Neogene tectonostratigraphic evolution of allochthonous terranes in ...

Ital. J. Geosci. (Boll. Soc. Geol. It.), Vol. 133, No. 3 (2014), pp. 455-473, 17 figs. (doi: 10.3301/IJG.2014.23) © Società Geologica Italiana, Roma 2014

Neogene tectonostratigraphic evolution of allochthonous terranes in the eastern Calabrian foreland (southern Italy) FRANCESCO MUTO (*), VINCENZO SPINA (**), VINCENZO TRIPODI (***), SALVATORE CRITELLI (***) & CESARE RODA (†)

ABSTRACT Along the Ionian side of the Calabrian Arc, Neogene-Quaternary successions overlie the Hercynian basement made up of crystallinemetamorphic tectonic units and their Mesozoic-Tertiary cover. The Neogene successions rest unconformably along the eastern border of the Sila Massif and form the Neogene basin fills. In the external portion of basins, Oligocene-Lower to Middle Miocene clastic successions, overling the variegated clay of the Sicilide Complex, outcrop. The Miocene-Quaternary evolution of the northern Calabria was mainly associated with the accrectionary processes creating Miocene wedge-top depozones onto the growing orogenic belt and flexed Adria passive margin. Middle Miocene deposits accumulated in longitudinal wedge-top depozones of the Calabrian foreland-basin system, partitioned into three depocentres: the Rossano, Cirò, and Crotone basins. The surface, subsurface and aerial-photo analyses has provided new geological data, which better define the architecture and development of the allochthonous terranes outcropping in the northeastern wedge-top basins of the Calabrian Arc. The main onland outcrop of allochthonous units is represented by the so-called Cariati Nappe. Structural investigations allowed to characterize the surface and subsurface tectonic structures detailing the style and timing of the Cariati Nappe emplacement. This structure consists of a complex NW-SE oriented back-thrust (top to the west) propagated starting from the late Tortonian time. During Messinian-Pleistocene the allochthonous terranes were involved and reworked by left-lateral NW-SE oriented transpressive fault zones. Progressive propagation of these transpressive structures compartmentalised pre-Messinian formerly continuous basin, creating distinct asymmetric depocentres during the Messinian and Pliocene. The entire Ionian Calabrian margin experienced accretion during the Neogene in consequence of which portion of Varicoulered Clays, overlain by Oligocene-Miocene successions, were extruded and emplaced into the wedge-top basins.

KEY WORDS: Cariati Nappe, Cirò Basin, Calabrian Arc, strikeslip faults.

INTRODUCTION

The modern physiography and geology of Calabria are the result of Neogene-Quaternary geodynamic processes in which synchronous accretion was active along the eastern side (northern Ionian Sea), and rifting processes (fig. 1) along the western side (eastern Tyrrhenian Margin) (MINELLI & FACCENNA, 2010; POLONIA et alii, 2011; GALLAIS et alii, 2012). 1986). The development of

(*) Dipartimento di Ingegneria per l’Ambiente e il Territorio e Ingegneria Chimica, Università della Calabria - 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS). Corresponding author Francesco Muto: [email protected]. (**) TOTAL E. & P. PAU (France). (***) Dipartimento di Biologia, Ecologia e Scienze della Terra, Università della Calabria - 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS). (†) Passed away on 2012.

the extensional Tyrrhenian backarc basin, was controlled by major strike-slip faults accommodating the SE migration of the Calabrian Arc (KNOTT & TURCO, 1991; SPINA et alii, 2011). This is characterized by large lateral displacements along NW-SE striking wrench faults (VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; TANSI et alii, 2007; SPINA et alii, 2011), that are well beyond those typically associated with transfer faults in classic extensional settings. Regional left-lateral fault motions may be associated with geodynamic processes involving the whole subducting slab and backarc evolution, with a lithospheric tear developed during the late Neogene-Quaternary time (CHIARABBA et alii, 2008; SPINA et alii, 2011; TURCO et alii, 2012). The modern setting includes two different styles of Miocene basins: A) the Rossano-Cirò-Crotone wedge-top depozones (CRITELLI et alii, 1999; CRITELLI et alii, 2013) (fig. 2), on the Ionian side, located above thrust-sheets of the Calabrian Arc and southern Apennine terranes, which are also considered forearc depozones by several authors (e.g. CAVAZZA & DE CELLES, 1998; BONARDI et alii, 2001; ZECCHIN et alii, 2012, 2013; MASSARI & PROSSER, 2013), and B) the Paola Basin, on the Tyrrhenian side, a slope basin located on the southeastern margin of the Tyrrhenian backarc basin (fig. 1) (MALINVERNO & RYAN, 1986; CRITELLI & LE PERA, 1995, 1998; CRITELLI, 1999; ROSSETTI et alii, 2001, 2004; MATTEI et alii, 2002; MUTO & PERRI, 2002; PEPE et alii, 2010; VIGNAROLI et alii, 2012; CRITELLI et alii, 2011, 2013). The southern Apennine thrust-and-fold belt, and the northern Calabrian Arc form an orogenic front, which is associated with foreland-basin systems (e.g. DE CELLES & GILES, 1996; CRITELLI, 1999) (fig. 1). The modern basin configuration of this thrust belt comprises the wedge-top depozone (Corigliano-Amendolara basins), and the marine and subaerial foredeep depozone (Gulf of Taranto and the Bradano River basin, respectively) (CRITELLI & LE PERA, 1995, 1998; BARONE et alii, 2008; REBESCO et alii, 2009; FERRANTI et alii, 2009; PRAEG et alii, 2009; CRITELLI et alii, 2011; PERRI et alii, 2012; VIGNAROLI et alii, 2012). Doubly verging folds and thrusts (i.e. top to the east and top to the west thrusting), foreland thrust propagation and minor hinterland thrust propagation (backthrusts), have been documented in the Ionian offshore and onshore (e.g. ROVERI et alii, 1992; DOGLIONI et alii, 1999; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; CRITELLI et alii, 2011; VIGNAROLI et alii, 2012). Similar structures were documented in the wedge-top basin, in the Cirò area, between the Crotone and Rossano basins, by RODA (1967). Middle Miocene successions were included in a thrust sheet which thrust-over the upper Messinian deposits of the

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Fig. 1 - Geological sketch-map of the Central Mediterranean area (after VAN DIJK & SCHEEPERS, 1995; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000, and TANSI et alii, 2007, modified). In the figure, location of the study area, and tectonic simplified sketch of the Calabrian Arc-Southern Apennines boundary.

