A new desertification map of Sicily

Altitude and spatial distribution of the MIS 5.5 highstand marker in Italy: relation with active tectonic processes.32nd International Geological Congress. Scientific Session abstracts (part 1) – 135, Florence 20-28, Agosto, 2004

Contrasting patterns of late quaternary tectonic uplift around the coastline of Sicily

Warunki depozycji przybrzeżnych utworów dolnego pleistocenu wyspy Favignana

polacca

La sezione di Pizzo Sant'Otiero (Petralia Sottana - Madonie) Geosito peculiare per l'evoluzione medio-triassica dell'area Centro-Mediterranea

Deformation history during chain building deduced by outcrop structural analysis: The case of the Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt (Central Mediterranean)

Abstract The Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt is located in the central Mediterranean area, and it represents the south-eastern arcuate segment of the Apennine-Maghrebide orogen. The tectonic evolution of the Sicilian belt is documented after outcrop analysis of small-scale structural features carried out throughout the region. Results are consistent with the following four main deformation stages having affected the study area, from the oldest to the youngest: (i) multilayer weakening; (ii) folding-and-thrusting, (iii) extension, and (iv) renewed thrusting. The first deformation stage included three different substages (layer-parallel shortening, bed-parallel simple shear and fold nucleation)…

The Palermo earthquake of 6th September 2002 in the seismotectonic framework of the Tyrrhenian sea-Sicily border

Large-scale structural pattern as the result of the interplay between compression and extension during chain building: the case of the Sicily belt (central Mediterranean)

Enucleazione e crescita di faglie trascorrenti nei grainstone carbonatici pleistocenici dell’isola di Favignana (Isole Egadi, Sicilia).

Soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in Pleistocene calcarenites of Favignana island (Sicily, Italy)

The integration of surface and subsurface stratigraphic data with HVSR measures for studies of seismic microzonation: the case of Oliveri (ME)

Because of its high seismic hazard the urban area of Oliveri has been subject of a study on seismic microzonation at first level (OPCM 3907/2010). The urban area develops on a large coastal plain made of Late Pleistocene and Holocene mixed fluvial/marine sediments, that mainly consist of silty sands and gravels. The eastern part of this plain is dominated by the alluvial deposits of the Elicona torrent. The coastal and alluvial sediments overlap a complexly deformed substrate made of Hercynian metamorphites (Aspromonte unit), the Capo d’Orlando Flysch, the Antisicilide Argille Scagliose and Pleistocene clays and calcarenites. This area is affected by high uplift rates as recently estimated …

Influence of the Plio-Pleistocene tectonics on the evolution of the Purgatorio polje (north-western Sicily)

The evolution of large landforms such as polje are related in most cases to geological events affecting a specific areal context and/or to climatic events which, in combination with the tectonics, affect the karst base level, in a more or less pronounced manner depending on the proximity of limestone karst mountains to the coastline. The genesis of these aforementioned forms depends primarily on structural and lithological factors, their evolution is instead controlled by tectonic and climaticeustatic factors in the reliefs close to the coast. In the inland, due to the distance from the coast, the effects of the latter factors on the karstification process could be less, or very bland, in r…

Syn-thrusting extensional tectonics in Sicily belt

A MESOZOIC PALEOMARGIN in WESTERN SICILY, its TERTIARY EVOLUTION and its PRESENT-DAY SEISMOGENETIC POTENTIAL

Implications of fault reactivation and structural inheritance in the cenozoic tectonic evolution of Italy. IGC 32.

The Palermo earthquake of 6th september 2002 in the framework of the Tyrrhenian sea seismicity. 32nd International Geological Congress. Scientific Session abstracts (part 2) - 1314. Florence 20-28, Agosto, 2004

Stratigraphic and structural relationships between Meso-Cenozoic Lagonegro basin and coeval carbonate platforms in southern Apennines, Italy

Abstract Stratigraphic studies and facies analysis integrated with a new geological and structural survey of the Meso-Cenozoic units outcropping in the Campania–Lucania Apennines, southern Italy, allowed us to restore the palaeogeographic pattern and the tectonic evolution of the chain during Oligo-Miocene times. The southern Apennines are a N150°-striking and NE-verging fold-and-thrust belt mainly derived from the deformation of the African–Apulian passive margin. Four wide belts with different features have been recognized in the chain area. From east to west the following units outcrop: (a) successions characterized by basinal to marginal facies, ranging in age from Cretaceous to Miocene…

