Gravity Modeling in Fold-Thrust Belts: An Example from the Peloritani Mountains, Southern Italy

Laboratory measurement of density values of representative crystalline rocks of the Peloritani Mountains, southern Italy, constrain the interpretation of gravity data collected along a profile from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Mt. Etna volcano. These data contribute detail to crustal models of this section of the southern Italy orogenic system. Regional gravity modeling, constrained by new petrophysical data, yields the following conclusions: (1) existence of a southward-transported nappe belt of a more internal domain; (2) interpretation of the Taormina tectonic line as the morphological evidence of the thrusting of the Kabilo-Calabrian terrane over the Apenninian-Maghrebian units; (3) reconstruction of the Moho geometry along the geotransect, confirming the abrupt change in depth just starting from the Tyrrhenian coastal zone of Sicily.