Mesozoic extension controlling the Southern Alps thrust front geometry under the Po Plain, Italy: Insights from sandbox models

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 2084-2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Ravaglia ◽  
Silvio Seno ◽  
Giovanni Toscani ◽  
Roberto Fantoni
Keyword(s):  
Po Plain ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Monegato ◽  
Maria Eliana Poli

AbstractResults of stratigraphic and morphotectonic analyses on fluvial terraces at the outlet of the Meduna valley in the eastern Southern Alps are used to investigate on the tectonics and paleoclimate. The Meduna valley, prone to destructive earthquakes, belongs to the front of the eastern Southern Alps, a south-verging fold and thrust belt in evolution from the Middle Miocene to the present, constructed by ENE–WSW striking, SSE-verging medium to low-angle thrusts, gradually propagating in the Venetian–Friulian plain. In the study area, located south of the Periadriatic thrust, the main structural element is the ENE–WSW striking Maniago–M. Jouf thrust system. Seven depositional units, ranging in age from Pliocene to Holocene, and a hierarchy of four numbered terrace complexes were identified. Stratigraphic and geometric relationships between sedimentary units, basal surfaces and terraces allow the reconstruction of the chronology of the depositional events. The study shows that the valley configuration has been shaped during the Pliocene–Quaternary with long-lasting steady intervals, interspaced with periodic tectonic pulses of the thrust front of the eastern Southern Alps. The most recent pulse related to the Maniago thrust shows an upper Pleistocene–Holocene slip rate of about 0.6 mm/yr.


2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Muttoni ◽  
Cesare Ravazzi ◽  
Marzia Breda ◽  
Roberta Pini ◽  
Carlo Laj ◽  
...  

AbstractWe applied magnetostratigraphy and mammal biostratigraphy to date climate-sensitive pollen cycles and lithostratigraphic units of the Pliocene–Pleistocene Leffe sedimentary succession from the Southern Alps, Italy. The Leffe section was correlated to additional sections (Casnigo, Fornaci di Ranica, and Pianengo) to construct a stratigraphic network along a common fluviatile system (the Serio River) sourced in the Southern Alps and flowing southward into the Po River Basin. We obtained a coherent scenario of climate variability for the last ∼ 2 Myr. At Leffe, lacustrine deposition commenced during the Olduvai Normal Subchron (1.94–1.78 Ma) and lasted up to a chronologic level compatible with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 22 (0.87 Ma). Pollen analysis revealed that climate varied cyclically from warm-temperate to cool during this time interval, but never as cold as during glacial intervals. At around MIS 22, climate cooled globally. Gravels, attributed to high-energy braided river systems fed locally by alluvial fans, prograded from the Serio River catchment area over the Leffe Basin and toward the Po Plain in response to a generalized event of vegetation withdrawal and enhanced physical erosion. At this time, Alpine valley glaciers reached their first maximum southward expansion with glacier fronts located at only ∼ 5 km upstream from Leffe.


2014 ◽  
Vol 119 (10) ◽  
pp. 7701-7721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz A. Livio ◽  
Andrea Berlusconi ◽  
Andrea Zerboni ◽  
Luca Trombino ◽  
Giancanio Sileo ◽  
...  

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