Hydraulic properties of fault zones in porous carbonates, examples from central and southern Italy

We present the results of in situ permeability measurements performed, using a portable field permeameter, on normal and strike-slip fault zones that crosscut high-porosity carbonate grainstones. The measurement sites expose in the Cretaceous Orfento Formation of the Majella Mountain (Abruzzo, Italy), and the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Favignana Island (Sicily, Italy). Nine small-displacement, compactive shear banding-based fault zones have been tested in the field. The fault offset ranges between 10 and 200 centimeters. The acquired permeability data indicate a two orders of magnitude decrease of porosity and permeability from the host rock to the cataclastic fault cores. A clear de…

Gravity-driven stratal pattern in late orogenic extensional setting: an example from north-eastern Sicily

A regional-scale discontinuity in western Sicily revealed by a multidisciplinary approach: A new piece for understanding the geodynamic puzzle of the southern Mediterranean

The results of an integrated stratigraphic, structural, geophysical, and geochemical study reveal the presence of a crustal discontinuity in western Sicily that, at present, runs roughly N-S along a band from San Vito Lo Capo to Sciacca (SVCS). The boundary between the two zones of this discontinuity is nearly orthogonal to the main thrust propagation of the Sicilian thrust-and-fold belt. The different Permian to Tertiary sedimentary evolution recorded by the two zones appears related to this discontinuity, with thick carbonate platforms in the western sector facing deep-water successions in the eastern one. The presence of Upper Triassic reefs, huge megabreccias bodies, and widespread subm…

Groundwater resources assessment of the Sicilian region, Italy

Multi-scale properties of strike-slip faults corss-cutting the Pleistocene carbonate grainstones of Favignana Island (NW Sicily, Italy)

Landforms evolution in collisional-dominated settings: the case of northern Sicily (Central Mediterranean

Faults role in geological processes. Repeated changing of activity mode and magnitude fron basin formation to mountain belt staking: the case of the Sicilian Chain (central Mediterranean)

Carta geologica del versante meridionale delle Madonie Occidentali

A stalactite record of four relative sea-level highstands during the Middle Pleistocene Transition

International audience; Ice-sheet and sea-level fluctuations during the Early and Middle Pleistocene are as yet poorly understood. A stalactite from a karst cave in North West Sicily (Italy) provides the first evidence of four marine inundations that correspond to relative sea-level highstands at the time of the Middle Pleistocene Transition. The speleothem is located ∼97 m above mean sea level as result of Quaternary uplift. Its section reveals three marine hiatuses and a coral overgrowth that fixes the age of final marine ingression at 1.124 ± 0.2, thus making this speleothem the oldest stalactite with marine hiatuses ever studied to date. Scleractinian coral species witness light-limited…

The influence of inherited passive-margin extensional faults during collision mountain building: examples from the Apennine-Maghrebide system, Italy. 32nd International Geological Congress. Scientific Session abstracts (part 1) - 83. Florence 20-28, Agosto, 2004

Tectonic evolution of the Sicilian Thrust System (central Mediterranean)

The Sicilian Thrust System (STS) is a south-verging (Africa-verging) fold-and-thrust belt including a Mesozoic-Paleogene sedimentary sequence. This thrust stack owes its origin to the deformation of pre-orogenic strata deposited in different palaeogeographic domains belonging to passive margins of the African plate. The STS was deformed during the Neogene, following the closure of the Tethys Ocean and the continental collision between the Sardo-Corso Block and the North Africa margins. The thrust pile was detached from the underlying basement during the Miocene-Pleistocene. The regional-scale structural setting recognized allows us to reconstruct the tectonic evolution of the STS as follows…

Deducing large scale listric normal fault geometries from analysis of minor structures

some morphological effects related to a non-uniform uplifting of crustal bloks in Northern Sicily (Central Mediterranean

Seismotectonics of North-Western Sicily and the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). 32nd International Geological Congress. Scientific Session abstracts (part 1) - 771. Florence 20-28, Agosto, 2004

The runoff map of Sicily

Deformazioni attive in Sicilia Centrale: L'Esempio del vulcanismo sedimentario di Caltanissetta

La vulnerabilità alla desertificazione della Sicilia

Evoluzione tettonica mesozoica-terziaria della Sicilia centro-settentrionale

Integration of HVSR measures and stratigraphic constraints for seismic microzonation studies: the case of Oliveri (ME)

