Geomorphological and Morphometric Analyses of the Catanzaro Trough (Central Calabrian Arc, Southern Italy): Seismotectonic Implications

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the landscape response to the recent activity of the faults affecting the Catanzaro Trough, a seismically active structural basin that developed transversally to the Calabrian Arc (Southern Italy) during the Neogene–Quaternary. We carried out a geomorphological and morphometric study of the drainage networks and basins intercepted by the Quaternary faults that were previously mapped through remote and field analyses. The study confirms the occurrence north of the Catanzaro Trough of a WNW–ESE-oriented left-lateral strike-slip fault system (here named the South Sila Piccola Fault System), which accommodates the differential SE-ward migration of the upper crustal sectors of the Calabrian Arc, and of a south-dipping WNW–ESE-oriented oblique fault system (the Lamezia-Catanzaro Fault System), characterized by a predominant normal component of movement. The latter delimits the Catanzaro Trough and accommodates the transition from a strike-slip regime to an extensional regime in the south. Inside the Catanzaro Trough, we detected for the first time a NNE–SSW-trending, WNW-dipping fault system (here named the Caraffa Fault System). This system contributes to accommodate the extension that occurs orthogonally to the southern sector of the Calabrian Arc. The geomorphological and morphometric analysis revealed the recent activity of these fault systems. In particular, the activity of the Caraffa Fault System is evidenced by the differential uplift and tilting of discrete areas inside the basin. Given its location, geometry, and kinematics, the Caraffa Fault System could be responsible for the occurrence of large historical earthquakes.

Structure and Morphology of an Active Conjugate Relay Zone, Messina Strait, Southern Italy

“…Irregular retreat of the subduction zone has produced tear faults in the subducting slab that promote mantle upwelling, decompression melting, basaltic volcanism, and NW-striking strike-slip faults that partition the crust into zones of upper-plate extension and oblique transtensional deformation (Fig. 2) (Faccenna et al, 2004(Faccenna et al, , 2011Gallais et al, 2013;Scarfì et al, 2018;Maesano et al, 2020;Jolivet et al, 2021;Pirrotta et al, 2021Pirrotta et al, , 2022Sgroi et al, 2021).…”

“…350-km long belt of seismically active, north-to NE-striking normal faults in Calabria and eastern Sicily that accommodate NW-SE extension in the upper plate of the Ionian subduction zone (Figs. 2, 4) (Valensise and Pantosti, 1992;Westaway, 1993;Tortorici et al, 1995Tortorici et al, , 2003Monaco et al, 1997;Monaco and Tortorici, 2000;Jacques et al, 2001;Catalano et al, 2003Catalano et al, , 2008Palano et al, 2012Palano et al, , 2017Brutto et al, 2016;Presti et al, 2019;Pirrotta et al, 2021Pirrotta et al, , 2022. Well preserved normal fault scarps, marine terraces, and river channel profiles record fault offset and footwall uplift at rates of ~ 0.2 -2 mm/yr in Sicily (Tortorici et al, 1995;Catalano and De Guidi, 2003a;Catalano et al, 2008;Pavano et al, 2016;Meschis et al, 2022a) and southern Calabria (Montenat et al, 1991;Monaco et al, 1997;Catalano et al, 2003;Antonioli et al, 2006Antonioli et al, , 2021Roberts et al, 2013;Roda-Boluda and Whittaker, 2017;Quye-Sawyer et al, 2021;Meschis et al, 2022a;2022b).…”

Structure and morphology of an active conjugate relay zone, Messina Strait, southern Italy

“…The Siculo‐Calabrian Rift Zone is a ca. 350‐km long belt of seismically active, north to NE‐striking normal faults in Calabria and eastern Sicily that accommodate NW‐SE extension in the upper plate of the Ionian subduction zone (Figures 2 and 4) (Brutto et al, 2016; Catalano et al, 2003, 2008; Jacques et al, 2001; Monaco et al, 1997; Monaco & Tortorici, 2000; Palano et al, 2012, 2017; Pirrotta et al, 2021, 2022; Presti et al, 2019; Tortorici et al, 1995, 2003; Valensise & Pantosti, 1992; Westaway, 1993). Well‐preserved normal fault scarps, marine terraces, river channel profiles and low‐temperature thermochronology record Pleistocene footwall uplift at rates of ca.…”

“…The Calabria-Peloritani terrane is a belt of Palaeozoic to Mesozoic plutonic and metamorphic rocks in southern Calabria and NE Sicily that form a stack of thrust nappes and ophiolite-bearing tectonic units of the Alpine internal zone (Cirrincione et al, 2015;Rossetti et al, 2001;Vitale & Ciarcia, 2013). Irregular retreat of the subduction zone has produced tear faults in the subducting slab that promote mantle upwelling, decompression melting, basaltic volcanism and NW-striking strike-slip faults that partition the crust into zones of upper-plate extension and oblique transtensional deformation (Figure 2) (Faccenna et al, 2004(Faccenna et al, , 2011Gallais et al, 2013;Jolivet et al, 2021;Maesano et al, 2020;Pirrotta et al, 2021Pirrotta et al, , 2022Scarfì et al, 2018;Sgroi et al, 2021).…”

“…Pellaro paleo-high; RC, Reggio Calabria; and SCRZ, Siculo-Calabrian Rift Zone. Topography is SRTM 1 arc-second DEM downloaded from USGS website (https://earth explo rer.usgs.gov/), bathymetry is 1/16 arc-minute data from EMODnet (https://portal.emodn et-bathy metry.eu/) displayed in QGIS version 3.24. in Calabria and eastern Sicily that accommodate NW-SE extension in the upper plate of the Ionian subduction zone (Figures 2 and 4) (Brutto et al, 2016;Catalano et al, , 2008Jacques et al, 2001;Monaco et al, 1997;Monaco & Tortorici, 2000;Palano et al, 2012Palano et al, , 2017Pirrotta et al, 2021Pirrotta et al, , 2022Presti et al, 2019;Tortorici et al, 1995Tortorici et al, , 2003Valensise & Pantosti, 1992;Westaway, 1993). Well-preserved normal fault scarps, marine terraces, river channel profiles and low-temperature thermochronology record Pleistocene footwall uplift at rates of ca.…”