A geo-statistical predictive approach to the Habitat mapping of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems along the northern Sicily inner continental shelf (southern Mediterranean)

The main aim of this work is to statistically predict the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) along the continental shelf regions of the northern Sicilian margin (southern Mediterranean). The considered habitats, already mapped in the area on a qualitative base, are the Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa seagrasses and the Coralligenous biocenosis. Posidonia oceanica and Coralligenous are considered as VMEs owing to their value as environmental indicators and biodiversity hotspots in coastal marine areas. For this reason, several actions were aimed in recent years to their complete characterization and mapping. The study area is located in the continental shelf of the n…

Syn-sedimentary tectonics during early Pliocene time in the northern Madonie Mountains (Sicily

Tettonica sinsedimentaria del Pliocene inferiore nei Monti delle Madonie settentrionali (Sicilia). L'analisi stratigrafico-strutturale condotta in un piccolo bacino infra-pliocenico nelle Madonie settentrionali (Lascari-Capo Plaja) permette di descrivere un evento tettonico sin-sedimentario. La sinclinale EW in cui si sviluppa il bacino sintettonico appartiene ad un sistema di pieghe nord vergenti che deformano un piano di sovrascorrimento più antico (Langhiano-Serravalliano). La geometria di crescita che caratterizza il pattern stratale dei depositi pliocenici e la discordanza angolare alla base suggeriscono che la nucleazione di queste strutture compressionali si possa essere realizzata a…

Extensive field mapping in Sicily in the frame of the CARG Project

Rilievi geologici finalizzati alla compilazione di carte geologiche in Sicilia nord-occidentale (Progetto CARG) Vengono descritti i risultati del rilevamento di numerosi fogli geologici a scala 1:50.000 ubicati nella Sicilia settentrionale (dalle Isole Egadi fino ai Monti delle Madonie), eseguito nel quadro del Progetto CARG. I rilievi sul terreno sono stati integrati con i dati di sottosuolo provenienti da profili sismici a riflessione e perforazioni profonde. I risultati ottenuti offrono un quadro a scala regionale dell’assetto stratigrafico-strutturale di uno dei settori più complessi della Catena Siciliano-Maghrebide. Sono state ricostruite le successioni stratigrafiche dei paleodomini …

Habitat mapping of VMEs along the inner shelf regions of the south-western Tyrrhenian margin (southern Mediterranean): a geo-statistical predictive approach

The main aim of this work is to statistically predict the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) along the continental shelf regions of the northern Sicilian margin (southern Mediterranean). The considered habitats, already mapped in the area on a qualitative base, are the Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa seagrasses and the Coralligenous biocenosis. Posidonia oceanica and Coralligenous are considered as VMEs owing to their value as environmental indicators and biodiversity hotspots in coastal marine areas. For this reason, several actions were aimed in recent years to their complete characterization and mapping. The study area is located in the continental shelf of the n…

Constraining the onset and development of "deep-seated" tectonics in the Sicilian thrust belt: field data from northern Sicily

VARIABILITY OF DEPOSITIONAL SETTING ALONG THE NORTH-WESTERN SICILY CONTINENTAL SHELF (ITALY) DURING LATE QUATERNARY: EFFECTS OF SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND TECTONIC EVOLUTION

The geological, geomorphological and sedimentological features of the north-western Sicily continental shelf are here illustrated with the aim to propose a geological model able to explain the Neogene-Quaternary evolution of the Sicilian continental margin in the context of the central Mediterranean region. Above the continental shelf and upper slope the sedimentary succession, showing along the different sectors of the margin considerably variable internal geometry and stratigraphic relationships with the underlying units, is interpreted as a IV order depositional sequence (Late Quaternary Depositional Sequence, LQDS) deposited during the last eustatic change (last 125 ky). The lower bound…

Morpho-sedimentary setting and evolution of Marettimo Valley (Egadi Islands, Sicily) during middle-late Quaternary: interaction between sea level changes and oceanographic circulation

We present morphological and stratigraphic results coming from surveys acquired in a NNW-SSE trending submarine depression (Marettimo Valley) located in the Egadi Islands (western Sicily offshore). In this area the seafloor is characterized by both depositional and erosional features generated under a variety of sedimentary processes. We identified two seismic facies units that are correlatable to: A) the progradation of shallow water (coastal to offshore) deposits during forced-regression sedimentary process, and B) contourite drifts emplaced by geostrophic currents through the Marettimo Valley. This unusual association of very shallow water contourites and shelf margin deposits originates…

Morphological and structural analysis of the Ustica Island offshore (southern Tyrrhenian Sea) for the definition of the marine geological hazard

SEDIMENTARY DYNAMICS OF THE MARETTIMO CONTINENTAL SHELF AND MARETTIMO CHANNEL (EGADI ISLANDS – WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN): ANALYSIS OF DEPOSITIONAL AND EROSIONAL FEATURES.

Sedimentary dynamics of the Marettimo continental shelf and Marettimo Channel (Egadi Island – Western Mediterranean), have been unveiled based on the erosive and depositional features observed at the seafloor. Different morphologic features were recognized through side scan sonar, multibeam and high-resolution seismics, acquired in the framework of national Research Projects (CARG, GebecSud, MaGIC) carried out by the Department of Earth and Marine Science (former Department of Geology and Geodesy) of the University of Palermo. Sediment samples have been also collected and analyzed. The Egadi Islands are part of the NW Sicilian offshore, and belong to the mountain chain that connects the Sic…

New insights on shallow to intermediate crustal structures of the submerged Apenninic-Maghrebian chain (northern Sicily offshore) coming from the re-processing of the CROP M6A seismic reflection profile

Basins at convergent margins: evolution of the Messinian basins developed on top of the Sicilian Fold and Thrust belt

During the Messinian inherited palaeo-topography and ongoing deformation conditioned the depositional environments of the Mediterranean region, already strongly influenced by the effects of the salinity crisis. It occurred mainly in the central region, where seabed at that time is expected to be very uneven and shallower than Western and Eastern Mediterranean. Indeed in this area as from 15 Ma the Sicilian Fold and Thrust Belt (SFTB) was originating, characterized by a multi-stage evolution. Two main shortening events generated and developed at different structural levels (shallow- and deep-seated thrusts following a thin-skinned thrust-model) and at different time intervals, involved mainl…

Decoding the instabilities features along the continental margin of Sicily (central Mediterranean Sea)