Page 5 - Corti_2006

Coexisting geodynamic processes in the Sicily Channel 87

SICILY CHANNEL RIFT ACCRETIONARY PRISM FORELAND
PANTELLERIA MALTA HORST PAMELA 1BIS VEGA 3
RIFT BC 23-65
Sea Sea Level Sea Level
G 50-160
Level
156 Seabed 132 Seabed
Clays with
marls at the base
>465 (Ribera Fm. - Pliocene)
LC 457
Gypsum with shale
(Gessoso-Solfifera Fm. -
Seabed Shales and marls Messinian)
(Ribera Fm. - Pliocene) 710 Marls and shales (Tellaro
Fm. - Tortonian-Langhian)
995
PQ 0-1200 Plio-Quaternary Carbonates and marls
PQ (Ragusa Fm. - Oligocene)
Succession
Upper Coralline 1470 Wackeston/mudstone 1335 Cherty limestones
SIN-RIFT LATE SIN-RIFT UC 100-500 BC Blue Clay 1744 (Amerillo Fm. - Eocene 1583 Marls
Limestone Fm.
(Amerillo Fm. -
UC
(Miocene)
Eocene-Upper Cretaceous)
-Upper Cretaceous)
(Miocene)
(Hybla Fm. -
Marls and shales
(Hybla Fm. -
EARLY BC 50-30 G Globigerina 2133 Lower Cretaceous) 2145 Lower Cretaceous)
Limestone Fm.
(Miocene)
G
Limestones (Chiaramonte Fm. -
PRE-RIFT LC 300 LC Lower Coralline Dolostone 2329 Lower Cretaceous-Upper Tithonian)
Limestone Fm.
(Paleogene-Oligocene)
Marls (Buccheri Fm. - Malm-Dogger)
(Inici Fm. -
2468
Shallow carbonates
Jurassic)
Liassic)
(Cretaceous)
K Normal Fault K Naxxar Gp. 2723 Dolostone (Syracuse Fm. -
(Taormina Fm. -
2973 Triassic)
Figure 4. Lithostratigraphic columns of the rift system and accretionary prism foreland. Data for the Pantelleria rift and Malta horst were derived
by integrating outcrop, well, and seismic data (after Dart et al., 1993); well data for Pamela 1bis and Vega 3 are from Barbier et al. (2000) and
AAVV (1987), respectively, and their locations are in Figure 3.
Channel, we used station velocities from Hollenstein et al. (2003) their motions relative to the fixed station of CAGL (Cagliari,
derived from GPS acquisitions obtained in 1994, 1996, 2000, and Sardinia) were computed (Fig. 7). This analysis shows the
2001. These data were evaluated in the ITRF97 (Boucher et al., northwestward convergence of Noto and Lampedusa relative to
1998), and then the results were finally rotated from the absolute Cagliari at 4–5 mm/yr. Cagliari has very slow motion relative to
frame to a Eurasia plate considered fixed, using the Eulerian fixed Eurasia (e.g., Hollenstein et al., 2003). This compression
parameters (pole and angular velocity) from Sella et al. (2002). is consistent with the Neogene to present Maghrebides-Sicilian
In this reference frame, we selected two GPS stations, belt. Noto and Lampedusa have similar velocities (v =
LAMP
LAMP (Lampedusa Isle, Sicily) and NOTO (Noto, Sicily), and [3.677 ± 0.806 mm/yr], v = [3.992 ± 0.100 mm/yr]), but
NOTO
A B
10 km Plio-Quaternary
AFRICA SICILY
SW s.l. NE
0 0
E K E K M K 1
1
TWT (S) 2 2 TWT (S)
3 3
4 Rollover anticline After Torelli et al. (1995) 4

Figure 5. Line drawing of a seismic section across the Sicily Channel, after Torelli et al. (1995). E—middle–upper Eocene; K—Cretaceous; M—
Messinian.