ALBERT

Description: The Monte Alpi massif is made up of Mesozoic carbonates of the Inner Apulian Platform, and a mixed carbonate-terrigenous sedimentary succession representing the infill of a Messinian foreland basin system. The present work focuses on the comprehension of the growth mechanisms and dimensional properties of the pre-Pliocene Monte Alpi fault network by mean of integrated field and laboratory analyses. The field survey focuses on the exposed Messinian succession of Monte Alpi to assess its textural, compositional and overall stratigraphic properties, and on the structural characterization of the outcropping Early Cretaceous, Early Messinian, and Late Messinian syn-sedimentary faults. 3D geological reconstruction of the study area is then obtained, by mean of the Gocad software, on the basis of both surface and subsurface geological data. Both stratigraphic horizons and high-angle faults pertaining to the Monte Alpi Unit are built in the 3D geological model. As a result, detailed throw profiles are computed for each fault belonging to the Monte Alpi network. Subsequently, the dimensional properties of the individual faults are calculated. Data obtained after this work are discussed in terms of fault growth and timing of deformation, and reported in a conceptual model representing the tectonic evolution of the Messinian foreland basin system. Data suggest that the linkage of originally isolated fault segments took place during the earliest stages of foreland basin formation, whereas laterally restricted faults were active during its subsequent development. This deformation controlled half-graben depocenters that modified their orientation through time due to activity of an orthogonal fault system.

Description: This paper shows the main results of a multidisciplinary study performed along the southeastern sector of the Agri Valley in Basilicata (Southern Italy), where Cenozoic units, crucial for constraining the progressive evolution of the Southern Apennine thrust and fold belt and, more in general, the geodynamic evolution of the Mediterranean area are widely exposed. In particular, we aimed at understanding the stratigraphic and tectonic setting of deep-sea, thrust-top Cenozoic units exposed immediately to north of Montemurro, between Costa Molina and Monte dell’Agresto. In the previous works different units, showing similar sedimentological characteristics but uncertain age attribution, have been reported in the study area. In our study, we focussed on the Albidona Formation, pertaining to the Liguride realm, which shows most significant uncertainties regarding the age and the stratigraphic setting. The study was based on a detailed field survey which led to a new geological map of the area. This was supported by new stratigraphic, biostratigraphic and structural analyses. Biostratigraphic analysis provided an age not older than the upper Ypresian and not younger than the early Priabonian. Recognition of marker stratigraphic horizons strongly helped in the understanding of the stratigraphy of the area. The study allowed a complete revision of the stratigraphy of the outcropping Cenozoic units, the recognition of until now unknown tectonic structures and the correlation between surface and subsurface geology.