Newly identified active faults in the Pollino seismic gap, southern Italy, and their seismotectonic significance

Brozzetti, Francesco; Cirillo, Daniele; Nardis, Rita de; Cardinali, Mauro; Lavecchia, Giusy; Orecchio, B.; Presti, Debora; Totaro, Cristina

doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2016.10.005

Cited by 40 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The Pollino‐Mercure area is clearly seismically active though it seems to be particularly prone to intense low‐magnitude earthquake swarms (Chiarabba et al, ; Guerra et al, ). The latest one lasted more than a decade, from 1998 to 2015, and activated an area ~40 km along strike, yet it delivered a relatively low Mmax of 5.6 that caused only modest damage (e.g., Brozzetti et al, ; Brozzetti, Cirillo, De Nardis, et al, ; De Gori et al, ; Guerra et al, , ). This swarm started in the N‐NW Mercure Basin, gradually shifted to the SE, and waned in the central highland without reaching the southeastern flank of the massif, where thrust faulting has been active at least into the middle Pleistocene (section ).…”

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This extension is expected to involve these upper‐plate units, but not the underlying Apulian foreland and may therefore generally increase upward in the thrust stack. Normal faults highly oblique to the NW trend of the Apennines (sometimes referred to as “anti‐Apenninic”) are distributed over the entire Pollino Massif (Figure ) and at least some are late Quaternary active (Brozzetti, Cirillo, De Nardis, et al, ; Ferranti et al, ). Distinct sets of NNE striking normal faults are well developed on both hanging‐wall and footwall sides of the Raganello thrust fault system, yet none appear to offset branches of the thrust faults.…”

Section: The Youngest Exposed Apenninic Thrust Faultmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several authors have related these faults to regional strike‐slip tectonics (Marra, ; Monaco et al, ; Schiattarella et al, ; Turco et al, ). More recent work based on detailed earthquake and field data, however, recognizes the Mercure Basin as an exceptionally young, but otherwise typical Apenninic extensional basin bordered by a NW striking normal fault (Brozzetti et al, ; Brozzetti, Cirillo, De Nardis, et al, ; Giaccio et al, ; Mazzoli et al, ).…”

Section: The Mercure Normal‐fault Basin: An Inverted Former Thrust‐mamentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Culmination of an Oblique Time‐Transgressive Arc Continent Collision: The Pollino Massif Between Calabria and the Southern Apennines, Italy

Filice

Seeber

2019

Tectonics

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The Pollino Massif is the most southeastern outcrop of the Apennine core. It marks the transition between Apenninic shortening and extension, respectively, SE and NW of the massif and is also the cusp of a southeastward plunge that characterizes the submerged Apennines. The SE limit of NE‐SW extension merges with the east limit of Tyrrhenian extension in Calabria. This strategic position is expected to transition southeastward in the progressive oblique collision of the Calabrian forearc and Apulia. We test this hypothesis using published results and new field data. The time‐transgressive emergence of basins on the Apennine thrust wedge is quantitatively consistent with the ESE rollback of the Calabrian arc. Specifically, a thrust‐normal slip reversal on a SW dipping fault is responsible for the tectonic collapse that lead to the Mercure Basin along strike NW of the Pollino Massif and to an east‐to‐west reversal of drainage. This reversal is timed by an intermediate stage of trapped internal drainage with Mid‐Pleistocene lacustrine sedimentation, but it may young to SE as the normal displacement on the border fault decreases gradually to SE and vanishes near the apex of the massif. On the SE side of the massif, contractional tectonics persists at least into the Mid‐Pleistocene and likely later, while NE‐SW extension is absent. Prominent normal faults in that area accommodate range‐parallel extension and are coupled with the thrust faults. The combination of longitudinal extension with a counterclockwise rotation of hanging‐wall units and thrust directivity can account for the final setting in the Apennines.

