An active oblique-contractional belt at the transition between the Southern Apennines and Calabrian Arc: The Amendolara Ridge, Ionian Sea, Italy
High-resolution, single-channel seismic and multibeam bathymetry data collected at the Amendolara Ridge, a key submarine area marking the junction between the Apennine collision belt and the Calabrian subduction forearc, reveal active deformation in a supposedly stable crustal sector. New data, integrated with existing multichannel seismic profiles calibrated with oil-exploratory wells, show that middle to late Pleistocene sediments are deformed in growth folds above blind oblique-reverse faults that bound a regional pop-up. Data analysis indicates that ~10 to 20 km long banks that top the ~80 km long, NW-SE trending ridge are structural culminations above en echelon fault segments. Numeric…
Seismic sources and stress transfer interaction among axial normal faults and external thrust fronts in the Northern Apennines (Italy): A working hypothesis based on the 1916–1920 time–space cluster of earthquakes
In this study we analyse the main potential seismic sources in some axial and frontal sectors of the Northern Apennines, in Italy. This region was hit by a peculiar series of earthquakes that started in 1916 on the external thrust fronts near Rimini. Later, in 1917-1921, seismicity (up to Mw approximate to 6.5) shifted into the axial zone and clearly migrated north-westward, along the belt of active normal faults. The collection of fault-slip data focused on the active normal faults potentially involved in this earthquake series. The acquired data allowed us to better characterize the geometry and kinematics of the faults. In a few instances, the installation of local seismic networks durin…