Rossano Basin. The detached Middle Miocene succession was identified as the “Cariati nappe” by RODA (1967). According to COTECCHIA (1963), RODA (1964, 1967), and OGNIBEN (1973) the basal thrust surface, is folded, and in some cases the hangingwall block has been isolated to form a klippe. On a regional scale, major tectonic structures control the configuration and evolution of the main basins in the Calabrian Arc (KNOTT & TURCO, 1991). The Neogene to Quaternary history of the orogenic edifice is mainly controlled by the activity of NW-SE-striking sinistral shear zones (KNOTT & TURCO, 1991; CATALANO et alii, 1993; MONACO et alii, 1995; SCHIATTARELLA, 1998; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; TANSI et alii, 2007) (figs. 1 and 2). Strike-slip tectonics dissected the Calabrian orogenic belt by high angle shear zones. The deformation is well recorded in the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the wedge-top basins as far as in the back-arc domain (VAN DIJK & OKKES, 1991; VAN DIJK, 1994; MUTO & PERRI, 2002; TANSI et alii, 2007; TRIPODI et alii, 2013). This study focuses on an area of the wedge-top depozone of the Cenozoic Calabrian foreland-basin system (e.g., DE CELLES & GILES, 1996; CRITELLI et alii, 2011; CRITELLI et alii, 2013) (fig. 1). Infill of the basin records a complex structural and sedimentary history, including variations in the tectonic regime during continuous subduction processes along the external sector of Calabria. The allochthonous successions (Cariati Nappe Auct.) experienced deformation, the comprehension of which depicts the evolution of the Miocene wedge-top depozone

and the propagation of hinterland and foreland thrust. Several studies illustrating the upper Serravallian to Middle Pleistocene succession of the Crotone Basin have highlighted its complexity which is linked to synsedimentary deformation occurring during sedimentation (VAN DIJK, 1990; ZECCHIN et alii, 2006; MASSARI et alii, 2010; ZECCHIN et alii, 2012). Conversely, few data on structural patterns and basin architecture have been provided for the intermediate sector of the northeastern Calabrian margin (Cirò Basin), located between the Crotone and the Rossano basins (fig. 2). The Cirò Basin is margined to the south-west by the major NW-SE-striking RossanoS. Nicola shear zones (VAN DIJK et alii, 2000) (figs. 1 and 2). These fault zones involve Neogene deposits belonging to the Calabrian foreland-basin system, and mainly drive the configuration of the Plio-Quaternary Crotone basin (ZECCHIN et alii, 2012; MASSARI & PROSSER, 2013 and references therein). Constraints on the timing and structural style of this part of the eastern Calabrian margin are lacking in the study area. VAN DIJK et alii (2000), and recently FERRANTI et alii (2009), performed structural studies supported by seismic and borehole data, to define the geometry of the regional shear zone and structural setting of the offshore and onshore Ionian margin. According to these Authors, the whole system consisted of Middle MioceneMiddle Pleistocene crustal oblique transpressional fault zones, mainly dipping toward NE and characterized by left-reverse movements, along which the emplacement of the deeper and/or allochthonous units of the Calabrian Arc realized. In this paper, the timing, geometries and

NEOGENE TECTONOSTRATIGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF ALLOCHTHONOUS TERRANES

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Fig. 2 - Geological map of the northeastern sector of the Calabrian Arc. Dotted lines indicate the three wedge-top depozones, from north to south, the Rossano, Cirò and Crotone Basins. The central Cirò Basin represents the studied area. Modified from BARONE et alii (2008).

kinematics of the eastern portion of the wedge-top basins (CRITELLI, 1999; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000), has been defined in detail through interpretations of aerial photographs (in scale 1/33,000), and field surveys. New constraints between the allochthonous succession of RODA (1967) and autochthonous succession of the eastern Calabrian basins (BARONE et alii, 2008) have been performed on the basis of stratigraphic analysis and dating of the two successions. Structural analysis has been provided on the basis of measurements of structural data comprising orientations of almost 500 fault planes with slickensides, gathered from measure stations located along the main faults and within the faulted blocks. Neogene emplacement mechanisms of the deeper and allochthonous successions, and their geometric relationships within the eastern wedge-top basin, are discussed in a new tectonic framework, dominated by strike-slip tectonics, lasting from Neogene to Quaternary (fig. 2). The study illustrates the stratigraphic relations of the allochthonous terranes within the larger exposed Neogene basins of the northeastern Calabrian Arc and their style and timing of emplacement.

