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GEOMORPHOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF WESTERN SICILY, ITALY 81

Fig. 1. Geological map of Sicily (data compiled from various Authors — e.g., Catalano et al. 2000, 2013 — modified and simplified).
Inset map shows the main elements of the collisional complex of Sicily (FFTB, Fold and Thrust Belt; BUPP, Boundary of Undeformed Iblean–
Pelagian carbonate Platform).

genesis of the topographic highs and lows of northern Sicily; Geological background
to the interaction between uplift and river incision led by dif-
ferential erosion, the enhancement of the differences in height Western Sicily (Fig. 1) is part of the SE-verging Alpine oro-
between the topographic highs and lows, previously produced; genic belt in the central Mediterranean region and connects
to the Quaternary climatic fluctuations, the degradation of tec- north-eastern Sicily, formed by a “European” element (Pelori-
tonic and river slopes. tani units), to the late Cenozoic Maghrebian chain. In this con-
Based on successions of planation surfaces, erosion glacis tinental subduction collisional complex, several tectonic and
on soft rocks and coastal terraces, developing between stratigraphic elements are differentiated (Fig. 1; Catalano et al.
1900 m a.s.l. and the present-day sea level, Agnesi et al. (2000) 1996, 2002, 2013 and references therein): 1) A complex con-
and Di Maggio (2000) proposed polycyclic morphoevolutio- sisting of a SE-vergent fold and thrust belt, which is composed
nary models for north-western Sicily. These models provide of a “Tethyan” element (Sicilidi units) and an African element
for the development of processes of planation/abrasion that (Sicilian units); 2) The Sicilidi units are represented by
migrate to lower altitudes, over time, due to the relative pro- repeated imbricate slice stack deriving from the deformation
gressive lowering of the base level of erosion produced by of Upper Jurassic–Oligocene basin carbonates and sandy
a gradual trend to uplift. mudstones located in the Sicilide facies domain; 3) The Sici-
This paper is an opportunity for synthesis and analysis of lian units are characterized by allochthonous tectonic units
numeous data we collected over the last 25 years, many of deriving from the deformation of Permian–Miocene deep-
which are here published for the first time, supplemented by water carbonates and bedded cherts deposited in the Imerese
a wealth of information contained in the geological and geo- and Sicanian basins (Basilone et al. 2014, 2016); and Meso-
morphological literature, in order to reconstruct a morphoevo- zoic–Miocene shelf-to-pelagic carbonates located in the
lutionary model for the whole of western Sicily. We present Panormide, Trapanese, Saccense, and Iblean-Pelagian carbo-
here the results of this reconstruction. nate platform or seamount facies domain; 4) upper

GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA, 2017, 68, 1, 80 – 93