Page 9 - Basin_formation_the Egadi

F. Gamberi, A. Argnuni/ Trcronophy.sics252 (1995)285-294
perpendicular to the chain. The NW-SE-trending
INVO basins have the same trend of the Strait of
Sicily rift zone (Argnani, 1990) that cuts the
Maghrebian fold-and-thrust belt just to the southwest
of the Egadi Islands. Although no obvious relation-
ship exists between the INVO basins and the troughs
in the Strait of Sicily, an interaction, in the area of
the INVO basins, between Tyrrhenian extension and
Strait of Sicily rifting cannot be disregarded. In this
hypothesis the Pantelleria valley could act as a trans-
fer of extension from the Strait of Sicily rift zone to
the area of the INVO basins.
The contractional structures within the sedimen-
tary infill of the INVO-2 basin are the result of
compressional pulses that occur intermittently during
the dominant extensional tectonics. As these com-
pressional pulses seem to be common within the
peri-Tyrrhenian extensional basins superposed onto
the thrust-and-fold belt, their origin is likely due to
the dynamics of the adjacent subduction/collision
zone. In fact, it has been shown that successive
locking and unlocking can occur along subduction
zones (Bott et al., 1989). This process can give rise
to significant variation of stress in the plate interiors
and, therefore, compressive pulses can reach areas
otherwise affected by extension.
Acknowledgements
L. Casoni is thanked for help in the preparation of
the figures. Contribution No. 1002 of Istituto per la
Geologia Marina-CNR
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