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

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…

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…

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

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…