Abstract. Because of its high seismic hazard the urban area of Oliveri has been subject of first level seismic microzonation. The town develops on a large coastal plain made of mixed fluvial/marine sediments, overlapping a complexly deformed substrate. In order to identify points on the area probably suffering relevant site effects and define a preliminary Vs subsurface model for the first level of microzonation, we performed 23 HVSR measurements. A clustering technique of continuous signals has been used to optimize the calculation of the HVSR curves. 42 reliable peaks of the H/V spectra in the frequency range 0.6–10 Hz have been identified. A second clustering technique has been applied t…

From compression to exstension during the Sicily chain building

A regional-scale discontinuity in western Sicily revealed by a multidisciplinary approach: A new piece for understanding the geodynamic puzzle of the southern Mediterranean

The results of an integrated stratigraphic, structural, geophysical, and geochemical study reveal the presence of a crustal discontinuity in western Sicily that, at present, runs roughly N-S along a band from San Vito Lo Capo to Sciacca. The boundary between the two zones of this discontinuity is nearly orthogonal to the main thrust propagation of the Sicilian thrust-and-fold belt. The different Permian to Tertiary sedimentary evolution recorded by the two zones appears related to this discontinuity, with thick carbonate platforms in the western sector facing deepwater successions in the eastern one. The presence of Upper Triassic reefs, huge megabreccia bodies, and widespread submarine vol…

Deformation mechanism and hydraulic properties of normal and strike-slip fault zones in porous carbonates outcropping in central and southern Italy.

Deformation of porous carbonate grainstones takes generally place by compactive shear banding, which initially produce single bands that may evolve during incremental strain into zones of multiple bands and, eventually, fault zones with discrete slip surfaces. The several processes associated to increased deformation are recorded in the aforementioned structural elements. In fact, they are characterized by a different texture, porosity, dimensional attributes (length, thickness, displacement). Fault zones are characterized by inner fault cores made of cataclastic material surrounded by thicker damage zones including single bands and zones of bands. In this work, we present the results of in…

large scale structural patterne as the result of the interplay between compression and extension during chain building: the case of the Sicily belt (central Mediterranean)

Large-scale neoteconic deformations in Northern Sicily producing crustal blocks uplift and tilting

Neotectonic uplift and crustal blocks tilting in Northern Sicily (central Mediterranean)

Foglio 619, Santa Margherita di Belice

Lower pleistocene deposits in east part of the Favignana island, Sicily, Italy

Una ricostruzione dell' ordine sequenziale delle deformazioni nel margine settentrionale della Sicilia e implicazioni sismotettoniche.

Fracture stratigraphy and oil first migration in Triassic shales, Favignana Island, western Sicily, Italy

This study aims at evaluating the control exerted by fracture stratigraphy and diagenetic processes on oil first migration through an outcropping, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession. The present work included results of sedimentological, paleontological, mineralogical, petrographic, structural, and microstructural analyses carried out on organic-rich shales exposed at the Favignana Island of Sicily, Italy. The analyses focus on Upper Triassic yellowish siltstones and greyish laminated dolomitic limestones, which form a 10's of m-thick succession exposed along the westernmost portion of the Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt. The studied succession deposited in a coastal lagoon associated t…

Strutture deformative sindeposizionali nelle calcareniti Pleistoceniche del settore orientale dell'Isola di Favignana (Sicilia, Italia)

Vulnerability map of the Nebrodi Mts Area (Sicily)

Neotectonic uplift and tilting of crustal blocks in Northern Sicily

La Sicilia settentrionale è caratterizzata da un’intensa attività sismica che è espressione di deformazioni attive. In questo settore dell’Isola affiora il nucleo della catena neogenica delle Magrebidi occidentali, che è sottoposto ad intenso sollevamento durante il Plio-Pleistocene. Le deformazioni più recenti sono, in gran parte, rappresentate da sistemi di faglie estensionali e trascorrenti. Il tasso di sollevamento non è uniforme, così come suggerisce la differente elevazione dei depositi di questo periodo. Essi affiorano lungo il settore costiero settentrionale e la loro quota decresce complessivamente dall’estremità nord-est a quella nord-ovest della Sicilia. Le deformazioni più recen…

Repeated activity of Mesozoic basin boundary fault-system in north-western Sicily

Hydrogeological model of the central-eastern sector of Sicily

Stima della pericolosità potenziale al dissesto idrogeologico nella provincia di Messina: valutazione preliminare

Fault role in geological processes. Repeated changing of activity mode and magnitude from basin formation to mountain belt staking: the case of the Sicilian chain (central Mediterranean)