GEOLOGICAL SETTING

The Calabrian Arc is composed of Paleozoic basement units, belonging to the former European-Iberian margin, which thrust over ophiolite-bearing units of the NeoTethys domain during the Eocene (OGNIBEN, 1973; AMODIO MORELLI et alii, 1976; TORTORICI, 1982; DEWEY et alii, 1989; MESSINA et alii, 1994; ROSSETTI et alii, 2001). This nappe stack has tectonically covered the Mesozoic carbonate rocks of the Apennine- Maghrebide chain since

the Early Miocene (ROSSETTI et alii, 2004; IANNACE et alii, 2007; VIGNAROLI et alii, 2012). The Lower Miocene to Messinian strata of northeastern Calabria represent the more proximal portions of the southern Apennines foreland basin system and the basin fill of wedge-top depozone. These strata crop out along the piedmont of the Sila Massif, from the Trionto River (Rossano-Cariati zone) to south of the Neto River (Crotone zone) (fig. 2) (cf. COTECCHIA, 1963; RODA, 1964, 1967; OGNIBEN, 1973; VAN DIJK, 1990; VAN DIJK & OKKES, 1991; ROVERI et alii, 1992; BARONE et alii, 2008). The study area is located along the Ionian side of the Calabrian Arc (fig. 2), where Neogene and Quaternary basin successions overlie Paleozoic units and their Mesozoic cover (AMODIO MORELLI et alii, 1976; SANTANTONIO & TEALE (1987); PERRI et alii, 2011). The Upper Oligocene-Lower Miocene Paludi Formation (about 400 m thick) (BONARDI et alii, 2005) unconformably overlies preTertiary rocks and crops out discontinuously along the eastern part of northern Calabria (fig. 2). The Paludi Formation consists of alluvial conglomerate and breccia, reddish and green marl and siltstone with interbedded graded calcarenitic, turbiditic sandstone and silty marl with volcaniclastic intervals (CRITELLI, 1999; BONARDI et alii, 2005). On top of both crystalline rocks and Oligocene flysch, a Serravallian to Pliocene terrigenous and carbonate succession constitutes the infilling of the thrust-controlled inner portion of the Calabrian foreland-basin system, which can be subdivided into three main depocentres: the Rossano, Cirò, and Crotone basins (figs. 3A, B, C). The Cirò Basin, located in an intermediate position between the Rossano and Crotone basins, lacks Messinian evaporites. This suggests that a larger and previously continuous

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Fig. 3 - Schematic stratigraphic columns of the Rossano, Cirò and Crotone basins.

basin has been divided into sub-basins since the early Messinian (BARONE et alii, 2008). COTECCHIA (1963) recognised a particular “abnormal” clastic succession in the Cariati area, named the Cariati Nappe by BONFIGLIO (1964) and RODA (1967). This succession was interpreted as allochthonous terranes lying on the top of Messinian terrigenous sediments (RODA, 1967). Throughout the Ionian side of northern Calabria, varicoloured clays have been observed within Upper Miocene deposits. These varicoloured clays (“Anti-Sicilide Complex” sensu OGNIBEN, 1969) are associated with basement slices composed of Paleozoic slates and Mesozoic limestone breccia (VAN DIJK, 1994; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000). The allochthonous terranes consist of varicoloured clays, derived from the Sicilide Complex (CAVAZZA & BARONE, 2010), which are overlain by Oligocene-Miocene terrigenous sequences (fig. 3B) called the “Cariatidi thrust mass” (VAN DIJK et alii, 2000) and involved in a back-

thrust antiformal stack, partly corresponding to the “Cariati nappe” of RODA (1967). Tectonics strongly influenced the Neogene basins as a consequence of progressive southeastward shifting of the Calabrian belt. A complex network of strike-slip faults and associated thrusts characterizes the Ionian side of northern Calabria and southern Apennines. During the Neogene-Early Pleistocene transpressional faults broke the previously emplaced thin-skinned belt (CATALANO et alii, 1993; MONACO et alii, 1998; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; TANSI et alii, 2007; FERRANTI et alii, 2009; MUTO et alii, 2012, 2014).

STRATIGRAPHIC OUTLINE OF THE NEOGENE BASINS

The basin successions along the northeastern Calabrian margin were investigated in order to constrain


timing and structural style, during the tectonic evolution. Middle Miocene deposits accumulated in a longitudinal wedge-top depozone of the Calabrian foreland-basin system. The wedge-top basin is partitioned into three distinctive depocentres: the Rossano, Cirò, and Crotone basins. On the Ionian side of the Calabrian Arc, NeogeneQuaternary basin successions overlie Paleozoic units and their Mesozoic cover of the Sila Unit (AMODIO MORELLI et alii, 1976; MESSINA et alii, 1994). The Neogene succession is characterized by a general transgressive sedimentary trend infilling the basin during the Neogene interval (figs. 3 A, 3C). The western margin of basins exhibits a progressive eastwards-dipping flexure reflecting the propagation of blind thrusts (BARONE et alii, 2008). Serravallian-Messinian stratigraphic infill forms a growing monocline in which progressive unconformities have been recognised as a consequence of margin deformation, erosion and resedimentation. The Middle Miocene-Upper Miocene stratigraphic assemblage of the northeastern Calabrian margin can be subdived into two main successions: a succession composed of sequences unconformably overlying the Paleozoic plutonic and metamorphic rocks, or the Lower Miocene strata of the Paludi Formation (e.g. Paludi formation in BONARDI et alii, 2005) (figs. 3A, 3C); and a clastic Langhian-Tortonian succession, unconformably onlapping an Oligocene-Lower Miocene flysch, the last resting on the Sicilide derived units (fig. 3B). The Rossano, Cirò and Crotone basins succession are characterized by transgressive sedimentary fill of Serravallian-Tortonian age. It is made up of unconformablybased conglomerate of continental environment (San Nicola dell’Alto Formation, OGNIBEN, 1955) overlain by sandstones and fossiliferous sandstones (e.g., Clypeaster sandstone Formation, COTECCHIA, 1963; RODA, 1964) of deltaic environment, which indicate the onset of the foreland basin system on the advancing Calabrian thrust belt. These strata include diverse sedimentary facies associations, constituting a depositional sequence (ROVERI et alii, 1992). The base of the succession contains continental strata (alluvial fans), nearshore and shallow-water deposits and includes breccia, conglomerate and arkosic sandstone, overlain by sandstone with interbedded claystone (San Nicola dell’Alto Formation, fig. 3C, and Arenaceo Conglomeratica Formation, fig. 3A) (OGNIBEN, 1955, 1962; RODA, 1967). The formations are overlain by fine-grained turbiditic systems and, toward the thrust culminations of the Sila Massif, by shelfal deposits. These strata correspond to the Ponda Formation (Roda, 1964) of the Crotone Basin (fig. 3C), or the “Argilloso-marnosa Formation” (fig. 3A) of the Rossano Basin (OGNIBEN, 1955). The Ponda units include siltstone, mudstone and marl in the lower parts, characterised by cyclically alternating decimetric indurated dark claystone and light-grey or light-blue marl in the upper part. The intermediate portion of the unit, about 25 m in thickness, consists of predominantly sandstone locally with interbedded slumps and scour-and-fill structures (BARONE et alii, 2008). During the late Tortonian-early Messinian, the wedgetop depozone abruptly received huge volumes of Sicilidederived olistostrome of the “Argille Scagliose Formation” (OGNIBEN, 1955, 1962), composed of a variegated clay