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Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Youngest Exposed Apenninic Thrust Faultmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Mercure Normal‐fault Basin: An Inverted Former Thrust‐mamentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Culmination of an Oblique Time‐Transgressive Arc Continent Collision: The Pollino Massif Between Calabria and the Southern Apennines, Italy

Filice

Seeber

2019

Tectonics

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“…Generalized geology and fault traces adapted after Geological Map of Italy, 1:100.000 scale, sheet n. 221, Castrovillari. Active fault traces after Ferranti et al (), DISS, WG () and Brozzetti et al (). Faults labels as in Figure .…”

Section: Background Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Boxes are epicenters of M > 4.5 historical (blue) and instrumental (red) earthquakes scaled according to M derived from the CPTI15 database (Rovida et al, ). Active faults (red solid or dashed lines) compiled from various sources (as summarized in Brozzetti et al, ; Ferranti, Palano, et al, ; Ferranti, Burrato, et al, ): MF = Mercure Fault; CF = Castrovillari Fault; WPF = Western Pollino Fault; EPF = Eastern Pollino Fault; STSF = Satanasso Fault; AMF = Amendolara Fault; RF = Rossano Fault; SF = Sybaris Fault. Dashed boxes are the modeled seismogenic sources: MS = Mercure Source; CS = Castrovillari Source; EPS = Eastern Pollino Source; STSS = Satanasso Source; AMS = Amendolara Source; RS = Rossano Source; the solid line associated to each box is the surface projection of the source plane.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speleoseismological Constraints on Ground Shaking Threshold and Seismogenic Sources in the Pollino Range (Calabria, Southern Italy)

Ferranti¹,

Martinelli

Valentini

et al. 2019

JGR Solid Earth

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Speleoseismological research carried out in the Pollino Range (Calabria, southern Italy), an area of alleged seismic gap in the active extensional belt running along the Southern Apennines, has placed constraints on the recurrence of M > 6 earthquakes, on the expected ground shaking threshold and on definition of seismogenic sources in the region. Radiometric (U-Th, AMS-14 C, and bulk-14 C) dating of before and after deformation layers from collapsed or tilted cave speleothems indicates that six speleoseismic events have occurred in the area during the last~42 ka, with a mean recurrence of~5.6 ka. Based on the in situ measured geometry and laboratory determined mechanical properties of speleothems and using an ad hoc seismogenic source model for northern Calabria, which involved both normal and strike-slip faults, we evaluate the seismic hazard at the cave sites. The numerical models to compute the ground horizontal acceleration threshold for speleothem failure was tested against intact and currently growing stalactites. The inferred age of these stalactites calibrated using established average speleothem growth rates of 0.3-1.2 cm/ka, ranges from~0.7 to~10 ka, with most of them younger than~5.6 ka. Results show that the~0.8-to 1.0-g peak ground acceleration threshold estimated for collapsed speleothems every 5.6 ka was achieved during strong (M > 6) and close (epicentral distance < 12 km) earthquakes. Considering a mean speleoseismic event recurrence of 5.6 ka and that no speleoseismic shaking has occurred in the last 5.5 ka, the probability of occurrence of an M > 6 event in the area in the next few centuries is quite high.Plain Language Summary Seismic shaking can cause collapse or tilt of cave speleothems (stalactites and stalagmites) and dating the calcite layers immediately after and before the deformation provides the age of unknown prehistorical earthquakes. By dating collapsed and tilted speleothems from the Pollino Range (Calabria, southern Italy), we built a catalog of six speleoseismic events that occurred in the last~42 ka in the area. We defined a seismic hazard model for the cave sites using known or newly proposed seismic sources. The model was tested against an estimate of the vulnerability to seismic shaking for several unbroken and currently forming stalactites based on their geometry (slender speleothems are more vulnerable) and their mechanical properties measured in laboratory. Results indicate that a peak ground acceleration threshold of~1 g for speleothem collapse because of strong (M > 6) and close (distance <12 km from the main seismogenic sources) is reached every 5.6 ka and is in agreement with the age of unbroken speleothems (<10 ka, mostly <5.6 ka). Considering a mean speleoseismic event recurrence of 5.6 ka and that no speleoseismic shaking has occurred in the last 5.5 ka, an M > 6 event in the area is pending in the next few centuries.

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Regional Seismotectonic Zonation of Hydrocarbon Fields in Active Thrust Belts: A Case Study from Italy

Lavecchia

Nardis

Cirillo

et al. 2021

NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security

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Newly identified active faults in the Pollino seismic gap, southern Italy, and their seismotectonic significance

Cited by 40 publications

References 46 publications

The Culmination of an Oblique Time‐Transgressive Arc Continent Collision: The Pollino Massif Between Calabria and the Southern Apennines, Italy

The Culmination of an Oblique Time‐Transgressive Arc Continent Collision: The Pollino Massif Between Calabria and the Southern Apennines, Italy

Speleoseismological Constraints on Ground Shaking Threshold and Seismogenic Sources in the Pollino Range (Calabria, Southern Italy)

Regional Seismotectonic Zonation of Hydrocarbon Fields in Active Thrust Belts: A Case Study from Italy

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