Episodic back-arc extension during restricted mantle convection in the Central Mediterranean

Faccenna, Claudio; Funiciello, Francesca; Giardini, Domenico; Lucente, P.

doi:10.1016/s0012-821x(01)00280-1

Cited by 271 publications

(269 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…1c) were proposed by the same authors as major dislocation zones accomodating the migration process. This con¢rmed the main role that had been previously assigned to the Taormina and Vulcano lines on the grounds of the surface geology data [24]. The pro¢le of this vertical section is shown in a.…”

Section: Geodynamic Features Of the Study Areasupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Rollback is widely believed to have been the primary tectonic source for (1) the southeastward kinematics of the southern Tyrrhenian lithosphere, (2) its thinning and overthrusting onto the Ionian lithosphere, and (3) the Tyrrhenian basin opening. Starting from geologic information, upper mantle seismic tomography and results from laboratory experiments, Faccenna et al [23,24] proposed that the slab actively subducted until beneath Provence before the Oligocene, while trench retreat in the last 30 Myr led to the formation of the Liguro-Provencal and Tyrrhenian small ocean basins in a chronological order (the last phase of this process is schematically represented in Fig. 1b).…”

Section: Geodynamic Features Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seismic strain and seismogenic stress regimes in the crust of the southern Tyrrhenian region

Neri

Barberi

Orecchio

et al. 2003

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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An investigation has been performed to identify and characterize the seismic deformation zones active over the last decades in the region of Italy that has experienced the strongest seismicity during the last centuries. The study is based on the estimate of hypocenter locations, fault plane solutions, seismogenic stress and seismic strain tensor orientations carried out using the entire dataset of the national and local seismic networks, and the recently improved threedimensional (3D) crustal velocity model of the study area. A series of simulation tests have been performed to evaluate the significance of the earthquake space distribution obtained and whether it was influenced by network geometry problems related to the sea and the lack of ocean bottom seismometers. In the sectors where hypocentral location was synthetically proved to be reliable, space distributions of earthquakes located with epicenter and focal depth errors less than 3 and 4 km, respectively, have been compared with local geology in order to identify seismogenic faults. The dataset of 32 fault plane solutions estimated with fault parameter errors less than 20 ‡ has been used to investigate space variations of seismogenic stress and seismic strain orientations over the study area. Stress was found to be uniform in the Messina Strait and southern Calabria where inversion of the available set of 11 fault plane solutions showed clear evidence of an extensional regime. The different orientations of the minimum compressive stress and strain found in this sector, together with the information available on local geology and tectonics, lead us to propose that the seismicity occurring over the last decades in the Messina Strait and southern Calabria was not in general produced at the main faults, but at minor faults activated by the main tectonic stress field acting in the area. To the west, in the sector including western Etna, the Nebrodi chain and the western Aeolian Islands, analysis of the available set of 16 fault plane solutions revealed a certain degree of stress heterogeneity with an apparent prevalence of north^south compression. This east to west change of stress^strain regimes is evaluated in the light of current hypotheses regarding the geodynamics of the study region. ß

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Section: Geodynamic Features Of the Study Areasupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Geodynamic Features Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismic strain and seismogenic stress regimes in the crust of the southern Tyrrhenian region

Neri

Barberi

Orecchio

et al. 2003

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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“…Adria is in a downgoing plate position relative to all surrounding mountain belts: it is overthrust by the Apennines in the west and the Dinarides-Albanides-Hellenides in the east, and although it was originally in an overriding plate position in the Alps, it became overthrust by these since Neogene time. Tectonic slices of the Adriatic upper crust are currently exposed in all circum-Adriatic mountain ranges (Stampfli and Mosar, 1999;Faccenna et al, 2001;Vai and Martini, 2001;Schmid et al, 2008;Bernoulli and Jenkyns, 2009;Stampfli and Hochard, 2009;Handy et al, 2010;van Hinsbergen and Schmid, 2012;Gaina et al, 2013) (Fig. 1).…”

Section: J J Van Hinsbergen Et Al: Did Adria Rotate Relative Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

Did Adria rotate relative to Africa?

