During the frontal accretion due to the Late Miocene–Quaternary thrusting, the interior of the Apenninic chain underwent large-scale extension which produced the opening of the Tyrrhenian Oceanic Basin, a back-arc basin in respect to the late Cenozoic Apenninic chain, and the onset of the Quaternary volcanic activity in the Campanian Plain and more generally in the Tyrrhenian area. To outline the space/time distribution and the geotectonic setting of the Tyrrhenian volcanics we approached the problem from a kinematic point of view. A synthesis of the available geological and geophysical data leads us to suggest that the progressive migration of the Apenninic Arcs is responsible for the extension phenomena which took place during the last 5 Ma. At first, the extension resulted from the kinematic interaction between the Northern Apenninic Arc and the Southern Apenninic Arc during the Late Pliocene. Then, from the Early Pleistocene the extension was controlled by the SE migration of the Southern arc only, and therefore it can be regarded as part of the general Southern Tyrrhenian extension phenomenon. Due to the intense thinning, the isotherms migrated upward very rapidly within the Toscana, Latium and Campania lithosphere where the melting point was reached, giving rise to the onset of volcanic activity at the end of the Early Pleistocene.
A kinematic model for the Plio-Quaternary evolution of the Tyrrhenian-Apenninic system: implications for rifting processes and volcanism.
TURCO, Eugenio;
1998-01-01
Abstract
During the frontal accretion due to the Late Miocene–Quaternary thrusting, the interior of the Apenninic chain underwent large-scale extension which produced the opening of the Tyrrhenian Oceanic Basin, a back-arc basin in respect to the late Cenozoic Apenninic chain, and the onset of the Quaternary volcanic activity in the Campanian Plain and more generally in the Tyrrhenian area. To outline the space/time distribution and the geotectonic setting of the Tyrrhenian volcanics we approached the problem from a kinematic point of view. A synthesis of the available geological and geophysical data leads us to suggest that the progressive migration of the Apenninic Arcs is responsible for the extension phenomena which took place during the last 5 Ma. At first, the extension resulted from the kinematic interaction between the Northern Apenninic Arc and the Southern Apenninic Arc during the Late Pliocene. Then, from the Early Pleistocene the extension was controlled by the SE migration of the Southern arc only, and therefore it can be regarded as part of the general Southern Tyrrhenian extension phenomenon. Due to the intense thinning, the isotherms migrated upward very rapidly within the Toscana, Latium and Campania lithosphere where the melting point was reached, giving rise to the onset of volcanic activity at the end of the Early Pleistocene.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
