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Forward modeling of the Southern Apennines
Author(s) -
Endignoux L.,
Moretti I.,
Roure F.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
tectonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.465
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1944-9194
pISSN - 0278-7407
DOI - 10.1029/tc008i005p01095
Subject(s) - geology , décollement , basement , tectonics , accretionary wedge , seismology , neogene , mountain formation , fold and thrust belt , paleontology , compression (physics) , sedimentary rock , paleogene , subduction , cenozoic , thrust fault , structural basin , foreland basin , civil engineering , materials science , engineering , composite material
Forward kinematic modeling has been developed to reconstruct the successive geometries of geological sections. The method is tested here on a geological section across the southern Apeninnes, where syntectonic Neogene deposits are of help in determining the timing of the deformation that progressively affected more eastern parts of the Apulian margin. Well‐known Triassic and Paleogene decollement levels induced thin‐skinned tectonics in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary cover, but the basement geometry is only poorly revealed by subsurface data. Two distinct hypotheses have been tested: (1) thin‐skinned tectonics and (2) basement‐involved tectonics. The shortening of the prism is estimated to be between 170 and 210 km, whether or not the basement is involved in the imbricated stack of thrust sheets. The results are discussed in the light of regional constraints (i.e., regional flexure, uplifts, etc.), which favor basement‐involved structures at depth. In addition to the effects of compression, other phenomena affected the geometry of the prism and have to be taken into account. Because of the recent uplift of the belt, the inner parts of the Apenninic wedge have emerged and undergone erosion. Part of this eroded material has been simultaneously trapped in piggyback basins, which record both the geometric and temporal evolution of the prism. Normal faulting also affected the western part of the southern Apennines, reactivating older thrust as detachment surfaces along which block rotation occurred.