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matrix and large blocks (olistoliths) of Cretaceous-Eocene limestone (CAVAZZA & BARONE, 2010). A succession (about 15 m thick) of grey marl and white diatomite alternating with carbonates and marly beds (Tripoli Formation) of early Messinian age overlies these deposits (figs. 3A, 3B). The Messinian sequences exhibit evaporite deposits, which record the Mediterranean salinity crisis. The evaporites consist mainly of gypsum and halite, followed by a thin mudstone interval, and thin clastic and evaporite beds (OGNIBEN, 1955; RODA, 1964). In the Crotone Basin the succession begins with the Calcare di Base Formation to the south (MASSARI et alii, 2010), and a clastic unit consisting of limestone breccias (BARONE et alii, 2008) grading to gypsrudites-arenites and gypsum-bearing sandstones to the north (Evaporitica inferiore unit) (fig. 3C). These successions are overlain by gypsarenite breccias, gypsarenite, slumps and halite (Detritico-salina unit) (RODA, 1964) (fig. 3C). An upper Messinian succession consisting of clay, sandstone, and minor gypsarenite levels (Evaporitica superiore unit) onlaps the Detritico-salina unit (fig. 3C). An erosional surface separates these deposits from the overlying deltaic sandstone lobes and fluvial conglomerate of the Carvane Conglomerate unit and passes to the Cavalieri marl formation (MASSARI et alii, 2010; ZECCHIN et alii, 2012, 2013a). Pliocene to Pleistocene strata overlie unconformably these deposits; the succession is composed of marls (Cavalieri Formation; RODA, 1967) and progresses into clastic formations (Zinga, Spartizzo, Scandale formations), and then into the Cutro Clay Formation with the Strongoli Formation; ZECCHIN et alii, 2006, 2012, 2013b). The coeval Messinian deposits in the Rossano Basin consist, from the bottom to the top, of limestone and interbedded siltstone and marls (Calcare di base Formation; RODA, 1967). This formation is overlain by sandstone, gypsum and gypsarenites (Molassa di Castiglione Formation) (fig. 3A) and marly claystone with halite (Argille Marnose Salifere Formation and Gessi Formation (fig. 3A). Sedimentation is interrupted by varicoloured clays olistostromes. The upper Messinian succession of the Rossano Basin includes terrigenous strata, which directly onlap the varicoloured clay and exhibit a finingupward trend (Sabbie marnose di Garicchi and the Molassa di Palopoli formations (fig. 3A). Zanclean to Piacenzian strata are absent in the northern part of the study area, where Gelasian-Calabrian bioclastic calcarenite covers the Miocene succession. Pleistocene marine terraces crop out along the Ionian coast, testifying to strong Quaternary uplift of this sector of the Calabrian Arc. The Cirò Basin is interposed between the Crotone Basin to the south and the Rossano Basin to the north (fig. 2). The Serravallian-lower Messinian stratigraphic succession of this basin is similar and coeval to the other two basins (figs. 4A and B). In particular, the basal part of succession rests on the Sila unit terrane and on the Tertiary deposits. It is made up of basal conglomerates of continental and transitional environment correlating to the San Nicola dell’Alto Formation (fig. 4) and passing upwards to a thick succession of turbiditic deposits made up of clays and arenites. The unit is coeval to the Ponda Formation of the Crotone Basin and to the Argilloso-Marnosa Formation of the Rossano Basin (figs. 3C and 3A). Thick turbiditic sandstone bodies

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Fig. 4 - Schematic stratigraphic columns of the northern and southern portions of the Cirò Basin.

are intercalated in the formation, particularly outcropping near the Scala Coeli village. Sporadic and non-continuous varicoloured clays olistostromes are present in the upper part of the formation. In the area comprised between the Nicà and Arso rivers, the Cirò Basin infill includes a thin succession of marls with interbedded diatomites of the Tripoli Formation (figs. 5 and 6). These lower Messinian deposits are lacking in the area between the Nicà and Lipuda rivers, where the succession reaches the upper Tortonian. This succession, gently dipping to the east-northeast, depicts a Middle-Late Miocene growing monocline that is interrupted, to the east, by a tectonic contact (fig. 6). The allochthonous succession of the Cariati Nappe rests tectonically onto the successions of Rossano, Cirò and Crotone basins (RODA, 1967; OGNIBEN, 1973). The Miocene part of the Cariati Nappe succession consists of two thinning and fining upward units (figs. 3B, 4A, 4B), Langhian-Tortonian in age, unconformably overlying an Upper Oligocene-Burdigalian deep-marine turbiditic unit made up of arenites and shales (figs. 3B and 4). The latter succession reaches up to 300 metres of thickeness and rests unconformably on the Cretaceous-

Eocene variegated clays. The Langhian to Tortonian units consist of braided-fluvial and deltaic conglomerates and sandstones, overlain by prodelta and turbiditic bodies. The Cariati Nappe is considered an allochthonous unit and is only partially coeval with the marginal succession of the Crotone, Cirò and Rossano basins. The juxtaposition of autochthonous basinal successions (Rossano and Crotone successions) and allochthonous successions (Cariati Nappe) would suggest the presence, during the Serravallian-Tortonian, of sedimentary basins characterised by different substrate: a basinal succession, covering the Calabrian Arc units along the Sila Massif margin, and a succession, partly coeval, covering directly the Oligocene-lower Miocene and Sicilide derived units, in the south-eastern portion of the basin.

