Late Quaternary activity of the Scorciabuoi Fault (southern Italy) as inferred from morphotectonic investigations and numerical modeling

Abstract

Following a detailed morphotectonic analysis of the fluvial terraces of the Sauro River (Basilicata, southern Italy), the present research documents for the first time the late Quaternary tectonic activity of the Scorciabuoi Fault and discusses its inferred seismogenic potential. On the basis of both remote sensing techniques and detailed field investigations, four fill terraces have been recognized and mapped along the Sauro Valley showing differential cumulative displacements across the fault. These terraces are genetically correlated with four highstand sea level periods. Following stratigraphic and geological age constraints and on the basis of the correlation with a sequence of marine and fluvial terraces characterizing the lower Agri Valley, the Sauro terraces likely formed between 80 (or 100) ka and Present. The inferred long‐term slip rate of the Scorciabuoi Fault ranges between 0.5 and 1.0 mm/a. Numerical simulations based on a crustal elastic deformation model also contribute to separate and tentatively quantify the regional uplift rate (∼1.0–1.4 mm/a) and to improve the overall reconstruction of the late Quaternary evolution of the area. The synergic but distinct roles played by eustatism, regional uplift, and faulting are eventually appreciated.

Geomorphology of active faulting and seismic hazard assessment: New tools and future challenges

“…GPR has a limited penetration depth, but offers high resolution, whereas electrical resistivity analysis that is also used for tracing faults in the subsurface (e.g. Caputo et al, 2007;Fountoulis et al, in press this issue) offers low resolution, but can penetrate deeper. GPR can be combined with other geophysical methods to improve resolution and penetration depth over different scales such as electrical tomography studies (Vanneste et al, 2001;Grützner et al, 2012) or seismic reflection (Chow et al, 2001).…”

Building damage scenarios based on exploitation of Housner intensity derived from finite faults ground motion simulations

“…2 are those that appear in DISS v. 3.0.2, a database of seismogenic sources for Italy and some surrounding countries (DISS Working Group 2006;Basili et al 2008), with the exception of the F9 source. This fault has been hypothesized on the basis of detailed morphotectonic and geological investigations, several electrical resistivity tomographies and a palaeoseismological trench of the Scorciabuoi Fault (Caputo et al 2007). Table 1 lists the main geometric and focal parameters of the identified seismogenic sources.…”

The application of electrical resistivity tomography and gravimetric survey as useful tools in an active tectonics study of the Sudetic Marginal Fault (Bohemian Massif, central Europe)

“…Shallow subvertical discontinuous structures up to 100 m below the surface are effectively located through resistivity profiling or electrical resistivity tomography, very low frequency methods, shallow seismic refraction, and microgravity survey (e.g. Badura et al, 2002;Caputo et al, 2003Caputo et al, , 2007Nguyen et al, 2005Nguyen et al, , 2007Similox-Tohon et al, 2006;Suski et al, 2010;Suzuki et al, 2000;Tsai et al, 2008;Valenta et al, 2008;Vanneste et al, 2008). In specific cases, the application of ground penetrating radar yields positive results with a penetration depth of up to 10 m (e.g.…”