et al. 2014

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Abstract. The first and foremost boundary condition for kinematic reconstructions of the Mediterranean region is the relative motion between Africa and Eurasia, constrained through reconstructions of the Atlantic Ocean. The Adria continental block is in a downgoing plate position relative to the strongly curved central Mediterranean subductionrelated orogens, and forms the foreland of the Apennines, Alps, Dinarides, and Albanides-Hellenides. It is connected to the African plate through the Ionian Basin, likely with Lower Mesozoic oceanic lithosphere. If the relative motion of Adria versus Africa is known, its position relative to Eurasia can be constrained through a plate circuit, thus allowing robust boundary conditions for the reconstruction of the complex kinematic history of the Mediterranean region. Based on kinematic reconstructions for the Neogene motion of Adria versus Africa, as interpreted from the Alps and from Ionian Basin and its surrounding areas, it has been suggested that Adria underwent counterclockwise (ccw) vertical axis rotations ranging from ∼ 0 to 20 • . Here, we provide six new paleomagnetic poles from Adria, derived from the Lower Cretaceous to Upper Miocene carbonatic units of the Apulian peninsula (southern Italy). These, in combination with published poles from the Po Plain (Italy), the Istrian peninsula (Croatia), and the Gargano promontory (Italy), document a post-Eocene 9.8 ± 9.5 • counterclockwise vertical axis rotation of Adria. Our results do not show evidence of significant Africa-Adria rotation between the Early Cretaceous and Eocene. Models based on reconstructions of the Alps, invoking 17 • ccw rotation, and based on the Ionian Basin, invoking 2 • ccw rotation, are both permitted within the documented rotation range, yet are mutually exclusive. This apparent enigma could possibly be solved only if one or more of the following conditions are satisfied: (i) Neogene shortening in the western Alps has been significantly underestimated (by as much as 150 km); (ii) Neogene extension in the Ionian Basin has been significantly underestimated (by as much as 420 km); and/or (iii) a major sinistral strike-slip zone has decoupled northern and southern Adria in Neogene time. Here we present five alternative reconstructions of Adria at 20 Ma, highlighting the kinematic uncertainties, and satisfying the inferred rotation pattern from this study and/or from previously proposed kinematic reconstructions.

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“…[42] To date, the slab rollback hypothesis has proven the most popular and durable model to explain the formation of back-arc basins, especially in areas of strongly curved arcs [e.g., Garfunkel et al, 1986;Kincaid and Olson, 1987;Dvorkin et al, 1993;Royden, 1993 Taylor and Karner [1983] are (1) they are unable to explain why some subduction zones have back-arc basins, while others do not (although Sdrolias and Mueller [2006] do point out that absolute upper plate motion can explain the lack of back-arc basins at some subduction margins) and (2) none of the 2-D models can explain the highly episodic character of most backarc systems where the main pulse of back-arc opening commonly lasts only several million years [e.g., Faccenna et al, 2001aFaccenna et al, , 2001b (Table 1).…”

Section: Review Of Previous Models Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Collisional model for rapid fore‐arc block rotations, arc curvature, and episodic back‐arc rifting in subduction settings

Wallace

Ellis

Mann

2009

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

101

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[1] We review geophysical and geological data from 23 active and ancient plate boundaries to document a compelling spatial and temporal relationship between collision, plate boundary curvature, rapid tectonic rotations, and the occurrence of back-arc rifting. Our observations support a conceptual model where the change from subduction to collision causes rapid fore-arc rotation (when viewed in a reference frame relative to the bounding tectonic plates), leading to marked plate boundary curvature. Our global compilation reveals that most active back-arc rifts are associated with rapidly rotating fore arcs and nearby collisions. Thus, we propose that collision and rapid fore-arc rotations play a major role in the evolution and kinematics of back-arc basins. We conduct numerical modeling to better understand the physical processes behind these observed rapid tectonic rotations at convergent margins. Our results suggest that the presence of an indentor or choke point in the subduction system (e.g., collision) can generate rapid rotation of the fore arc about a nearby pole and lead to back-arc rifting. The rate of fore-arc rotation and back-arc rifting depends on the incoming indentor velocity and can be greatly enhanced by slab rollback and the presence of a low-viscosity back arc. Where viscosity of the back arc is low, fore-arc rotation dominates; where back-arc viscosity is high, the formation of strike-slip faults and tectonic escape dominates. Our observational and model-derived results illustrate that shallow crustal forces produced by the entry of buoyant features into subduction zones are a fundamental mechanism for the generation of fore-arc block rotations, plate boundary curvature, back-arc rift evolution, and tectonic escape in subduction systems. Rollback of the subducting slab within the mantle will certainly enhance the processes we describe but it is not the only driving force. Wallace, L. M., S. Ellis, and P. Mann (2009), Collisional model for rapid fore-arc block rotations, arc curvature, and episodic back-arc rifting in subduction settings, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q05001,

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Episodic back-arc extension during restricted mantle convection in the Central Mediterranean

Cited by 271 publications

References 37 publications

Seismic strain and seismogenic stress regimes in the crust of the southern Tyrrhenian region

Seismic strain and seismogenic stress regimes in the crust of the southern Tyrrhenian region

Did Adria rotate relative to Africa?

Collisional model for rapid fore‐arc block rotations, arc curvature, and episodic back‐arc rifting in subduction settings

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