Thermal maturity of the axial zone of the southern Apennines fold-and-thrust belt (Italy) from multiple organic and inorganic indicators

Terra Nova ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Corrado ◽  
L. Aldega ◽  
P. Di Leo ◽  
C. Giampaolo ◽  
C. Invernizzi ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Vol 131 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1763-1782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Balestra ◽  
Sveva Corrado ◽  
Luca Aldega ◽  
Maurizio Gasparo Morticelli ◽  
Attilio Sulli ◽  
...  

Abstract Temperature-dependent clay mineral assemblages, vitrinite reflectance, and one-dimensional (1-D) thermal and three-dimensional (3-D) geological modeling of a Neogene wedge-top basin in the Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt and its pre-orogenic substratum allowed us to: (1) define the burial history of the sedimentary succession filling the wedge-top basin and its substratum, (2) reconstruct the wedge-top basin geometry, depocenter migration, and sediment provenance through time in the framework of a source-to-sink system, and (3) shed new light into the kinematic evolution of the Apennine-Maghrebian fold-and-thrust belt. The pre-orogenic substratum of the Scillato basin shows an increase in levels of thermal maturity as a function of stratigraphic age that is consistent with maximum burial to 3.5 km in deep diagenetic conditions. In detail, Ro% values range from 0.40% to 0.94%, and random ordered illite-smectite (I-S) first converts to short-range ordered structures and then evolves to long-range ordered structures at the base of the Imerese unit. The wedge-top basin fill experienced shallow burial (∼2 km) and levels of thermal maturity in the immature stage of hydrocarbon generation and early diagenesis. Vitrinite reflectance and mixed-layer I-S values show two populations of authigenic and inherited phases. The indigenous population corresponds to macerals with Ro% values of 0.33%–0.45% and I-S with no preferred sequence in stacking of layers, whereas the reworked group corresponds to macerals with Ro% values of 0.42%–0.47% and short-range ordered I-S with no correlation as a function of depth. Authigenic and reworked components of the Scillato basin fill allowed us to unravel sediment provenance during the Neogene, identifying two main source areas feeding the wedge-top basin (crystalline units of the European domain and sedimentary units of the African domain), and to detect an early phase of exhumation driven by low-angle extensional faults that predated Neogene compression.


2015 ◽  
Vol 186 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 243-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Cavalcante ◽  
Giacomo Prosser ◽  
Fabrizio Agosta ◽  
Claudia Belviso ◽  
Giuseppe Corrado

Abstract The Gorgoglione Formation represents the infill of a thrust-top basin, which records the tectonic evolution of the southern Apennines (Italy) since Upper Miocene times. The Upper Miocene basin was divided into two main sub-basins, showing both about NNW-SSW elongation. During ongoing contractional deformation, the Gorgoglione basin was incorporated into the allochthonous units of the Apennine fold-and-thrust belt, as outlined by the emplacement of thrust sheets of internal provenance (Sicilide Unit) and by the development of two main generations of tight to open folds. In this work, the modalities of deformation associated to the incorporation of the Gorgoglione Formation into the fold-and-thrust belt has been documented by means of mineralogical and structural analyses. Mineralogical data show that, in the northeastern sub-basin of the Gorgoglione Formation, the illite content and the order of illite/smectite mixed layer increase near the contact with the overlaying Sicilide Unit. These data are hence used to estimate the relative tectonic load produced by thrusting of the aforementioned tectonic unit. Structural data are consistent with tight, NNW-trending, meso-scale folds particularly frequent in the upper pelitic/arenaceous portion of the Gorgoglione Formation. Within these folded pelitic levels, a well-developed axial-plane foliation, and an ordered I/S (R1 and R3) with higher illite content, is documented. Instead, other folds developed far away from the Sicilide klippen show an incipient axial-plane foliation and a random I/S (R0) with lower illite amount is found in pelites. The data suggest that the eastern sub-basin of the Gorgoglione Formation underwent variable tectonic load, increasing from E to W, as well as deformation produced by thrusting of Sicilide sheet. The mineralogical data also indicate that illitization process is favoured for the high availability of potassium due to the dissolution of k-feldspar. High potassium availability affects the samples subjected to the highest diagenetic degree, characterized by kaolinite illitization process.


Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Chiarella ◽  
Sergio G. Longhitano ◽  
Marcello Tropeano

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