank deformation of Mount Etna appears to be laterally confined by two tectonic guidelines, trending roughly E–W, located to the north and south of the deforming flank; the northern guideline, in particular, takes the surface expression of a sharp fault (Pernicana Fault). Though often assumed that these boundary structures continue offshore as linear features, connected to a frontal thrust ramp, the occurrence of this simple offshore structural system has not been imaged. In fact, seismic data show a remarkable degree of structural complexity offshore Mount Etna. The Pernicana Fault, for instance, is not continuing offshore as a sharp feature; rather, the deformation is expressed as ENE–WSW folds located very close to the coastline. It is possible that these tectonic structures might have affected the offshore of Mount Etna before the Pernicana Fault system was developed, less than 15 ka ago. The southern guideline of the collapsing eastern flank of the volcano is poorly expressed onshore, and does not show up offshore; in fact, seismic data indicate that the Catania canyon, a remarkable E–W-trending feature, does not reflect a tectonic control. Seismic interpretation also shows the occurrence of a structural high located just offshore the edifice of Mount Etna. Whereas a complex deformation affects the boundary of this offshore bulge, it shows only limited internal deformation. Part of the topography of the offshore bulge pre-existed the constructional phase of Mount Etna, being an extension of the Hyblean Plateau. Only in the northern part, the bulge is a recent tectonic feature, being composed by Plio-Quaternary strata that were folded before and during the building of Mount Etna. The offshore bulge is bounded by a thrust fault that can be related to the intrusion of the large-scale magmatic body below Mount Etna.

The polarity of subduction in the Corsica–Northern Apennine system is a long-debated issue. Models adopting an original W-dipping subduction and models preferring a flip in the polarity of subduction, from E-dipping to W-dipping present inconsistencies that are mainly due to the 2D approach. A new proposal is presented, using Late Cretaceous to Present-Day kinematic reconstructions of the Central Mediterranean. A wide oceanic embayment is required to the west of the Adriatic Promontory, to account for the Oligocene-Present calcalkaline volcanism and back‐arc extension. This implies that the continental collision that originated the Alps s.s. could not continue SW-ward of Adria. The change in subduction polarity, going from the Alps, to the Apennines, is taken as on original feature since the beginning of convergence. Kinematic reconstructions show that the point where subduction polarity changes moved N-ward along the plate boundary, from Late Cretaceous to Eocene. As a result, areas that previously experienced the continental collision of the Adriatic Promontory were subsequently affected by the oceanic subduction of the Tethyan embayment. This sequence of events caused the collapse of Alpine Corsica and led to the opening of the Balearic back‐arc basin. A similar kinematic evolution is ongoing in Taiwan, where the N-ward subduction of the Philippine Sea plate is progressively substituting the E-ward subduction of the Eurasian plate, causing the collapse of the orogen in northern Taiwan. The slivers of continental basement rocks that are encased within the uppermost nappe in Corsica have been interpreted as remnants of a microplate that collided with Corsica. Plate kinematics offers an alternative explanation, with these basement rocks being derived from the colliding Adriatic promontory during Paleocene–Eocene; the promontory then passed away laterally, allowing the juxtaposition of the Alpine belt of Corsica with the early Apennines.

The Straits of Messina and its surroundings are considered as one of the most tectonically active area of the Mediterranean, but in spite of their hazard potential, modern geophysical data aimed at investigating their hidden structures are lacking. In order to bridge this gap, we carried out a marine multichannel seismic survey primarily aimed at: i) studying the regional fault pattern in the area of the Messina 1908 earthquake; and ii) checking the existence of a potentially seismogenic fault, the Taormina Fault, which many authors locate offshore, along the coast between Taormina and Messina. Our seismic profiles show a great structural complexity within the Messina Straits, with the best imaged faults occurring on the Calabrian side. In particular, a more than 30 km long NW-trending fault located at the SW tip of Calabria is cutting the sea floor. Moreover, our data did not image any extensional fault plane attributable to the Taormina Fault; rather, the whole slope has been tilted east-ward. The geodynamic implication is that extension in south-eastern Sicily, on the Ionian side of the Hyblean Plateau, and extension in southern Calabria and Messina Straits belong to two different tectonic systems and cannot be mechanically linked.

We built a 3D seismic model of the Po Plain and neighboring regions of northern Italy, covering altogether an area about 600 km by 300 km with an approximately 1 km spaced grid. We started by collecting an extensive and diverse set of geological and geophysical data, including seismic reflection and refraction profiles, borehole logs, and available geological information. Major geological boundaries and discontinuities have thus been identified and mapped into the model. We used kriging to interpolate the geographically sparse information into continuous surfaces delimiting geological bodies with laterally varying thickness. Seismic‐wave properties have been assigned to each unit using a rule‐based system and, V P , V S , and ρ derived from other studies. Sedimentary strata, although with varying levels of compaction and hence material properties, may locally reach a thickness of 15 km and give rise to significant effects in seismic‐wave propagation. We have used our new model to compute the seismic response for two recent earthquakes, to test its performance. Results show that the 3D model reproduces the large amplitude and the long duration of shaking seen in the observed waveforms recorded on sediments, whereas paths outside the basin may be well fit by more homogeneous (1D) hard rock structure. We conclude that the new model is suited for simulation of wave propagation, mostly for T >3 s, and may serve well as a constraint for earthquake location and further improvements via body‐ or surface‐wave inversion.

The 1,500-km2 Gela slide and associated debris flow deposits cover most of the Gela foredeep basin (Sicily channel). The head of the slide follows the tip of the arcuate Gela nappe. A basin-wide detachment surface extends from the extensional slide head to a distal, contractional zone.