Pattern and rate of post-20 ka vertical tectonic motion around the Capo Vaticano Promontory (W Calabria, Italy) based on offshore geomorphological indicators

Abstract

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. a b s t r a c tThe magnitude and rate of Late PleistoceneeHolocene vertical tectonic movements offshore of the Capo Vaticano Promontory (western Calabria, southern Italy) have been measured on the basis of the presentday depth variations of the edges of submerged depositional terraces (and associated abrasion platforms) that formed below the storm-wave base, during the sea level stillstand of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). These depositional features, represented by submerged prograding wedges and an associated terrace-shaped upper boundary, have been identified in high-resolution seismic reflection profiles acquired along the continental shelf and the upper slope of the promontory, and are referred to in this study as "Lowstand Infralittoral Prograding Wedges (LIPWs)". Our new data and methods provide evidence that LIPWs can be used as geomorphological indicators of vertical movements in offshore settings with well controlled uncertainty. Removal of the non-tectonic component of vertical changes using an ice-volume equivalent eustatic sea level compilation indicates w11 (AE3.2) m of uplift and w25 (AE3.2) m of subsidence, from southwest to northeast, along the promontory, over a distance of w22 km, during the post-LGM. The resulting uplift and subsidence rates (including both regional and local components) for the last 20.350 (AE1.35) years are 0.54 (AE0.2) mm/y and 1.23 (AE0.25) mm/y, respectively. These results are consistent with longer-term estimates based on uplifted 215e82 ka old coastal terraces and Late Holocene shorelines. This integration of offshore and coastal markers indicates a pattern of vertical movements characterized by a marked asymmetry associated with a northeast down tilt of the Capo Vaticano Promontory. The calculated tilt rate increases by one order of magnitude during the post-LGM in respect to the time interval from 215 to 82 BP. Displacement associated with the NWeSE striking normal fault that bound the Capo Vaticano Promontory to the Gioia Tauro Basin ended in the (?) Pleistocene, and thus does not contribute to the tilt of the promontory at least during the last 215 ka.

Distribution of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile meadows around Lampedusa Island (Strait of Sicily, Italy)

“…A small number of terraced surfaces occur around the island, namely T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 in Figure 4, with angles ranging between 0.7°a nd 2.6°. These features are sedimentary bodies outcropping on the sea floor at shallow depths (generally within -150 m), with a wedge-shaped geometry, and can be interpreted as relic submerged depositional terraces formed in the coastal environment, below the lower limit of wave-storm action (Hernàndez-Molina et al, 2000;Pepe et al, 2014). Their absolute age, in stable areas, is meaningful as a palaeo-environmental proxy of past stages of standing sea level (Chiocci, D'Angelo, & Romagnoli, 2004).…”

The Neapolitan Yellow Tuff caldera offshore the Campi Flegrei: Stratal architecture and kinematic reconstruction during the last 15ky

“…At~2 ka BP the sea level was~1 m lower than the present day. The infralittoral prograding wedge (unit EM2-C) that, still during Roman times, was forming at a water depth of~20 m b.s.l, in substantial equilibrium with the hydrodynamic regime (Pepe et al, 2013) has now subsided to~40 m b.s.l (Fig. 16d).…”

Mantle degassing on a near shore volcano, SE Tyrrhenian Sea

“…(b) High‐resolution morpho‐bathymetric image of the seamount produced using multibeam data acquired in the frame of the ISTEGE project (Loreto et al ., ). Major faults modified from the literature (Monaco and Tortorici, ; Catalano et al ., ; Loreto et al ., ; Pepe et al ., ). Contour lines every −50 m. (c) Tectonic sketch map of southern Europe and the Middle East, modified By Woudloper [CC BY‐SA 1.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0)].…”