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R. Catalano et al. 1 Tectonophysics 260 l 1996) 291-323 293
BISERTA CANYON ADVENTURE
BANK
TUNISIA
o 60km
Fig. 2. Location rnap of the studied areas, showing the rnorphology of the Sardinia Channel, northwestern Sicily offshore and Straits of
Sicily and the principal mainland localities.
crossing western and centrai Sicily where the struc- seismic profiles made their drawing possible. A few
tures are well exposed. The sections are consistent good key reflectors are recognized: the top of the
with the available stratigraphic and structural surface Cretaceous to Oligocene carbonate succession; a
data as well as those of the severa!, mostly reinter- Messinian reflector; the top of the Lower Cretaceous
preted hydrocarbon exploration well logs (Fig. 3). pelagic marlstones (Hybla Fm.); and the top of the
The profiles, which are constructed at depth from Triassic-Liassic carbonate platform. Sequence
severallines of evidence, including !oca! commerciai stratigraphy methods have been used for the thick
seismic lines, represent a working mode! to be tested Plio-Pleistocene succession (Catalano et al., 1993d).
in subsequent research. The sequence boundaries, dated and correlated for
long distances across basins, are recognizable inde-
At sea, a dense network of multichannel and new pendently from local tectonic factors. The updated
high-resolution seismic profiles, commerciai bore- chronostratigraphic chart of the depositional se-
hole drill data and dredge hauls performed in the quences of the Plio-Pleistocene marine record of the
area (Fig. 3) have provided the base fora reinterpre- centrai Mediterranean (Catalano et al., in press) de-
tation of the seismic facies and geometries of the fines the relative age of some of the stratigraphic and
Sicily Straits, Sicily Channel and Pelagian Sea. structural events in the region.
The geologica! sections figured integrate the inter- Seismostratigraphic analyses provided data in ar-
pretation of seismic profiles with well data and eas where stratigraphic and lithologic contro! is ab-
dredge hauls; manual time to depth conversion of
