Page 15 - 38 rid

ARTICLE IN PRESS
44 L. Ferranti et al. / Quaternary International 145– 146 (2006) 30–54
1988; Westaway, 1993; Miyauchi et al., 1994; Tortorici
et al., 2003; Catalano et al., 2003). Recent work on the
Holocene marker indicates a nearly 100% increase in
uplift rates when compared to the late Pleistocene
(Antonioli et al., 2006; Ferranti et al., in preparation).
5.6. Sicily
Outcrops of the MIS 5.5 sea-level highstand marker
are abundant at the northern and eastern shores of the
three-cornered island of Sicily, whereas they are almost
missing on the southwestern shore (Fig. 11; for a
detailed review see Antonioli et al., 2006).
The markers are at elevations between 2 and 175 m
a.s.l., but an obvious asymmetry in elevation is
observed, with sites in eastern Sicily commonly above
100 m, and sites in Sicily at a much lower altitude of
8–14 m. On the northern and eastern shore of the island,
the elevation of the markers increases from west to
south from quasi-eustatic to the maximum regional
altitudes recorded in eastern Sicily. On the northern
side, uplift commences at the newly discovered site of
Cefalu` (Antonioli et al., 2006) lying in the central part of
the coast. On the eastern side, onset of regional uplift is
observed in the northern portion of the Hyblean plateau
(Fig. 11). Along the entire northeastern coast of Sicily,
the highstand marker, which is represented by the inner
margin of a marine terrace locally associated with
S. bubonius-bearing deposits, has been uplifted to
140–175 m with maximum values centred around the
Etna volcano (Fig. 11). As in Calabria, the spatial
distribution of elevated markers documents regional-
scale processes.
In western and southeastern Sicily, the marker lies
generally only a few metres above the predicted eustatic
elevation (Fig. 11). Local differences are explained by
fault displacement particularly evident at the small
promontories standing out from the main run of the
coastline. Most of these faults are transpressional and in
few cases cut through the MIS 5.5 terraces (Antonioli
et al., 2006). Thus, local uplift and subsidence occurs
along restraining and releasing bends, respectively,
along the fault trace. The lack of MIS 5.5 markers on
the southwestern shore of Sicily occurs in a region
spatially coincident with the actively sliding Gela Nappa
(Lickorish et al., 1999).
5.7. Jonian basilicata
Many MIS 5.5 markers were recognized along the
coast of the Jonian Sea south of Taranto Gulf (Fig. 12),
and are generally represented by marine terraces.
However, the chronology of correlated deposits is weak
and S. bubonius was only found at the Castellaneta-
Ponte del Re site (Boenzi et al., 1985; Caldara, 1988).
Attribution of the marine terrace stretching between the
Sibari plain and Taranto Gulf (Fig. 12) is, thus,
performed based on lateral correlation of dated sites
(Dai Pra and Hearty, 1988; Cucci and Cinti, 1998;
Amato, 2000). From this, the terrace is of MIS 5.5 age,
and its uplift decreases from $140 to $40 m a.s.l.
moving from south to north (Fig. 12).
A similar northerly decrease in elevation is observed
in a flight of Middle–Late Pleistocene terraces overlying
the MIS 5.5 terrace (Cucci and Cinti, 1998; Bordoni and
Valensise, 1998; Amato, 2000). This morphological
pattern represents a regional bulge with northeasterly
tilt, here named the Jonian Bulge.
5.8. Puglia
The Puglia region represents the deformed foreland of
the southern Apennines and is split in the three uplifted
blocks of Gargano, Murge, and Salento, separated by
plains and valleys of variable length (Fig. 12). Most MIS
5.5 markers appear on the Salento block to the south,
whereas little is known about the marker distribution on
Gargano and Murge further north.
Within Salento, the MIS 5.5 sites are clustered in the
Taranto area to the west (Fig. 12), and belong to one
wide marine terrace, whose inner margin can be observed
between 37 and 24 m a.s.l. (Hearty and Dai Pra, 1992;
Belluomini et al., 2002). At the Torre Castelluccia site,
U/Th ages determined using C. caespitose yielded an age
of about 138 ka (Dai Pra and Stearns, 1977; Dai Pra,
1982; Hearty and Dai Pra, 1992; Belluomini et al., 2002).
Southeast along the Salento shore, the marker is found
close to the eustatic altitude (Fig. 12). At Torre
Castiglione, the inner margin of a marine terrace is
situated at about 1.5 m a.s.l., and at Gallipoli deposits
with S. bubonius appear close to modern sea-level (Dai
Pra, 1982; Dai Pra and Hearty, 1988; Hearty and Dai
Pra, 1992). A marker close to sea-level is also found at
the southeastern tip of Salento, although the chronolo-
gical constraint imposed by a dated flowstone growing
on the alleged MIS 5.5 marine deposit (Mastronuzzi and
Sanso` , 2003) is relatively weak.
Remnants of the MIS 5.5 marine terrace along the
Adriatic coast are rare and poorly constrained regarding
timing and elevation. One indirect age constrain is
available at the southern Murge (Torre Santa Sabina,
site 227, Fig. 4) where a coastal deposit situated at about
3 m a.s.l. overlies a colluvial deposit bearing Late
Paleolithic–Mousterian flints and, thus, could be of
MIS 5.5 age (Mastronuzzi and Sanso` , 2003).
Overall, the vertical tectonic pattern is characterized
by mild uplift of the western side of Salento (Fig. 12).
The elevation pattern in the Taranto area probably
represents the northeast termination of the Jonian bulge.
On the other hand, unravelling the vertical tectonic
behaviour of the Adriatic coasts is hampered by the
scarce chronological constraints. Activity of the Jonian