Il terremoto di Messina del 1908 in un modello sismotettonico della Sicilia settentrionale e del Basso Tirreno.

Deep structure and tectonic setting of a left-lateral plate boundary: The Motagua-Polochic fault systems in Eastern Guatemala.

The Palermo (Sicily) seismic cluster of September 2002, in the seismotectonic framework of the Tyrrhenian Sea-Sicily border area

The northern coast of Sicily and its offshore area represent a hinge zone between a sector of the Tyrrhenian
 Basin, characterized by the strongest crustal thinning, and the sector of the Sicilian belt which has emerged. This
 hinge zone is part of a wider W-E trending right-lateral shear zone, which has been affecting the Maghrebian
 Chain units since the Pliocene. Seismological and structural data have been used to evaluate the seismotectonic
 behavior of the area investigated here. Seismological analysis was performed on a data set of about 2100 seismic
 events which occurred between January 1988 and October 2002 in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. This paper
 focuses…

Geotectonic elements structural constraints and current problems for a kinematic recontruction of the Caribbean Plate Margins during the Cretaceous

Constraints and current problems for the Caribbean Plate margins evolution: the main results of the Italian-Caribbean research group (IGCP 433)

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

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

The Motagua- Polochic fault zone, in Guatemala

New seismological, structural and marine geology constraints for a seismotectonic model of the hinge zone between northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian

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

Abstract The coastal sector of Sant’Agata di Militello (north-eastern Sicily) is characterized by a flight of raised Middle-Upper Pleistocene marine terraces occurring at different heights with respect to present sea level. In particular, the geomorphological survey and the analysis of stereo-pairs of aerial photographs allowed to recognize at least five main orders of well preserved Quaternary surfaces and relative deposits mostly located at the hanging wall and at the footwall of the Pleistocene northwest-dipping Capo d’Orlando normal fault, which controlled the geomorphological evolution of the coastal area. The marine terraces show an overall good morphological continuity and are formed…

The southern margin of the Caribbean Plate in Venezuela: tectono-magmatic setting of the ophiolitic units and kinematic evolution

Abstract The southern Caribbean Plate margin in Venezuela consists of a W–E elongated deformed belt, composed of several tectonic units dismembered along the northern part of the South America continental Plate since the Late Cretaceous. The present review, based on petrology and tectono-magmatic significance of each unit, makes it possible to define the main geotectonic elements and to reconstruct the paleogeographic domains from Late Jurassic to Tertiary: (a) Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB) proto-Caribbean oceanic basin (Loma de Hierro Unit); (b) oceanic plateau (Dutch and Venezuelan Islands basement); (c) rifted continental margin (Cordillera de La Costa and Caucagua–El Tinaco Units) with …

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

Tectono-sedimentary constraints to the Oligocene-to-Miocene evolution of the Peloritani thrust belt (NE Sicily)

Abstract The Peloritani thrust belt belongs to the southern sector of the Calabrian Arc and is formed by a set of south-verging tectonic units, including crystalline basement and sedimentary cover (from the top: Aspromonte U.; Mela U.; Mandanici U.; Fondachelli U.; Longi-Taormina U.), piled up starting from Late Oligocene. At least two main terrigenous clastic formations lie with complicated relationships on top of the previous units: the Frazzano Fm (Oligocene) and the Stilo-Capo d'Orlando Fm (Late Oligocene?–Early Miocene), as syn-to-post-tectonic deposits. These clastic deposits have different characteristics, in space and time, representing or flysch-like sequences involved in several t…

Neutron tomography for archaeological investigations

Within the last decade neutron tomography and radiography significantly gained importance. Especially its application in non-destructive testing for industrial components can be underlined. A good example is the automotive and aviation industry, where a high contrast for the used lubricants and adhesive materials is required. In contrast to X-rays, neutrons are able to penetrate thick layers of metals and provide on the other hand a high sensitivity to hydrogen containing materials. In recent years, a large number of applications in other fields like biology, medicine, geology and especially archaeology have been reported. Here the potential of neutron tomography for investigations on archa…

A mathematical approach to model diffusion properties of sedimentary rocks relevant to Sicily cultural heritage.

Petrological and structural significance of the Santa Elena-Nicoya ophiolitic complex in Costa Rica and geodynamic implications

Detailed structural and petrological investigations were carried out on the Santa Elena-Nicoya ophiolitic complex in Costa Rica, which is represented by a classic association of mantle tectonites (Santa Elena Peninsula), a cumulitic gabbroic-plagiogranite sequence, and basaltic volcanics and sills (Matapalo and Esperanza Units of the Nicoya Peninsula), with discontinuous radiolarian covers. Despite biostratigraphically different ages (Late Jurassic for Matapalo and Mid-Late Cretaceous for Esperanza) in both units, the major and trace element data, Sr-Nd isotope systematics, and mineral phase crystallization order show identical tholeiitic fractionation trends, where the marked Fe-Ti enrichm…

Sismicità recente nella Sicilia nord orientale e relazioni con la distribuzione della deformazione superficiale.

