Page 8 - Guarino_Pasta_2018

The central and southern parts of Sicily are characterized by the hilly complex of ‘normal’
and ‘chaotic’ sediments dating back to upper Messinian (5.96-5.33 Ma) and belonging to the
Messinian evaporitic series (the so-called ‘Gessoso-Solfifera’ Formation), mixed with whitish
marls of the late Pliocene and by yellowish Plio-Pleistocenic calcareous sandstones.

Fig. 2: Geomorphologic and geodynamic schemes of Sicily (after CATALANO et al. 2013, modi-
fied): (1) flat areas set on Quaternary tectonic depressions, dominated by coastal morpho-
genesis; (2) mountains dominated by river incision and selective erosion, in response to the
regional uplift, marked by a general congruence between topography and structure; (3) hilly
areas of the foreland dominated by river incision and selective erosion, in response to the
regional uplift, characterized by processes of inversion of the relief; (4) gradually uplifting
areas, dominated by the interaction between coastal morphogenesis and Quaternary uplif-
ting; (5) flat areas of foreland dominated by smoothing processes; (6) alluvial plains; (7) Etna
volcanic buildup.
The south-Eastern corner of Sicily is formed by the carbonate platform named ‘Hyblaean
Plateau’, a succession of horizontal layers of mesozoic limestones frequently interrupted by a
radial system of deep canyons departing from the highest elevation (Mt. Lauro, 970 m a.s.l.)
formed by alkaline basaltic flows and calcareous tuff that covered the northern portion of the
plateau during the Pliocene. The Hyblaean and the Etnean districts are divided by the largest
alluvial plain of Sicily, the so-called ‘Piana di Catania’, created by the sediments of the main
Sicilian river: the Simeto, catching water from the southern side of Mt. Soro (i.e. the highest
peak of Nebrodi Mts.) and all along the western slopes of Mt. Etna. The plain of Catania is
the most important agricultural area in the region, consisting of 108,097 ha of arable land and
102,350 ha of permanent crops.
3
Simeto is the only river of Sicily whose flow is reaching the average of 18 m /sec., followed
3
3
by the Alcantara- (8.8 m /sec.) and the Platani River (6.9 m /sec.). Most of the Sicilian rivers
3
are modest (less than 1 m /sec.), with a pronounced seasonal gap during the summer months,
140