STRUCTURAL DATA

Tectonic structures strongly affected the NeogeneQuaternary peri-Ionian wedge-top basins as the Calabrian belt shifted southeastwards. The entire Ionian side of the northern Calabrian Arc is made up of a complex network


Fig. 5 - Geological map and geological cross sections of the Cirò Basin.

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Fig. 6 - Detailed geological map and geological cross sections of the Cariati area, in the northern edge of the Cirò Basin.

of strike-slip and thrust faults. The transpressive fault zones offset the accretionary front of the chain and provides structural highs such as the Amendolara, Rossano and Cariati-Cirò ridges (FERRANTI et alii, 2009; REBESCO et alii, 2009). The geological survey of the study area was accompanied by the kinematic analysis and attitude measurements of the macrostructures. Structural data were collected in structural measurement stations, located throughout the area, and the main tectonic contacts were evaluated in terms of geometry and kinematics (figs. 5 and 6). New structural investigations allowed describing in detail the surface outcrops and the kinematics of some of the regional transcurrent fault zones, previously identified by means of deep reflection seismic profiles by VAN DIJK et alii (2000). The details regarding on the chronological and spatial distribution and activity of faulting in the central portion of wedge-top basins is

supported by well data defining the geometry of the above-mentioned Cariati Nappe (see cross-sections in figs. 5 and 6). The tectonic structures identified at the mesoscale are compatible with the orientation of macrostructures. The last deformation phases, involving the Pleistocene succession, have been investigated to separate the Neogene deformation from the more recent tectonic overprint. The last kinematics of the NW-SE, N-S trending faults, is represented by normal or oblique slip displacing the Pleistocene deposits. During the late Tortonian-early Messinian, huge volumes of Sicilide-derived rocks composed of variegated clay matrix and large blocks of limestone and sandstone were emplaced in the basin. The growth of structural highs, resulting from the hinterland fault-propagationfold of the Sicilide Complex, during the TortonianMessinian, was responsible of the gravity-driven slides of

varicoloured clays, interbedded, as lenses, in the Tortonian and Messinian deposits. The main structural element in the studied area is the tectonic contact between the Serravallian-Tortonian formations (Cirò Basin, figs. 5, 6) and the Oligocene to Tortonian formations (Cariati Nappe) (fig. 7) (RODA, 1967; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; MUTO et alii, 2009; MUTO et alii, 2012). This contact occurs between the Ponda Formation (Upper Miocene), at the footwall, and the OligoceneLower Miocene flysch, at the hanging wall. In some places the hanging wall block consists of the Variegated Clays that lie at the base of the Cariati Nappe succession. The contact with the Tripoli Formation and the clastic upper Messinian formation of the Rossano Basin is exposed only near the villages of Scala Coeli and San Morello (fig. 8). The tectonic contact consists of a NW striking and NE dipping high-angle thrust and outcrops in the area between the Arso River, to the north, and the Lipuda River, to the south (figs. 5 and 6). The structure continues to the south-east of the Lipuda River mouth, as testified by the Laika 1 well stratigraphy (see geological sections D-D’ and E-E’ in fig. 5). The Cirò, Lella, Leila 1, and Laika 1 wells in the eastern area were drilled through the offshore and encountered the Upper Oligocene-Middle Miocene successions of the Cariati Nappe. These deposits rest on Middle Eocene successions which are described and named in the wells as the Albidona Formation (Laika 1 well). The Middle Eocene clay and arenaceous alternation described in this well is interpreted, in this study, as the Lower Miocene flysch extensively outcropping in the study area. In some cases, the Oligocene-Middle Miocene portion of the Cariati Nappe succession rests directly on the Variegated Clays (figs. 3 B and 4). Concluding, well data and stratigraphic-geometric relationships identified in the Cariati-Cirò area indicate the existence of an Oligocene-Miocene succession (assigned to the Cariati Nappe) that lies directly on the Variegated Clays “Sicilide Complex” Auct. (OGNIBEN, 1969) (see cross-sections in fig. 5). The sedimentary succession of the Cirò Basin and the Cariati Nappe are affected by tectonic structures consisting of NW trending low angle thrust and predominant NW and N trending faults and folds with southwestern and northeastern vergences. Dip domains show variable directions and plunges between the western (Rossano and Cirò basin successions) and eastern sectors (Cariati Nappe outcrops). In the area comprised between the villages of Terravecchia and Scala Coeli (fig. 8A), the tectonic contact is made up of subvertical faults (figs. 8B and C) that displace and separate the successions of Rossano and Cirò basins (foot wall block) from the Cariati Nappe succession (hanging wall block). The tectonic contact between the two succession consists in subvertical faults exhibiting left lateral strike-slip kinematics with a component of vertical displacement (fig. 8B). In the eastern sector, bedding attitudes are variable along a NW-SE transect between the Arso River to the north and the Lipuda River to the south; in this area, bedding strikes NW-SE and subordinately to the NE-SW. Bedding analysis of the Cariati Nappe strata (Terravecchia and San Morello area) documents symmetrical

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Fig. 7 - Panoramic view of the Cariati Nappe. The thrust surface separates the hanging-wall (Cariati nappe succession) from the Serravallian-Messinian succession of the Cirò Basin: A) view from west to east; B) view from south to north; C) from north to south, in which: the oblique thrust, left-lateral component of motion, and the link with N-S frontal ramp are outlined.


