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The "mid"-Cretaceous carbonate succession of the Apulia Carbonate Platform cropping out in northern Murge area (Apulia, southern Italy) is composed of shallow-water carbonate rocks and is over 400 m in thickness. This paper focuses on the lithofacies analysis of this carbonate succession, its paleoenvironmental interpretation, and its sequence-chronostratigraphic architecture. Lithofacies analysis permitted to identify deposits which can be grouped into the following three facies belts: (1) terrestrial facies belt formed by: intraclast-supported paleosoils; solution-collapse breccias; (2) restricted facies belt made up of lithofacies deposited in protected peritidal environments;(3) normal-marine facies belt made up of lithofacies formed in moderate-to high-energy subtidal environments. The detailed study both in outcrops and in thin-sections revealed that, at the bed scale, lithofacies are cyclically arranged and form shallowing-upward small-scale depositional sequences comparable to parasequences and/or simple sequences. The following three small-scale sequence types have been distinguished: (1) subtidal sequences mostly made up of lithofacies formed in the normal-marine open subtidal domain; (2) peritidal sequences made up of lithofacies formed in the restricted peritidal domain; (3) peritidal sequences showing a cap formed by paleosoils.Small-scale sequences are not randomly arranged in the compiled succession but form discrete packages, or sets, that alternate in the sedimentary record. The repetition of such small-scale sequence packages in the succession has been the key to recognize large-scale sequences comparable to third-order depositional sequences. Although sedimentological data are often fragmentary due to late dolomitization, four large-scale sequences have been distinguished. The data support a generalized landward-backstepping of facies belts during transgression, which implies a gradual gain of accommodation culminating with the deposition of a package of small-scale sequences formed by normal-marine subtidal deposits. These mark periods of maximum accommodation space and form the maximumXooding zones of large-scale sequences. A gradual seaward progradation of facies belts is recorded during highstand conditions, which implies a gradual loss of accommodation culminating with the deposition of a package of peritidal small-scale sequences capped by paleosoils or by solutioncollapse breccias. The occurrence of terrestrial deposits marks periods of minimum accommodation on the platform and determines the sequence boundary of large-scale sequences. The large-scale sequences identiWed in this study Wt with the main transgressive/regressive cycles published in the sequence-chronostratigraphic chart of European basins. As a consequence, it is interpreted that changes of the sea level recorded at the scale of European basins played an important role in determining the sequence-stratigraphic architecture of the studied succession. In spite of this, the occurrence of solution-collapse breccias, which impli...

Abstract. The first and foremost boundary condition for kinematic reconstructions of the Mediterranean region is the relative motion between Africa and Eurasia, constrained through reconstructions of the Atlantic Ocean. The Adria continental block is in a downgoing plate position relative to the strongly curved central Mediterranean subductionrelated orogens, and forms the foreland of the Apennines, Alps, Dinarides, and Albanides-Hellenides. It is connected to the African plate through the Ionian Basin, likely with Lower Mesozoic oceanic lithosphere. If the relative motion of Adria versus Africa is known, its position relative to Eurasia can be constrained through a plate circuit, thus allowing robust boundary conditions for the reconstruction of the complex kinematic history of the Mediterranean region. Based on kinematic reconstructions for the Neogene motion of Adria versus Africa, as interpreted from the Alps and from Ionian Basin and its surrounding areas, it has been suggested that Adria underwent counterclockwise (ccw) vertical axis rotations ranging from ∼ 0 to 20 • . Here, we provide six new paleomagnetic poles from Adria, derived from the Lower Cretaceous to Upper Miocene carbonatic units of the Apulian peninsula (southern Italy). These, in combination with published poles from the Po Plain (Italy), the Istrian peninsula (Croatia), and the Gargano promontory (Italy), document a post-Eocene 9.8 ± 9.5 • counterclockwise vertical axis rotation of Adria. Our results do not show evidence of significant Africa-Adria rotation between the Early Cretaceous and Eocene. Models based on reconstructions of the Alps, invoking 17 • ccw rotation, and based on the Ionian Basin, invoking 2 • ccw rotation, are both permitted within the documented rotation range, yet are mutually exclusive. This apparent enigma could possibly be solved only if one or more of the following conditions are satisfied: (i) Neogene shortening in the western Alps has been significantly underestimated (by as much as 150 km); (ii) Neogene extension in the Ionian Basin has been significantly underestimated (by as much as 420 km); and/or (iii) a major sinistral strike-slip zone has decoupled northern and southern Adria in Neogene time. Here we present five alternative reconstructions of Adria at 20 Ma, highlighting the kinematic uncertainties, and satisfying the inferred rotation pattern from this study and/or from previously proposed kinematic reconstructions.

This paper presents the results of a sedimentological study performed to characterize the 'Bosco Pantano di Policoro e Costa Ionica Foce Sinni' coastal system, in Basilicata (southern Italy), as part of the PROVIDUNE LIFE Project. The study was focused on the morpho-sedimentological characterization of both the emerged and submerged sectors of the beach system developed along a 3.5 km-long segment of the Ionian coast. A multitemporal comparison of historical aerial photos of the studied coastline concerning the last 100 years was executed. A geomorphological survey was carried out along 36 topographic profiles (each up to 200-m long); these were coupled with bathymetric profiles, reaching a depth of 213 m. Both topographic and bathymetric profiles were measured on three occasions (July, October, December 2010). Textural and compositional analyses of sediments were also performed. The results of this study were synthesized in a series of maps illustrating a schematic geological outline of the study area, a reconstruction of the Sinni river course and shoreline changes from 1908 to 2010 (1:2,400 scale), significant topographic (1:1,300 scale) and bathymetric (1:5,000 scale) profiles, three bathymetric charts (1:31,000 scale) and morpho-sedimentological features of both the coastal and nearshore sectors (1:15,000 scale). This study provides a geological background that is crucial for any intervention planning, as well as for any coastal zone management projects. The results should be also used in order to protect coastal habitats, which is the ultimate goal of the LIFE project.

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