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ARTICLE IN PRESS 43

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Fig. 12. Elevation of the MIS 5.5 markers, indicated by numbers in black in metres with respect to modern s.l., plotted on a DEM of Jonian
Basilicata and Puglia. Markers type and quality factor as listed in Additional Table are indicated. Major folds in Puglia and in the Southern
Apennines, as well as the thrust front of the belt are shown. The Jonian bulge shows a NE-ward slope, which constraints the elevation of the MIS 5.5
along the Jonian coast.

A different history of vertical displacement is found northern Calabria (Carobene and Dai Pra, 1990) to the
further to the south in the Sele plain, where the marker Capo Vaticano promontory and the coasts of the
is uplifted for $10 m. This plain is probably affected by Messina Straits (Dumas et al., 1982, 1987b; Barrier
the same tectonic activity as the southern Campania and et al., 1988; Balescu et al., 1997; Miyauchi et al., 1994;
Basilicata rocky coasts, where the marker is progres- Tortorici et al., 2003; Dumas and Raffy, 2004). The
sively uplifted to the south for a few metres relative to nature of the transition between the two elevation
central and northern Campania (i.e. Policastro Gulf, ranges is, however, poorly understood, since a $100 km
Fig. 10). In addition, more recent uplift is testified by the coastal stretch with unreported outcrops occurs between
present elevation of the 5c and 5a markers in the area, the two areas. On the Jonian side of the region, nothing
which lies some metres above the present sea-level is known about the marker in a nearly 100 km wide
(Iannace et al., 2001; Esposito et al., 2003). stretch north of the Crotone promontory and up to the
Sibari plain (Fig. 11), where markers occur between 65
5.5. Calabria and 120–135 m (Carobene, 2003; Cucci and Cinti, 1998;
Cucci, 2004). South of the Crotone promontory a
The MIS 5.5 sea-level highstand is documented in number of sites show a north–south increase of
Calabria by a spectacularly wide marine terrace being elevation from $80–100 m at the whole stretch of the
part of a flight of terraces recording the long-term uplift Jonian coast (Gliozzi, 1988; Palmentola et al., 1990;
of the region (Cosentino and Gliozzi, 1988; Westaway, Zecchin et al., 2004) to $160 m at southernmost
1993; Miyauchi et al., 1994). Locally, the terrace is Calabria coasts (Hearty, 1986; Hearty et al., 1986;
associated with beach deposits which include rich Dumas et al., 1987b, 1988; Dumas and Raffy, 1993;
S. bubonius assemblages, as in the case of Ravagnese Miyauchi et al., 1994).
and Bovetto (Gignoux, 1913; Bonfiglio, 1972). The
elevation of the MIS 5.5 terrace increases from north to The uplift pattern in this region has been related to
south and reaches its maximum values of 175 m in the interplay between regional and local (i.e. fault-
southern Calabria (Fig. 11). related) components of vertical displacement, the former
being associated with the subducted Jonian slab and the
On the Tyrrhenian side of the region, the terrace latter being encountered at the footwall of large-
elevation increases by one order of magnitude from displacement normal faults (Cosentino and Gliozzi,