Seismotectonics of northeastern Sicily and southern Calabria (Italy): New constraints on the tectonic structures featuring in a crucial sector for the central Mediterranean geodynamics

The Alpine-Mediterranean belt is remarkable because of the strong arcuation of its subduction front and the abundance of extensional basins developed within an overall compressional setting. Both resulted from rapid slab rollback and trench retreat especially in Neogene time, accompanied by upper-plate extension and the opening of the Western Mediterranean basins. The Strait of Sicily is a very interesting geological area in the Western-Central Mediterranean, as it has undergone tectonic extension and opening of a rift zone (Sicily Channel Rift Zone, SCRZ) on the lower plate (Africa) of the subduction zone, marked by the Gela Front and the Calabrian Accretionary Wedge, located south and south-east of Sicily, respectively. Furthermore, the SCRZ is important for understanding and quantifying the independent motion and counter-clockwise rotation of the Adriatic plate in Neogene time (Le Breton et al. 2017). However, the exact timing, tectonic style and amount of deformation along the SCRZ remain unclear.To tackle these questions, we re-evaluate multichannel seismic reflection profiles across the SCRZ (CROP seismic lines M24 and M25), as well as a series of seismic lines correlated with boreholes data from the VIDEPI project (www.videpi.com). Main stratigraphic horizons and tectonic structures are mapped in a 3D database using the MOVE Software (provided by Petex). Preliminary results indicate ~30 km of NE-SW extension through the Pantelleria Rift and onset of syn-rift deposition during the upper Messinian, which could be related with the fast slab retreat of the Calabrian Arc.&#160;References:Le Breton E.,&#160;M.R. Handy, G. Molli and K. Ustaszewski (2017).&#160;Post-20 Ma motion of the Adriatic plate &#8211; new constrains from surrounding orogens and implications for crust-mantle decoupling, Tectonics, doi:10.1002/2016TC004443

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Nuragic Settlement Dynamics

10.30861/9781407357669 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Cezary Namirski

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

East Coast ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Settlement Dynamics ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Bronze Age

The book is a study of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Nuragic settlement dynamics in two selected areas of the east coast Sardinia, placing them in a wider context of Central Mediterranean prehistory. Among the main issues addressed are the relationship between settlement and ritual sites, the use of coastline, and a chronology of settlement.

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Variations of radon concentration and gamma dose rate on tectonic structures in metamorphic rocks and granitoids (Bohemian Massif)

Geoscience Research Reports ◽

10.3140/zpravy.geol.2016.12 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Petra Pacherová ◽

Michal Poňavič ◽

Ivan Barnet

Keyword(s):

Dose Rate ◽

Bohemian Massif ◽

Radon Concentration ◽

Gamma Dose ◽

Gamma Dose Rate ◽

Metamorphic Rocks ◽

Tectonic Structures

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Free Trade before Liberalism

10.1093/oso/9780198791584.003.0009 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Corey Tazzara

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

Early Modern ◽

Free Trade ◽

State Policy ◽

Early Modern Period ◽

Free Trade Zone ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Modern Period ◽

Institutional Variation ◽

Intellectual Legacy

Chapter 8 situates Livorno amidst a larger picture of competition in the central Mediterranean. It analyzes the spread of free ports by considering the two axes along which Italian ports liberalized during the early modern period: hospitality toward merchants and openness toward goods. Despite much institutional variation, a maritime free trade zone was in existence by the mid-eighteenth century. The intellectual legacy of free ports such as Livorno was nonetheless ambivalent. Though some Enlightenment thinkers used free ports to formulate general theories of free trade, others believed they promoted the subjection of state policy to foreign merchants.

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Brokering Trade in the Central Mediterranean

10.1093/oso/9780198791584.003.0007 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Corey Tazzara

Keyword(s):

Central Italy ◽

Competitive Response ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Commercial Development ◽

International Commerce ◽

Exchange Networks ◽

North Central ◽

Autonomous Region ◽

Global Commerce ◽

Quantitative Examination

Chapter 6 offers a quantitative examination of the commercial development of Livorno, showing how it plugged local and regional exchange networks into the currents of global commerce. Livorno was at the epicenter of the reorganization of maritime trade in the Tyrrhenian and throughout the Mediterranean. Despite dense connections between north-central Italy and the free port, however, international commerce did not substantially affect productive relations in the hinterland. North-central Italy remained an autonomous region; rather than a colonial outpost subservient to northern capitalism, Livorno was a large marketplace connecting otherwise distinct economies. The Tuscan city’s success in organizing trade eventually provoked a competitive response by neighboring ports.

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Disembedding the Marketplace

10.1093/oso/9780198791584.003.0006 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Corey Tazzara

Keyword(s):

Economic Policy ◽

Seventeenth Century ◽

Commodity Markets ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Economic Position ◽

The Creation ◽

Free Port

Chapter 5 examines the creation of the classic free port, which taxed only for commercial services. The latter half of the seventeenth century inaugurated an age of conscious experimentation in economic policy. Amidst intensified commercial competition throughout the central Mediterranean, the Medici regime launched a panel of interventions aimed at improving the grand duchy’s economic position. For Livorno, this program culminated in the reform of 1676, which eliminated import/export duties and simplified collection procedures. This reform constituted an important moment in the development of commodity markets and secured Livorno’s role in brokering trade between northwestern Europe, Italy, and the Levant.

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Rescuing Migrants in the Central Mediterranean: The Emergence of a New Civil Humanitarianism at the Maritime Border

American Behavioral Scientist ◽

10.1177/0002764219882976 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 64 (4) ◽

pp. 436-455

Author(s):

Marta Esperti

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Research Methodology ◽

Search And Rescue ◽

International Organization ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

The Social ◽

Social Meanings ◽

Humanitarian Space ◽

First Arrival

The Central Mediterranean is the most deadly body of water in the Mediterranean Sea with at least 15,062 fatalities recorded by International Organization of Migration between 2014 and 2018. This article aims at highlighting the rise of a variety of new civil society actors engaged in the rescue of people undertaking dangerous journeys across the sea in the attempt of reaching the southern European shores. The peculiarity of the humanitarian space at sea and its political relevance are pointed out to illustrate the unfolding of the maritime border management on the Central Mediterranean route and its relation with the activity of the civil society rescue vessels. The theoretical aspiration of the article is to question the role of a proactive civil humanitarianism at sea, discussing the emergence of different political and social meanings around humanitarianism at the EU’s southern maritime border. In recent years, the increasing presence of new citizens-based organizations at sea challenges the nexus between humanitarian and emergency approaches adopted to implement security-oriented policies. This essay draws on the findings of a broader comparative work on a variety of civil society actors engaged in the search and rescue operations on the maritime route between Libya and Europe, focusing in particular on Italy as country of first arrival. The fieldwork covers a period of time going between 2016 and 2018. The research methodology is built on a multisited ethnography, the conduct of semidirective and informal interviews with both state and nonstate actors, and the analysis of various reports unraveling the social and political tensions around rescue at sea on the Central Mediterranean route.

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