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Fig. 8 - Panoramic view, from the Scala Coeli village to NE, of the main tectonic contact between the Cariati Nappe succession (units A and B) and the Serravallian-Messinian succession. The hanging wall is made up of the Oligocene-Burdigalian flysch (Unit A) unconformably overlain by Langhian conglomerate (Unit B), while the footwall is composed of Messinian tripolaceus rocks and clays deposits. The tectonic contact consists of NW-SE high angle transpressive faults with left lateral movement (B and C).

Fig. 9 - Folds in the Cariati nappe: A-A’) overturned anticline; B-B’) fold with vertical axial plane in well stratified arenites; C-C’) asymmetric syncline cross cut by a thrust.

and asymmetrical folds with NW-SE (fig. 9A) N-S (fig. 9B) and subordinately NE-SW axes (fig. 9C). Anticlines and synclines are related to the thrust that involves the Cariati Nappe succession (figs. 10A, B, C).

Mesoscale faults and fold axes with NW-SE, and subordinately N-S trends, have been identified in the Cariati Nappe outcrops (fig. 11). Folds show an asymmetric shape and subhorizontal to plunging axes. In the hinge zone of folds,


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Fig. 10 - Box anticline: A) and west-verging anticline; B) both related to thrusts planes; C) NW-SE low angle splay thrusts displaced by NW-SE high angle reverse fault.

Fig. 11 - Schmidt net (lower hemisphere projection) of faults identified in the study area; data are subdivided according to strikes and kinematics: A) Schmidt’s projection stereogram of fold axes; B) rose diagram of mesofaults in Neogene-Quaternary deposits; C) contour diagrams of total bedding data collected in the survey area of fig. 5, D.

very closed and overturned folds are present (fig. 10A). Along, the Lipuda River, to the south, there are reverse faults and west-verging folds that are related to the emplacement of the Cariati Nappe on the marly claystone

of the Ponda Formation. The boundary between the marly claystone of the Ponda Formation and claystone with sandstone of the flysch is displaced by high-angle faults showing transcurrent and oblique-slip movements (figs. 8B and C).

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Fig. 12 - Kinematics and geometry of the NW-SE trending fault: A-A’) along the major tectonic contact near the San Morello village. The fault is characterised by left-lateral movement with significant reverse component of slip, B-B’).

The main NW-SE-trending faults are characterized by strike-slip, reverse (fig. 11A) and normal kinematics. The faults with reverse kinematics, dipping both to the northeast and southwest, have picth of nearly 90°. Reverse kinematics appear on shallow-dipping thrust planes (fig. 10C). These planes are displaced by high angle transcurrent and oblique-slip faults with the same strike (fig. 10C). At the outcrop scale, the NW-SE fault planes commonly exhibit typical transpressive structures (fig. 8B), particularly at the boundary between the Oligocene-Miocene units and the Ponda Formation. The fault system is characterised by transcurrent kinematics with variable pitch, comprised between 0° and 25° (fig. 8C), and planes that dip principally to the northeast. Left-lateral slip dominates, with subordinate right slip; on the same planes the pitch may exceed 45° with a predominant reverse component (figs. 11A, 12A and 12B). This NW-striking east-dipping faults displace tilted Pliocene-Pleistocene units in the

central and southern sector of the area (fig. 13), near the village of Cirò. At the mesoscale, the fault planes are reactivated showing variable dip slip to oblique slip with normal kinematics. N-trending faults have been frequently documented at the mesoscale, whereas N-S lineaments are less common. These faults are characterised by polyphase slip (e.g. reverse and oblique-slip kinematics) (figs. 11A, C, D) and normal. The N-trending transcurrent faults have steeplydipping planes and dip both east and west (fig. 11A). They are mainly characterised by right-slip and by minor leftslip. The fault planes are arranged into positive flower structures. A good exposure of these faults was observed in the Crucoli-Terravecchia sandstones and conglomerates, especially along the ridge between Crucoli and Terravecchia (MUTO et alii, 2009). N-oriented ramp thrust are present along the main contact and at the north edge of the Cariati Nappe outcrops (fig. 6). The hanginwall of the thrust is constituted by the Langhian-Serravallian


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Fig. 13 - Panoramic view of Piacenzian-Early Pleistocene mixed arenites unconformably overlying the Oligocene-Burdigalian flysch, near the Cirò village. Deposits were deformed in the Pleistocene transpressional phase involving the Cirò Basin and the entire eastern margin of Calabria.

Fig. 14 - View from the west of the major contact between the Cariati Nappe succession and Messinian units. The left-lateral transcurrent NW-SE trending fault is characterized by important reverse component of displacement. A N-trending splay thrust curved away from the major fault. Along the two structures mesoscale s kinematics has been collected and projected as Schmidt net.

conglomerates affected by anticlines and thrust ramps (figs. 14 and 15). These thrust planes curved away from the major NW-SE oblique left lateral fault and assume the kinematics of frontal splay ramps accommodating the horizontal component of displacement towards the

northern edge of the area, as far as the Arso stream (figs. 6 and 16). Superposition testify of normal kinematc indicators on the fault systems testifie to the development of new faults, compatible with a local extensional stress field, and the

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Fig. 15 - A-A’) steepening of the LanghianSerravallian conglomerates of the Cariati nappe strata along the major tectonic contact. Strata belong to the forelimb of a west verging anticline related to an E-dipping thrust, B-B’).

