Palaeoseismicity from karst sediments: the “Grotta del Cervo” cave case study (Central Italy)

Postpischl, D.; Agostini, Silvano; Forti, Paolo; Quinif, Yves

doi:10.1016/0040-1951(91)90186-v

Cited by 65 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…1). The preferential orientation of broken speleothems has been considered as seismic-related, and has often been found as concordant with the orientation of the seismogenic causative faults (e.g., Delaby, 2001;Forti, 2001;Postpischl et al, 1991;Kagan et al, 2005;Ferranti et al, 2015).…”

Section: Speleoseismological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This evidence includes broken speleothems and fallen stalactites (e.g., Postpischl et al, 1991;Ferranti et al, 1997;Lemeille et al, 1999;Delaby, 2001;Kagan et al, 2005;Šebela, 2008;Panno et al, 2009;Bábek et al, 2015;Méjean et al, 2015), blocks and ceiling collapses (e.g., Gilli, 1999;Pérez-López et al, 2009), deformed cave sediments and fault displacements (e.g., Gilli et al, 2010;Bábek et al, 2015), and speleothem growth anomalies (e.g., Forti et al, 1981;Forti and Postpischl, 1984;Akgöz and Eren, 2015;Rajendran et al, 2015). Although direct observations of cave damages immediately after an earthquake have rarely been observed, "seismothems" (i.e., speleothems potentially broken, or deformed, by a seismic…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several typical features can be referred to tectonic coseismic shaking (Forti, 2001). The most characteristic is represented by stalagmites cut along sub-horizontal planes, with the upper parts only translated from their original position but still standing upright or toppled and lying on the floor close to their base, accompanied with new-growing stalagmites covering the rupture surface of the stump (e.g., Postpischl et al, 1991;Delaby, 2001;Kagan et al, 2005). The geometries of the fallen part and the stump must match, allowing the reconstruction of the original speleothem.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These observations have to be strengthened by dating in order to find correlations with past earthquakes. To constrain the age of the damaging event it is necessary to date the oldest layer at the base of the regrowth stalagmite and the youngest layer at the tip of the fallen stalagmite (e.g., Postpischl et al, 1991;Forti, 2001;Kagan et al, 2005). Statistical analyses and comparison with other data (e.g., paleoseismological data collected along neighboring seismogenic sources) are crucial to better constrain the age of a paleoearthquake.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A few speleotectonic studies have been conducted in the high seismically active region of the Apennines (Forti and Postpischl, 1984;Postpischl et al, 1991;Ferranti et al, 1997Ferranti et al, , 2015. We performed a geological-structural field study, with a paleoseismological approach, in the Cavallone Cave located within the Maiella Massif, in the eastern Central Apennines (Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Defining a mid-Holocene earthquake through speleoseismological and independent data: implications for the outer Central Apennines (Italy) seismotectonic framework

Domenica

Pizzi

2017

Solid Earth

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Abstract. A speleoseismological study has been conducted in the Cavallone Cave, located in the easternmost carbonate sector of the Central Apennines (Maiella Massif), in a seismically active region interposed between the post-orogenic extensional domain, to the west, and the contractional one, to the east. The occurrence of active "silent normal faults", to the west, close to blind thrusts, to the east, raises critical questions about the seismic hazard for this transitional zone. Large collapses of cave ceilings, fractures, broken speleothems with new re-growing stalagmites on their top, preferential orientation of fallen stalagmites and the absence of thin and long concretions have been observed in many portions of the karst conduit. This may indicate that the cave suffered sudden deformation events likely linked to the occurrence of past strong earthquakes. Radiocarbon dating and, above all, the robust correspondence with other coeval on-fault and off-fault geological data collected in surrounding areas outside the cave, provide important constraints for the individuation of a mid-Holocene paleoearthquake around 4.6-4.8 kyr BP. On the basis of the available paleoseismological data, possible seismogenic sources can be identified with the Sulmona normal fault and other active normal fault segments along its southern prosecution, which recorded synchronous strong paleoevents. Although the correlation between speleotectonic observations and quantitative modeling is disputed, studies on possible effects of earthquake on karstic landforms and features, when corroborated by independent data collected outside caves, can provide a useful contribution in discovering past earthquakes.

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Section: Speleoseismological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%