The geological map of Piemonte Region (Italy) is a graphic representation of the geology of the region, grounded on a large geodatabase, that can be also browsed as an interactive scalable map (GeoPiemonte Map) using a WebGIS application. The Map, produced at 1:250,000 scale, is the first original release of the 'GeoPiemonte Map' project. The geological data represented on the map derive from a thorough revision of available geological maps and literature, integrated with unpublished original data. The revision and harmonisation of existing and new data have been based on explicit criteria used for the classification of geologic units and their representation on the Map. These criteria firstly aimed at providing a lithostratigraphic, hierarchic subdivision of Piemonte geologic units and describing them using shared concepts and vocabularies, consistent with IUGS Descriptive Standards for the Geosciences. ARTICLE HISTORY

The 1:25,000 scale geological map of the Monviso massif encompasses an area of 61 km 2 , where different tectonic units of the Monviso Meta-ophiolite Complex (i.e. the Basal Serpentinite Unit, the Lago Superiore Shear Zone, the Viso Mozzo Unit, the Forciolline Unit and the Vallanta Unit) and different Quaternary deposits (i.e. alluvial, gravitative, glacial and periglacial deposits) have been distinguished. The Monviso Meta-ophiolite Complex is an important remnant of the Mesozoic Tethyan lithosphere stacked in the Western Alps, and consists of various sequences of serpentinized peridotites, metagabbros, metabasalts and metasediments, that are deformed by syn-to late-metamorphic folds and displaced by syn-to post-metamorphic faults. The geological map presented here provides new detailed lithological, structural and morphological data regarding (i) the tectonostratigraphy of the central sector of the Monviso Meta-ophiolite Complex and (ii) the Quaternary glacial and post-glacial evolution of the Monviso massif.

The External Ligurian and Epiligurian Units in the Northern Apennines of Italy are tectonically juxtaposed with the Tertiary Piedmont Basin along the Villalvernia -Varzi Line, which represents a regional scale fault zone, E-striking. Our map, at the 1:20,000 scale, describes the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of this sector that resulted from multistage faulting along that fault zone. Four main tectonic stages are defined on the basis of the crosscutting relationships between mapped faults and stratigraphic unconformities: late Priabonian -Rupelian, Chattian -early Miocene, late Serravallian -Tortonian, and late Messinian -early Pliocene. Our results demonstrate that since the late Burdigalian, the Villalvernia -Varzi Line was sealed by the gravitational emplacement of a chaotic rock body. The deposition of the late Serravallian -early Messinian succession is controlled by NW-striking strike-slip faults that crosscut to the west the Villalvernia -Varzi Line. Extensional tectonics related to regional scale N-dipping tilting characterized the late Messinian -early Pliocene time interval.

Our new dataset from the Rivoli‐Avigliana end‐moraine system, the westernmost amphitheatre of the Italian Alps, provides an important step towards understanding foreland‐reaching glaciations before and during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Western Alps. 10Be data from six boulders in pre‐LGM deposits gave ages between 26.8 ± 2.1 and 41.2 ± 1.9 ka. Based on morphological and pedological data, we interpret the oldest age as a minimum age for the glacier advance(s). 10Be results suggest that the LGM occurred in two major steps. During the first at 24.0 ± 1.5 ka, several ridges were constructed demonstrating oscillation of the Dora Riparia glacier snout at the maximum position. Our data demonstrate a significantly larger LGM extent in the Rivoli‐Avigliana amphitheatre than shown on previous maps. The maximum advance was followed by a short re‐advance of the glacier at 19.6 ± 0.9 ka, as recorded by 10Be ages from boulders in lateral positions along the lower Susa Valley. The maximum ice surface during the LGM was at 1000–920 m a.s.l. in the final reach of the valley (560–620 m of elevation above the alluvial plain) and at 620–340 m a.s.l. at the continuous moraines in the amphitheatre.

This work integrates the results of recent geological-structural studies with new seismological data for the inner Cottian Alps to investigate the connection between faults and seismicity. The major post-metamorphic tectonic feature of this sector is represented by a N-S structure, named LisTrana Deformation Zone (LTZ). Since the Late Oligocene this structure accommodated right-lateral (Late Oligocene-Early Miocene) and subsequently normal (post-Early Miocene) displacements. In the Pleistocene, the activity of the LTZ seems to have caused the development of lacustrine basins inside the valleys that drain this sector of Western Alps. The present-day seismicity joins the northern part of the LTZ and, southwards, other minor sub-parallel structures. In transversal crosssection hypocentres highlight steep surfaces. Focal mechanisms calculated along this structure show both extensional and strike-slip solutions, mostly with one roughly N-S striking nodal plane. 3Both sub-horizontal (with NE-SW to ENE-WSW trend) and steeply dipping P axes with N-S to NW-SE sub-horizontal T axes are observed.Even if clear evidence of Quaternary tectonic activity in the area is missing, on the basis of the available seismological and geological data we propose that in the inner Northern Cottian Alps the present-day seismic activity may be connected to the LTZ, interpreted as minor sub-parallel fault strand of the Canavese Line. The kinematics of this structure is consistent with the focal mechanisms calculated in this area. Structural and seismological data indicate that LTZ is active under a bulk dextral-transtensive regime since the late Oligocene in the inner Cottian Alps, in agreement with the data published for the adjacent domain of the chain.

No abstract

In the northwestern part of Northern Apennines, between Curone and Staffora Valleys, the tectonic superposition between the External Ligurian Units (i.e. the ophiolitic-bearing chaotic complex of the Groppallo Unit and the non-ophiolitic Cassio Unit), the Middle Eocene-Miocene wedge-top basin Epiligurian Units succession, and the Late Messinian-Pliocene Po Plain succession, records the multistage tectono-stratigraphic evolution from subduction to continental collision. Our geological map, at the 1:20,000 scale, allows us to define 6 main tectonic stages on the basis of (i) the crosscutting relationships between main faults and local to regional stratigraphic unconformities and (ii) the differentiation among different types of chaotic rock unit (olistostromes and broken formations) deposited since Late Cretaceous to late Messinian. This approach provides a new understanding on the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of this sector, and its meaning in the evolution of the northwestern part of Northern Apennines.

The 1:25,000 scale geological map of the upper Pellice Valley (Italian Western Alps) encompasses an area of roughly 60 km 2 where a composite stack of both oceanic and continental Alpine units crops out. The four units distinguished in the map correspond, from bottom to top, to the Dora Maira Unit, a slice of the Paleozoic European crust, the Giulian-Sea Bianca Unit, a succession of Triassic to Lower Jurassic carbonate metasediments, the Monviso Unit, an ophiolitic remnant of the Mesozoic Tethyan Ocean, and the Bucie-Seilliere Unit, a carbonate metasedimentary succession of Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous age. Each unit is bounded by syn-metamorphic faults (i.e. tectonic contacts) and is displaced by a postmetamorphic fault network, then discontinuously covered by heterogeneous alluvial, gravitative, glacial and periglacial Quaternary deposits. The map gives new and updated information about the structural and geological setting of the Pellice Valley through a detailed representation of the main lithological, structural and morphological features.