This work critically reviews the Eocene–Oligocene source-to-sink systems accumulating volcanogenic sequences in the basins around the Alps. Through the years, these volcanogenic sequences have been correlated to the plutonic bodies along the Periadriatic Fault System, the main tectonic lineament running from West to East within the axis of the belt. Starting from the large amounts of data present in literature, for the first time we present an integrated 4D model on the evolution of the sediment pathways that once connected the magmatic sources to the basins. The magmatic systems started to develop during the Eocene in the Alps, supplying detritus to the Adriatic Foredeep. The progradation of volcanogenic sequences in the Northern Alpine Foreland Basin is subsequent and probably was favoured by the migration of the magmatic systems to the North and to the West. At around 30 Ma, the Northern Apennine Foredeep also was fed by large volcanogenic inputs, but the palinspastic reconstruction of the Adriatic Foredeep, together with stratigraphic and petrographic data, allows us to safely exclude the Alps as volcanogenic sources. Beyond the regional case, this review underlines the importance of a solid stratigraphic approach in the reconstruction of the source-to-sink system evolution of any basin.

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The interpretation of eruptive mechanisms accumulating ancient submarine volcaniclastic sequences is still extremely challenging, particularly when no spatial nor temporal constraints are identifiable. The present work reviews petrographic results gained during the last few decades on three different Paleogene Formations accumulated around the Alpine and Apennine Mountain belts, discussing how their detritus could have been formed and moved from the volcanic centers to the depo-centers, taking into account the volcanic mechanisms which are at the base of the production, transportation and accumulation of volcaniclastic detritus. In doing this, we reconsider the classical diagrams of Folk and Gazzi–Dickinson, rediscussing their significance on the basis of how orogenic volcanism delivers detritus to the environment. In addition, this work highlights the need of the scientific community for gaining new petrographic data on modern sedimentary systems to better constrain interpretative criteria for the petrographic study of ancient volcano–sedimentary sequences.

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