Ionian marine terraces of southern Italy: Insights into the Quaternary tectonic evolution of the area

Abstract

[1] New detailed morphotectonic analyses of a well exposed flight of marine terraces along the Ionian coast of southern Italy has been carried out. The area represents a key transect for investigating the middlelate Quaternary evolution of the Southern Apennines chain-foredeep-foreland geodynamic system. A major result of the research is the reconstruction of a virtually complete 3D geometry of the marine surfaces along a coastal sector of ca. 70 km, which (1) documents the occurrence of 18 paleo-shorelines and (2) provides evidence for a strong regional uplift affecting the investigated area. Following a systematic critical review of literature relating to geochronological data, integrated with a morphogenetic model based on the interaction between tectonic uplift and eustatic sea level changes, the different terraces are correlated to as many highstand sea level peaks, dating the highest/ oldest terrace to ca. 600 ka (MIS 15). The vertical and horizontal distribution of the terraces show a general convergence of the paleo-shorelines toward NNE, which indicates a decreasing trend in differential uplift in that direction ranging from almost 2 mm/a in the southwestern sector to about 0.2 mm/a in the northeastern sector. Detailed mapping and 3D reconstruction also emphasize the partitioning of the area into three distinct sectors characterized by different tilting rates. This behavior is likely caused by the combined role and activity of three major tectonic structures working at different scales and rates including (1) the reactivation of an out-of-sequence thrust, (2) sliding along the basal detachment of the external Apennines wedge and (3) a lithospheric-scale duplexing (crustal or deeper). As a major conclusion, within the external sector of the Southern Apennines chain and its foredeep, regional shortening and a contractional tectonic regime persisted throughout the whole Quaternary and it is probably still active. Citation: Caputo, R., M. Bianca, and R. D'Onofrio (2010), Ionian marine terraces of southern Italy: Insights into the Quaternary tectonic evolution of the area, Tectonics, 29, TC4005,

Middle-Late Pleistocene marine terraces and fault activity in the Sant’Agata di Militello coastal area (north-eastern Sicily)

“…The OSL ages measured on the marine sediments sampled along the Sant'Agata Militello coastal area are consistent with the normal evolutionary model of a terraced sequence, moving from the highest to the lowest elevations (Westaway, 1993;Armijo et al, 1996;Bosi et al, 1996;Bianca et al, 1999;Caputo et al, 2010). These determinations provide some new chronological constraints useful to correlate the sequence of sampled terraces with the last main MIS of the global eustatic curve.…”

“…They are bounded landwards by inner edges, sometimes accompanied by Lithodomus hole bands and/or other biological sea level markers that have been mapped with an error margin in elevation of ±5 m depending on erosional and depositional processes following their emergence. This error is negligible in estimating the long-term Quaternary uplift-rates involving time spans of tens to hundreds of thousands of years (Caputo et al, 2010). However, it implies that the elevations of the palaeoshorelines reported in this paper are to be considered as mean values, useful for estimating long-term late Quaternary uplift rates (Table 1).…”

Geological controls on the geometry of incised‐valley fills: Insights from a global dataset of late‐Quaternary examples

“…In addition, local tectonic uplift might be experienced by shelves on active margins (Ishihara & Sugai, ), which would induce fluvial incision (Holbrook & Schumm, ; Holbrook et al., ; Tropeano et al., ; Ishihara et al., , ; Ishihara & Sugai, ). For example, the Metaponto coastal plain in Italy (case study 77 in Table ) has been experiencing regional uplift since the Middle Pleistocene (Doglioni et al., ; Patacca & Scandone, ), at rates varying from 0·3 to 0·9 mm year −1 as estimated from dated stranded marine terraces (Cilumbriello et al., , ; Caputo et al., ; Tropeano et al., ). Three incised‐valley fills developed beneath the Metaponto coastal plain are characterized by larger than average thickness, despite being associated with smaller than average drainage areas, as illustrated in Fig.…”

GIS-based predictive models for regional-scale landslide susceptibility assessment and risk mapping along road corridors

“…The flat and hilly areas are predominant, respectively about 63% and 30%, while the mountain ones occupy 7% of the whole region. From a geological point of view (Figure 1(b)), the study area is mainly characterized by a regressive, generally coarsening upward, sedimentary body consisting of sand and conglomerate levels unconformably overlying the Pliocene -Middle Pleistocene Subapennine Clay Formation, belonging to Bradanic trough Caputo et al 2010). The eastern sector consists of the same formation overlying the calcareous structure of the Murgia Plateau, belonging to Apulian foreland.…”