reactivation in extension of pre-existing faults during the Pleistocene (fig. 5). The NE-SW faults (figs. 11A and C) have been identified and observed at the mesoscale and do not correspond with major mapped faults in the area (fig. 5); these faults are predominant, together with the N-S system, in the Cirò area. These faults are characterised by transcurrent and reverse kinematics (fig. 11A) while the normal kinematics is more significant between the villages of Cirò and Melissa (fig. 5) and become predominant in the Crotone Basin (fig. 1), where it involves Pliocene-Pleistocene deposits. Evidence of dextral motion with reverse component of movement is commonly present on the NE-trending fault planes, showing the similar and coeval development of N- trending faults. The main structural lineaments of the area are made up of fault systems which developed during the Neogene-Quaternary tectonic evolution. These assume particular morphotectonic evidence in the zone of the ridge located between Crucoli and Cirò (figs. 5 and 6). To the north of the studied area, the same tectonic lineaments are linked to the boundary faults of the eastern margin of northern Calabria and are arranged in an en-èchelon pattern with respect the Pollino fault system (fig. 1) (VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; FERRANTI et alii, 2009 and references therein). Activity as recent as the Pleistocene is recognised on NW-trending left-slip faults (TURCO et alii, 1990; KNOTT & TURCO, 1991; CATALANO et alii, 1993; HIPPOLYTE et alii, 1994a; HIPPOLYTE et alii, 1994b; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000;

TANSI et alii, 2007; FERRANTI et alii, 2009), while the vertical component of movement is attributed to the most recent stage of the Calabrian Arc drift with re-activation (GALLI & BOSI, 2003) to left lateral kinematics with associated local extension in releasing bends (SPINA et alii, 2007; CORBI et alii, 2009; ZECCHIN et alii, 2012). Morphostructures between Cirò Marina and the Trionto River area are aligned parallel to the NW-SE regional lineaments (fig. 1). The fault system south of Cirò shows morphostructural features for much of its length. In this area, the NW-trending lineaments are arranged in an en-échelon pattern subparallel to the Rossano-San Nicola fault zone of VAN DIJK et alii (2000). These 10-15 km long faults are characterised by well-developed escarpments, with triangular and trapezoidal facets, controlling drainage network and coast-line orientation. Particular evidences assumes the tectonic contact between the Cariati Nappe succession and the Tortonian-Messinian deposits (figs. 7 and 8A). The hanging wall block, made up of conglomerates and sandstone, contrasts, from a morphological point, with the clay units constituting the footwall block (figs. 5 and 14). N-S-trending lineaments are characterised by evident escarpment where Serravallian conglomerates and Tortonian clays are exposed. The N-S lineaments are less common in the northern part of the area, whereas become common and persistent to the west and south of the studied area (Crotone Basin) (fig. 2). To the east and southeast, these fault systems offset the Tortonian succession by several-hundred metres. The N-S trending faults


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Fig. 16 - N-trending and S-dipping thrust along the Arso River; in the hanging-wall the Middle-Upper Miocene units of the Cariati Nappe and in the footwall the late Messinian Unit.

is morphologically well expressed in the Melissa-Serra Sanguigna fault (fig. 5). Regional lineaments offshore of the study area (PESCATORE & SENATORE, 1986; SENATORE, 1987) control the evolution of Plio-Pleistocene depocentres in the Ionian Calabrian margin and result still tectonically active (FERRANTI et alii, 2009). These basins (Corigliano, Amendolara, and Cariati-Cirò basins), aligned NW-SE, are bordered to the northeast by structural high (FERRANTI et alii, 2009; MUTO et alii, 2009; REBESCO et alii, 2009). To the east, the area continues into submarine basins that mark the transition from the foredeep to the Ionian foreland basin (CRITELLI, 1999; REBESCO et alii, 2009; ZECCHIN et alii, 2012). The offshore zone is characterised by ridges and depressions with NW-SE trend (e.g. Amendolara-Rossano Cariati and Cirò ridges, separated by the Corigliano and Amendolara Basins in REBESCO et alii, 2009).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Three major depozones, the Rossano, Cirò and Crotone basins, are clearly identified in the Neogene wedge-top of the eastern Calabrian-southern Apennines foreland basin system (O GNIBEN , 1973; R ODA , 1964a; CRITELLI, 1999; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; TRIPODI, 2008; C RITELLI et alii, 2011; T RIPODI et alii, 2011). Similar stratigraphic architecture formed in these depozones during late Serravallian-late Tortonian, after which they were separated and experienced different stratigraphic and tectonic evolution (BARONE et alii, 2008). The intermediate depozone exibits the presence of olistostromes interbedded in the Neogene succession and allochthonous Middle Miocene successions which thrust over the Tortonian deposits. These allochtho-

nous terranes are linked by some authors (RODA, 1967; BARONE et alii, 2008; CRITELLI et alii, 2011) to the eastward external realm of the Neogene basins; they were emplaced during the Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene in the intermediate depozone (Cirò Basin). Due to its sedimentary succession, the Cariati Nappe should include many tectonostratigrafic similarities with the sedimentary successions of the northern Calabrian and Lucanian belt, which are present in the area of the Montegiordano-Nocara-Rocca Imperiale ridge (Z UPPETTA et alii, 1984; M OSTARDINI & M ERLINI , 1986; P ATACCA & S CANDONE , 1987, 2001; C ARBONE & L ENTINI , 1990; CRITELLI, 1999). In these zones, Serravallian-Tortonian conglomeratic and turbiditic successions belonging to the Oriolo Formation, Nocara Conglomerates Formation, and Gorgoglione Formation rest on the successions of the Albidona and the high portion of the Sicilide Units (CRITELLI & LE PERA, 1995; CRITELLI et alii, 2013). The occurrence of back-thrusts in the central portions of the basin (not in the coeval Rossano and Crotone basins) represents an abrupt geological modification in the stratigraphic and tectonic evolution of these portions of the foreland basin system. Our new data provide structural constraints for the Neogene history of the allochthonous terranes, which correlate with other major clastic wedges of the southern Apennine and Calabrian margin. The main structural element of the studied area is identified in the widespread outcropping tectonic contact between the Serravallian-Messinian units of the Cirò Basin infill and the Oligocene to Tortonian formations (Cariati Nappe succession). Geological survey and structural data highlighted that the footwall units occurring below the overthrust Oligocene-Upper Miocene flysch are the Ponda Formation, in the southern portion of area, and the Messinian

