Geological, seismological and geodetic evidence of active thrusting and folding south of Mt. Etna (eastern Sicily): Revaluation of “seismic efficiency” of the Sicilian Basal Thrust

Holocene vertical deformation along the coastal sector of Mt. Etna volcano (eastern Sicily, Italy): Implications on the time–space constrains of the volcano lateral sliding

“…This is characterized by maximum uplift rate of about 10 mm/year along the hinge zone, and has been attributed either to gravitational spreading of the volcanic edifice (Catania anticline, Fig. 1, Lundgren et al, 2004;Bonforte et al, 2011) or to tectonic convergence (De Guidi et al, 2013). At the same time, InSar data also revealed that the west and north base of Mt.…”

“…1) deposited on the flexured margin of the foreland Pelagian block (Branca et al, 2011a). This succession is currently deformed by detachment folds related to the recent frontal migration of the thrust belt, as a response to the approximately N-S compressive regional tectonic regime (Bousquet et al, 1987;Labaume et al, 1990;Monaco et al, 1997;Bousquet and Lanzafame, 2004;De Guidi et al, 2013). Since the Middle Pleistocene, contractional structures of the orogen have been coupled with oblique extensional faults along the Ionian offshore.…”

“…Etna edifice, so contractional structures south of Mt. Etna can be interpreted as the detachment response of a shallow thrust migrating within the foredeep deposits at the chain front (Bousquet et al, 1987;Labaume et al, 1990;Monaco et al, 1997;Bousquet and Lanzafame, 2004;De Guidi et al, 2013).…”

The Ionian and Alfeo–Etna fault zones: New segments of an evolving plate boundary in the central Mediterranean Sea?

“…Focal mechanisms indicate a purely reverse mechanism with a NNW-SSE oriented P axis (Billi,et al, 2007;Pondrelli et al, 2006). Geodetic, seismological and geological data (Monaco et al, 1996;Lavecchia et al, 2007;Barreca et al, 2014a;De Guidi et al, 2015) indicate that Nubia-Eurasia convergence is also accommodated by active thrusting and folding across the Sicily chain front (up to 4.5 mm/yr of geodetic shortening).…”

When probabilistic seismic hazard climbs volcanoes: the Mt. Etna case, Italy – Part 1: Model components for sources parameterization

“…It should be noted that this seismicity is strictly related with the continuous fault activity and volcanotectonic dynamics as a whole Solaro et al, 2010). Conversely, seismicity occurring at deeper crustal levels mainly represents purely tectonic regional dynamics due to the current compressive regime at the front of the Sicilian Chain-Foreland (Lavecchia et al, 2007;De Guidi et al, 2015;Scarfì et al, 2016). The most significant seismogenic volume in the deep crust beneath Etna is the one in the northwestern sector of the volcano, with focal depths in the range of 22-30 km.…”