Middle Triassic (Ladinian) deep-water sediments in Sicily: New findings from the Madonie Mountains

A section of carbonate megabreccias grading upward to deep-water Daonella limestones is described from the locality of Sant’Otiero, near Petralia Sottana, in the Madonie Mountains (Sicily). The megabreccia mainly consists of neritic elements containing dasycladalean algae (Diplopora annulatissima Pia) along with benthic foraminifers and problematics. The overlying calcilutitic strata are characterized by lumachella intercalations containing the bivalve Daonella tyrolensis Mojsisovics suggesting an early Late Ladinian (Protrachyceras longobardicum ammonoid zone) age. We informally name the Daonella limestone as the calcare di Sant’Otiero (Sant’Otiero limestone). The Daonella limestones along…

GIS based landslide hazard assessment at regional scale in Sicily (central mediterranean)

Some morfologiacal effects related to a non uniform uplifting of crustal blocks in Northern Sicily (central Mediterranean)

Preliminary results of fault-related permeability structures associated to the Scicli-Ragusa fault segments, Hyblean Plateau, Sicily

Nella zona di Ragusa (Plateau Ibleo, Sicilia sud-orientale) la presenza di bitume all’interno di rocce carbonatiche di età oligo-miocenica, caratterizzate da una porosità primaria oggi compresa tra 0 e 10% (Formazione Ragusa, permette di osservare il ruolo esercitato da faglie e fratture nella circolazione degli idrocarburi. Con l’obiettivo quindi di effettuare studi mirati alla caratterizzazione petrofisica delle diverse tipologie di faglie e fratture affioranti, è stato condotto uno studio di terreno preliminare, che ha permesso la definizione dell’assetto geologico-strutturale della porzione occidentale del Plateau Ibleo, lungo il sistema di faglie denominato Scicli-Ragusa. Inoltre, sull…

Evoluzione tettonica mesozoico-terziaria della Sicilia centrosettentrionale

Ecological geological maps: GIS-based evaluation of the Geo-Ecological Quality Index (GEQUI) in Sicily (Central Mediterranean)

Active faults and inferred seismic sources in the S. Vito Lo Capo peninsula, north-western sicily, Italy

Integration of stratigraphic data with HVSR measures for studies of seismic microzonation: the case of Oliveri (ME)

The seismic microzoning is a technique of analysis of a territory which aims to recognize, at a small scale, the local geological and geomorphologic conditions that may significantly affect the characteristics of the seismic motion, generating stress on structures that could produce permanent and critical effects. In other words, this technique has the objective to predict and evaluate possible site effects as a result of an earthquake. The first phase of the seismic microzoning is the detailed partition of the territory in homogeneous areas with respect to the expected behavior of soils during an earthquake. The seismic micro-zoning is a tool for prevention and reduction of seismic risk pa…

Deducing large scale-listric normel faults geometries from analysis of minor structures

The role of inversion in the sicilian-maghrebides thrust belt during its mesozoic-to-recent tectonic history

The Palermo earthquake of 6th September 2002 in the framework of the Tyrrhenian sea seismicity

Probable root structures and associated trace fossils from the Lower Pleistocene calcarenites of favignana island, southern italy: dilemmas of interpretation

Two types of large, branched structures from the Lower Pleistocene (Calabrian) high-energy calcarenites of Favignana Island are described: Faviradixus robustus gen. et sp. nov. and Egadiradixus rectibrachiatus gen. et sp. nov. They may be interpreted as root structures of large plants, trees and trees or shrubs, respectively. The former taxon co-occurs with the marine animal trace fossils Ophiomorpha nodosa , Ophiomorpha isp., Thalassinoides isp. and Beaconites isp. The interpretation as root structures although tentative is probable and can be related to short emergence episodes for the formation of E . rectibrachiatus or to longer emergence, responsible for the discontinuity at the base o…

The Argille Varicolori Unit of Lucania (Italy): a record offscraping and gravity sliding in the Mesozoic-Tertiary Lagonegro Basin, southern Apennines

Detailed geological mapping and new stratigraphic and structural data collected in the Lucania area of the southern Apennines allowed us to assess the deformation history of 11 Monte-Corleto Perticara zone, in the High Agri Valley (Lucanian Apennines, southern Italy) where red and green shales (known as Argille Varicolori or Argille scagliose) crop out. Our observations suggest that: (1) 'chaotic' facies within the Argille Varicolori may be attributed to a broken formation generated by overthrusting of Apenninic Platform units onto already deformed Lagonegro basin strata; (2) gravity sliding phenomena at the thrust front enhanced the development of debris flow and the emplacement of olistos…