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

Physical-mathematical advances to pollution vulnerability evaluation of aquifer systems in coastal areas of Sicily.

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

Tethyan vs. Cordilleran ophiolites: a reappraisal of distintctive tectono-magmatic features of supra-subduction complexes in relation to the subduction mode. Tecthonophysics,

Abstract Supra-subduction zone (SSZ) ophiolites deserve special attention because they represent fundamental markers of intraoceanic convergence and generation of new lithosphere above subduction zones. Moreover, owing to their structural characteristics and location in the overriding plate, these complexes are far better represented and preserved than Mid-Ocean-Ridge-Basalt (MORB) ophiolites in orogenic belts. In terms of their structure, tectonics, and magmatic features, SSZ ophiolites may be classified in two main types: (1) “Tethyan complexes” (such as those of the Albanide-Hellenide belt), which mostly consist of complete and extensive volcanic, dyke, plutonic, and mantle sections with…

An integrated approach to investigate the seismotectonics of northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian

Abstract This paper deals with a comparison among recent structure and seismicity in the hinge zone between northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian, corresponding to both emerged and submerged northern portion of the Maghrebian chain. This hinge zone is part of a wider W–E trending right-lateral shear zone, mainly characterized by both a synthetic NW-SE/W–E oriented, and antithetic left-lateral N–S/NE-SW fault systems, which has been affecting the tectonic edifice, since the Pliocene. The inland structures have been mapped using aerial-photo interpretation, geological mapping and mesostructural analysis to reconstruct the stress regime in the study area. On the contrary, the offshore struct…

Geometry and Structure of the Eastern Polochic and Motagua trasform fault systems in Eastern Guatemala

The reconstruction of deformational history in Northern Sicilian Maghrebides and South-Western Calabrian Arc.

GEOLOGIA DE LAS MARGENES DE LA PLACA DEL CARIBE: GENERALIDADES EN GUATEMALA, COSTA RICA, LA ESPAÑOLA Y RESULTADOS PRELIMINARES DEL ANALISIS DE UNA TRANSVERSAL EN LA CORDILLERA DE LA COSTA DE VENEZUELA

The Caribbean Plate margins are constituted by deformed belts built up since the Cretaceous in acompressional and strike-slip stress field, which allowed overthrusting of the Caribbean crust onto the Pacific,North and South American Plates.The Caribbean borders include Jurassic-Cretaceous ophiolitic units (Great Antilles, Venezuela, Costa Rica,Guatemala, etc.), composed by mantle peridotites, gabbros, volcanic and sedimentary covers, which have beendeformed in at least two ductile penetrative phases and were often metamorphosed in the prehnite-pumpelleyite,green and blue schist, amphibolite, and in places eclogite facies. These units may present part of a subductioncomplex or are an accreti…

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

Esempi di strutture nel Settore Meridionale dell'Arco Calabro (M.ti Peloritani-Sicilia) per una ricostruzione dell'ordine sequenziale delle deformazioni.

The north-western boundaries of the Caribbean and Scotia Arcs: Structural and tectonic analogies

Vincoli geologico-strutturali per un modello sismotettonico in condizioni di defomazione non coassiale, nell’area del Tirreno meridionale-Sicilia settentrionale

New seismological and geological-structural contributions to the support of a seismotectonic model of the hinge area between northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian

Relationships between seismicity and tectonic in northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian: some important open problems.

Tectono-metamorphic history of the Duarte Terrane (Jarabacoa area, Hispaniola Isl.): Insights on the tectonic evolution of the northern rim of the Caribbean Oceanic Plateau.

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

The Caribbean Plate current problems: an example for evolution of small plates

Shear Zones in the Caribbean Plate margins: insights for a tectonic reconstruction

A contribution to a seismotectonic model of the hinge zone between northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian by some seismological and structural constraints

An integrated research on the hinge zone between northern Sicily and its Tyrrhenian off-shore has been carried out, by means of structural, seismological and statistical analyses. The main structural features of the area are represented by both NWSE to W–E striking right-lateral and N–S to NE-SW striking leftlateral fault systems, responsible of uplifting (restraining) and subsiding (releasing) zones. Within this hinge zone the seismicity is mainly located between 10 and 20 km of depth and clustered according to the orientation of the outcropping fault systems. The brittle strain partitioning related to a right-lateral simple shear zone has been reconstructed in the onshore sector, while in…

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

The Motagua belt in Guatemala: from the suture to the fault zone.

Neutron tomography for archaeological investigations

Schema sismotettonico preliminare della zona di cerniera tra Sicilia settentrionale e Basso Tirreno.

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 …

High-Pressure Belts of Central Guatemala: the Motagua Suture and the Chuacus Complex.