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Fig. 17 - Schematic tectonic sketch evidencing the evolution of outer front of the Calabrian belt during the Neogene. The figure shows the thrust and fold involving the wedge-top basin during the Serravallian-Messinian (A and B), and the transition to dominant wrenching structures during the Late Messinian-Pliocene (C). N-S trending new thrust are associated to the evolution of NW-SE trending strike-slip regional fault zones (modified from BARONE et alii, 2008).

units in the northern portion. The contact has a general NW-SE-trend and is formed by a fault system characterized by strike-slip with component of reverse movement. At the outcrop scale, the NW-SE fault planes commonly exhibit typical transpressive structures particularly at the boundary between the OligoceneMiocene units and the Ponda Formation. To the transcurrent fault are associated N to NE trending splay thrusts that accommodate the horizontal component of motion along the major transurrent faults. Moreover, the architecture and timing of the thrust associations and the presence of foreland vergence and/or

hinterland vergence planes, together with positive flower structures, are also testified in the Ionian offshore (ROVERI et alii, 1992; DOGLIONI et alii, 1999; VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; TRIPODI, 2008; MUTO et alii, 2009; FERRANTI et alii, 2009; CRITELLI et alii, 2011; MASSARI & PROSSER, 2013). This architecture has not been described in detail up to now in the onland wedge-top basins. The western marginal strata dip decreases up-section due to synsedimentary growth of a monocline fold limb; the growth is testified by progressive unconformities in the Neogene-Quaternary basin-fill succession. In some cases, the generally eastward dipping strata show hinter-


land-verging folds (e.g. in the Rossano Basin, fig. 2). The great variability in basin distribution and physiography took place during the development of extensional processes in the Tyrrhenian backarc area and progressive shortening in the foreland area. This was usually synchronous with a progressive retreat hinge of the subducting slab, which determines subsidence and new accommodation space (CRITELLI, 1999; MINELLI & FACCENNA, 2010; CRITELLI et alii, 2013). Miocene and post-Messinian emplacement of the Cariati Nappe in the central sector of the study area (figs. 2 and 5) interrupted the lateral continuity and affected the sedimentary supply of the wedge-top basins. The Cirò Basin, located in an intermediate position between the Rossano and Crotone basins, lacks the Messinian evaporites found in the other two (fig. 4B). This suggests that a larger and previously continuous basin was partitioned into sub-basins during the Neogene (fig. 17) (BARONE et alii, 2008; TRIPODI, 2008). Structural data show that the Cariati Nappe succession was deformed by NW-SE striking folds and thrusts during Messinian-Pliocene in a transpressive structure formed along left-lateral Rossano-S. Nicola shear zone (VAN DIJK et alii, 2000; TRIPODI, 2008; MUTO et alii, 2009). In this structure the distal Miocene basin fill, together with its back-thrust bedrock (Sicilide Complex), have been involved and are exposed. Along the outer front of northern Calabria, strike-slip regional fault zones have produced regional wrenching of the Neogene basins and controlled the development of intrabasinal structural highs (like the Cariati Nappe). The Cariati Nappe can be considered to be an exposed analogue of the offshore structural highs. The tectonosedimentary evolution of the inner parts of the Late Miocene foreland-basin system was affected by deformation partitioning due to the continuation of accretionary processes, rapid uplift of mid-crustal blocks and superposition of wrench tectonics. Therefore, the Cariati Nappe is a backthrust which dates from the Tortonian age and was related to the late-middle Miocene accretionary phases that are typical of the foreland basin system. It was displaced by wrench tectonics starting from Messinian, and providing the oblique tectonic intersection of southern Apennines-Calabrian fold-thrust belt. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research is part of Vincenzo Tripodi’s PhD Thesis ‘Geology and structural style of the Cariati Nappe and the Siderno Basin at the peri-Ionian margin of central and southern Calabria: implications on palaeogeographic and palaeotectonic evolution’. The paper is dedicated to Prof. Cesare Roda, who died recently. Prof. Roda was a pioneering researcher in the Crotone and Rossano basins; he was the first author to recognise allochthonous terrane in the Ionian margin of Calabria and we would like to thank him for his contribution and leadership and for introducing us to study these portions of the southern Italy mountain belt. The research is the result of studies carried out within the CARG Project (official geological cartography of Italy, scale 1:50,000) for the geological mapping of the Ionian Calabria (Resp. C. Roda). The research has been carried out within the MIUR-ex60% Projects (Relationships between Tectonic Accretion, Volcanism and Clastic Sedimentation within the CircumMediterranean Orogenic Belts, 2006-2012; Resp. S. Critelli); The 2009 MIUR-PRIN Project 2009PBA7FL_001. ‘The Thrace sedimentary basin (Eocene-Quaternary) in Greece and Bulgaria: stratigraphic, depositional architecture and sediment dispersal pathway within post-orogenic basins’ (Resp. S. Critelli). The authors are indebted to Ray Ingersoll for review, discussion, and suggestions

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Manuscript received 17 July 2013; accepted 15 June 2014; editorial responsability and handling by S. Mazzoli.