GIS-based seismic shaking slope vulnerability map of Sicily (Central Mediterranean

The effects of post-orogenic extension on different scales: an example from the Apennine-Maghrebide fold-and-thrust belt, SW Sicily

Many structures produced under one single deformation regime, namely extensional, contractional or strike-slip, exhibit remarkable geometrical analogies when analysed at different scales. By contrast, field examples that illustrate the scale effects on structures resulting from superimposed deformations, which were produced under different tectonic regimes, are rare. Yet the change from contraction to extension is known to occur often in the most thickened portions of the continental crust. The Apennine–Maghrebide fold-and-thrust belt of Sicily shows many examples of post-orogenic extensional deformations. Composite structures, resulting from late normal faults that offset folds and thrusts…

Contribution to constraits the structural model of Sicily

Deducing the sequence of deformations during chain building from the analysis of minor structures: the case of the sicily belt (central Mediterranean).

Deducing the sequence of deformations during chain building from the analisys of minor structures: the case of the Sicily belt (Central Mediterranean)

Preliminary results of a multi-scale structural analisys in an analogue carbonate reservoir (Hyblean Plateau, Sicily, Italy)

With the aim of studying the multi-scale fault architecture and permeability in hydrocarbon-rich porous carbonate rocks, we are currently involved in a project focused on the structural analysis of fractured and faulted platform-to-ramp carbonates cropping out in the Hyblean Plateau (Sicily, Italy). The Hyblean Plateau is part of the Maghrebian foreland and forms the northern portion of the African plate. The plateau is a NE-oriented structural high crosscut by a large-scale N10°-20°E oriented strike-slip fault system, named Scicli-Ragusa, which was affected by right-lateral kinematics during the Upper Miocene-Lower Pliocene. Some authors documented a recent activity of the Scicli-Ragusa fa…

Late orogenic extension in the Peloritani fold-and-thrust belt (Sicily)

Growth processes, dimensional parameters and scaling relationships of two conjugate sets of compactive shear bands in porous carbonate grainstones, Favignana Island, Italy

Abstract Three main sets of deformation bands are identified in the Lower Pleistocene carbonate grainstones of Favignana Island (Italy). A bedding-parallel set is interpreted to contain compaction bands, based on the lack of evidence for shear. The other two sets are oriented at a high-angle to bedding, forming a conjugate pair comprised of compactive strike-slip shear bands. In this study, we focus on the compactive shear bands documenting their development, as well as analyzing their dimensional parameters and scaling relationships. Single compactive shear bands are thin, tabular zones with porosity less than the surrounding host rocks, and have thicknesses and displacements on the order …

GIS-based seismic shaking slope vulnerability map of Sicily (central Mediterranen)

Formation mechanisms of Neptunian dikes in the Jurassic carbonates of Monte Maranfusa (western Sicily)

Younger sediment infilling open fissures exposed on the sea floor are defined as neptunian dikes. These are peculiar features of carbonate platform successions deposited along the plate margins bounding the western Tethys during the Late Triassic time. During middle-Early Jurassic, a large part of these carbonate platforms were drowned, and became submerged plateaux covered by pelagic sediments during Jurassic (“Rosso Ammonitico”) and Cretaceous times (“Scaglia”). In western Sicily, several Neptunian dikes crop out (Monte Kumeta, Rocca Busambra, Monte Maranfusa, Monte Magaggiaro, etc.). They cut across mainly the carbonate sediments of the Inici Formation and in some cases the pelagic limes…

Madonie Geopark - Calendario 2009

Le Madonie costituiscono da oltre un secolo una delle aree più interessanti per la Geologia della Sicilia. I rilievi montuosi di questo territorio hanno registrato negli strati rocciosi l'evoluzione geologicha e biologica di un intervallo temporale di oltre 200 milioni di anni. Numerosi Geologi e Paleontologi hanno condotto in que'area ricerche fondamentali per comprendere l'origine non solo di questi rilievi, ma dell'intera catena montuosa che si estende dagli Appennini alle Maghrebidi del Nord Africa. La buona esposizione delle successioni rocciose, che offrono una inesauribile gamma di esempi per la didattica delle Scienze Geologiche , unitamente alla bellezza dei paesaggi, hanno fatto d…