Paleomagnetism of the Peloritan Terrane (NE Sicily): From Greater Iberia to the Neo Apennine‐Maghrebide Arc

Abstract

Calabria and the Peloritan Mts. of NE Sicily are exotic terranes predominantly formed by Hercynian rocks interrupting the Meso‐Cenozoic sediments exposed along Apennine‐Maghrebide chains. Dual‐polarity pre‐tilting magnetization direction retrieved from 5 Jurassic, 5 upper Cretaceous‐Eocene, and 4 upper Oligocene sedimentary sites from external‐intermediate Peloritan nappes yield 99° ± 12°, 131° ± 15°, and 138° ± 12° (respectively) clockwise (CW) rotations with respect to Europe. Upper Cretaceous‐Oligocene values are similar to the ∼130° CW late Miocene‐Early Pleistocene rotation previously documented on internal Maghrebian nappes of W Sicily. Jurassic data imply a ∼30° Early Cretaceous counterclockwise (CCW) rotation, similar for sign, magnitude, and timing to Iberia rotation, proving that the Peloritan crust was part of Greater Iberia before its <30 Ma fragmentation and dispersal. Furthermore, 20 Jurassic‐Oligocene sites yield post‐tilting overprint direction (later rotated up to 60° CW) that was acquired synchronous to late Miocene‐Pleistocene rotation. The Peloritan rotation is completely different from the 160° post‐late Jurassic CCW rotation documented on NE Calabria, and demonstrates that the two terranes underwent independent drift histories. Lack of a Sardinian rotation fingerprint (90° CCW between 30 and 15 Ma) suggests that the Peloritan terrane lied S of the Calabria‐Sardinia CCW rotating system, at the non‐rotational apex of an Oligocene‐early Miocene “Paleo Apennine‐Maghrebide Arc.” The Peloritan terrane was stacked onto the African margin and incorporated in the Maghrebian chain in mid Burdigalian (18–17 Ma). Afterward, it formed the S limb of the “Neo Apennine‐Maghrebide Arc,” and was passively carried on top of CW rotating Maghrebide nappes during late Miocene‐Early Pleistocene (12–1 Ma).