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[1] Detailed mapping and dating of raised Late Holocene shorelines in southern Calabria, central Mediterranean region, reveals that the superposed shoreline record of uplift has both steady and abrupt components. Analysis reveals quantitative constraints may be applied to displacement partitioning between regional and fault-related sources in a context dominated by forearc uplift and extension above a retreating slab. Rapid displacements of arguable coseismic origin occurred at $1.9 and $3.5 ka and possibly at $5 ka and show a consistent site value, pattern of along-strike variation, and recurrence time ($1.6 ka). The source of the rather large ($1.5-2.0 m) slip per event based on the raised shoreline is not directly known and tentatively coincides with the Scilla extensional fault, which is inferred to run largely offshore. Although large uncertainties exist on the trace location, length, and seismogenic potential of the fault, our findings suggest that a substantial fraction of Holocene displacement is accommodated by coseismic footwall uplift. Precise compensation for sea level changes constrains Late Holocene steady uplift during the interseismic intervals at $1 mm/yr, a value consistent with long-term (0.1-1 Ma) estimates of regional uplift. Thus, Late Holocene total uplift of a $20-km stretch of coastline at $1.6-2.1 mm/yr is nearly equally balanced between regional and coseismic components. Appraisal of the present elevation attained by a suite of 125 ka and younger marine terraces indicate that rapid net uplift occurred in two episodes: (1) $100-80 ka and (2) after $5 ka; given the constancy in regional uplift rate, the two episodes are attributable to enhanced fault slip rate. Efficient seismic strain release was clustered in intervals of 10-20 ka and intercalated with a $80-Ka-long period of fault quiescence.Citation: Ferranti, L., C. Monaco, F. Antonioli, L. Maschio, S. Kershaw, and V. Verrubbi (2007), The contribution of regional uplift and coseismic slip to the vertical crustal motion in the Messina Straits, southern Italy: Evidence from raised Late Holocene shorelines,

Foraminifera and molluscs from the 90 m deep ENEA borehole (Versilian plain, central Italy) were studied for paleoenvironmental purposes. Palaeontological analyses, integrated with U/Th and radiocarbon data, helped to recognize late Quaternary sea-level changes and supplied results on tectonic mobility of the area. The study highlighted four sedimentary phases. The first phase consists of a shore environment attributed to MIS 7.1. A hiatus corresponding to MIS 6 is hypothesized at the top of this interval. Recognition of the paleo-shoreline of MIS 7.1 at - 72.8. m signifies a vertical displacement due to the extensional tectonics of the Apennine orogenesis. The second phase consists of a transgressive succession with evidence of warm temperatures, which was interpreted as part of the transgression leading to the MIS 5.5 highstand. The third phase includes sub-aerial and lacustrine deposits. Radiocarbon dates and palaeoecological reconstruction led us to attribute this interval to MIS 4, MIS 3 and MIS 2. The fourth phase begins with a lagoon environment attributable to Holocene sea-level rise and ends with marsh episodes, signifying the progradation of the alluvial plain. This reconstruction confirms the hypothesis of tectonic stability for the Versilian area during the Holocene. © 2010 University of Washington

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The Sardinian Cainozoic rifted basin is a useful model for studying the stratigraphic response to the Oligo-Miocene structural extension in the western Mediterranean because it allows precise observations on the relationship between sedimentation and normal faulting based on outcrops and seismic reflection data. The purpose of this paper, essentially of stratigraphic nature is to propose a chronology as precise as possible of the tectonic events and of the sedimentary formations. Indeed the tectono-sedimentary framework is complex, characterized by an extreme facies variability, from continental to marginal transitional and to marine environments (shallow-water, hemipelagic). Rifting, active calc-alkaline volcanism and sea-level changes caused rapid physiographical evolution, which controlled progressive marine ingression. New chronobiostratigraphical data presented in this paper allow correlating the sequences, defining their environment and depth of deposition and specifying precisely the timing of pre-, syn-, and post-rift stages in the Oligo-Miocene graben system. In southwestern Sardinia during the middle-late Eocene, after the Pyrenean phase, a continental graben (Cixerri), W-E oriented, preceded the Oligo-Miocene extension, which reactivated inherited Eocene and Palaeozoic faults. The calc-alkaline volcanic activity ranging from 32 to 13 Ma, provides a good estimate for the time span of the west-dipping Apenninic subduction responsible for the continental extension and the oceanic accretion in the western Mediterranean. In Sardinia the Oligo-Miocene extensional tectonics started in a continental environment, preceding the earliest calc-alkaline volcanic products (32 Ma). The marine ingression is dated to the late Chattian-Aquitanian interval and corresponds to a rapid deepening of the Oligo-Miocene graben system of tectonic origin. The end of the rifting i.e. the end of normal faulting activity is pre-middle Burdigalian in age. When Sardinia was in the post-rift stage, extension continued until late Burdigalian – Langhian in the Algero-Provençal basin with oceanic accretion and rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block (CSB).

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