The History of the Southern Apennines of Italy Preserved in the Geosites Along a Geological Itinerary in the High Agri Valley

Abstract Twenty-one sandstone samples belonging to the intermediate part of Gorgoglione Flysch (GF) dated Middle-Miocene, cropping out in the Southern Apennines (Italy), have been studied to highlight the detritus provenance. Petrographic and chemical composition indicates that the successions consist of feldspatho-quartzose and litho-feldspatho-quartzose arenites interbedded with pelitic and calciclastic layers and reveals a provenance from a basement formed by low- to medium-grade metamorphic rocks with abundant granitoids covered by sedimentary rocks in which a volcanic component was also present. In the Mediterranean area, basements with these characteristics are widespread both in western and southwestern domains. The supply provenance of Gorgoglione Flysch has been better detailed utilizing U–Pb detrital zircon ages recording the geological history of the source rocks. Fifty-eight crystals from six samples of coarse- and fine-grained sandstones have been analysed using the U–Pb isotopic systematic (LA-ICP-MS). They produce 70 concordant zircon ages forming three defined clusters at 672 ± 28 Ma, 458 ± 9 Ma and 297 ± 8 Ma, and four zircon ages corresponding to 24 ± 1 Ma. An evaluation of the entire collected data suggests that the provenance area is better identified in northwestern sectors of the Mediterranean area in which the Sardinia–Corsica (pro-part) block plays a fundamental role.

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Quaternary evolution of the Southern Apennines coastal plains: a review

Geologica Carpathica ◽

10.1515/geoca-2017-0004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 68 (1) ◽

pp. 43-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Nicoletta Santangelo ◽

Paola Romano ◽

Alessandra Ascione ◽

Elda Russo Ermolli

Keyword(s):

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Coastal Plains ◽

Southern Apennines ◽

History Of ◽

Coastal Basins ◽

Campanian Plain ◽

Southwestern Margin ◽

Sele Plain ◽

Back Arc ◽

Late Middle Pleistocene

AbstractThe Quaternary evolution of the main coastal basins located along the southwestern margin of the Southern Apennines has been reconstructed by integrating the huge amount of existing stratigraphical and geomorphological data. The information produced in the last twenty years has shed new light on the recent (late Middle Pleistocene to Present) history of the Campanian and Sele plains or basins. During the early Quaternary, the analysed coastal basins originated as half-grabens in response to opening processes active since the late Tortonian in the southern Tyrrhenian back-arc basin. In some of these basins (e.g. the Campanian Plain), volcanism has also played an important role. In the inner sectors of the coastal basins, the complex interplay between block faulting, sedimentary inputs and glacioeustatic fluctuations gave rise to relative sea-level change and related coastline migrations, leading to the formation of the present-day coastal plains. In the Sele Plain basin, the construction of the present-day landscape mainly resulted from the substantial ceasing of subsidence in the final part of the Middle Pleistocene. Conversely, a strong contribution to the recent evolution of the Campanian Plain has been provided by abundant volcaniclastic aggradation, able to hinder the effect of the vertical motions that occurred in the last 100 ka.

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The Geological Itinerary of Sasso di Castalda: A Journey into the Geological History of the Southern Apennine Thrust-belt (Basilicata, Southern Italy)

Geoheritage ◽

10.1007/s12371-012-0073-1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 47-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Giuseppe Palladino ◽

Giacomo Prosser ◽

Mario Bentivenga

Keyword(s):

Southern Italy ◽

Geological History ◽

Thrust Belt ◽

History Of ◽

Geological Itinerary

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Late Pliocene volcaniclastic products from Southern Apennines: distal witness of early explosive volcanism in the central Tyrrhenian Sea

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s0016756808004512 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 145 (4) ◽

pp. 521-536 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

GIACOMO PROSSER ◽

MARIO BENTIVENGA ◽

MARINELLA A. LAURENZI ◽

ALFREDO CAGGIANELLI ◽

PIERFRANCESCO DELLINO ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Explosive Volcanism ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Tyrrhenian Sea ◽

Density Currents ◽

Southern Apennines ◽

Late Pliocene ◽

Volcanic Material ◽

High K ◽

History Of ◽

Volcaniclastic Rocks

AbstractTwo volcaniclastic successions intercalated in Pliocene basinal clays from the Southern Apennines have been analysed to determine their provenance and their relationship with the geodynamic evolution of the Western Mediterranean. The studied deposits are exclusively made up of ashy pyroclasts, dominated by fresh acidic to intermediate glass, mostly in the form of shards, pumice fragments and groundmass fragments with vitrophyric texture. Crystals include Pl, Opx, Cpx, Hbl and rare Bt. Sedimentological features suggest that the volcanic material accumulated near the basin margin by primary fallout processes and was later remobilized by density currents. 40Ar–39Ar geochronology allowed dating of one succession at 2.24±0.06 Ma, corresponding to the Late Pliocene. Composition of the volcaniclastic material is typical of a transitional high-K calc-alkaline series. The age and chemical composition constrain the provenance of the volcaniclastic rocks from the Southern Tyrrhenian domain. Here, volcanic centres were active during Pliocene time, approximately at the northern end of a volcanic arc formed before the opening of the southernmost part of the sea. This paper shows that a detailed study of volcaniclastic products from the southern Apennines and Calabria can be very useful in collecting new pieces of information on the eruption history of the southern Tyrrhenian domain, since they record additional data not available from the study of exposed volcanic edifices.

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