seismological and structural constraints on the 2011 2013 m max 4 6 seismic sequence at the south eastern edge of the calabrian arc north eastern sicily italy abstract between june 2011 and september 2013 the nebrodi mountains region was affected by a seismic swarm consisting of 2700 events with local magnitude 1 3 ml 4 6 and located in the 5 9 km depth interval the seismic swarm defines a seismogenetic volume elongated along the e w direction and encompasses the nw se oriented tectonic boundary between the calabrian arc north eastward and the sicilide units south westward by exploring the recent tectonic deformation and the seismic behavior of the region this study aims at providing additional constraints on the seismogenetic faults at the southern termination of the calabrian arc waveform similarities analysis allowed observing that 45 of the whole dataset can be grouped into six different families of seismic events earthquake multiplet families are mainly located in the eastern part of the seismogenetic volume we suggest that such a feature is responsive to the lateral lithological variations as highlighted by geology at the surface and p wave seismic tomography at depth of 10 km stress tensor inversions performed on fpss indicate that the investigated region is currently subject to a nearly biaxial stress state in an extensional regime such that crustal stretching occurs along both nw se and ne sw directions accordingly mesoscale fault geometries and kinematics analyses evidence that a younger normal faulting stress regime led to a tectonic negative inversion by replacing the pre existing strike slip one based on our results and findings reported in recent literature we refer such a crustal stretching to mantle upwelling process as evidenced by diffuse mantle derived gas emissions coupled with a tectonic uplift involving north eastern sicily since middle pleistocene moreover seismic swarms striking the region would be related to the migration of mantle and sub crustal fluids toward the surface along the complex network of tectonic structures cutting the crust and acting as pathways

contribution of structural analysis to understanding the geodynamic evolution of the calabrian arc southern italy abstract a marked curvature of crustal structures characterizes the calabrian arc in southern italy the overall deformation of the arc seems mostly controlled by the sangineto shear zone to the north and by the mt kumeta alcantara shear zone to the south which both separate different crustal sectors other important fault systems cut the iblean foreland scicli ragusa fault zone and many others dissect the crystalline units of central calabria neotectonic structural analyses have been carried out in order to recognize the character of the plio pleistocene tectonic phases and their bearing on the present configuration of the arc after the middle miocene extensional phase an early middle pliocene compressional phase is detectable in many parts of the arc right and left lateral displacements respectively characterize the mt kumeta alcantara and sangineto shear zones and right lateral movements are also detectable within the scicli ragusa fault system finally the pleistocene tensional regime seems to have been controlled mainly by uplift the structural and neotectonic data allow us to propose a model of the recent evolution of the arc which was bent mainly as a result of opposed wrench faulting along the sangineto and mt kumeta alcantara shear zones

ionian marine terraces of southern italy insights into the quaternary tectonic evolution of the area 1 new detailed morphotectonic analyses of a well exposed flight of marine terraces along the ionian coast of southern italy has been carried out the area represents a key transect for investigating the middle late quaternary evolution of the southern apennines chain foredeep foreland geodynamic system a major result of the research is the reconstruction of a virtually complete 3d geometry of the marine surfaces along a coastal sector of ca 70 km which 1 documents the occurrence of 18 paleo shorelines and 2 provides evidence for a strong regional uplift affecting the investigated area following a systematic critical review of literature relating to geochronological data integrated with a morphogenetic model based on the interaction between tectonic uplift and eustatic sea level changes the different terraces are correlated to as many highstand sea level peaks dating the highest oldest terrace to ca 600 ka mis 15 the vertical and horizontal distribution of the terraces show a general convergence of the paleo shorelines toward nne which indicates a decreasing trend in differential uplift in that direction ranging from almost 2 mm a in the southwestern sector to about 0 2 mm a in the northeastern sector detailed mapping and 3d reconstruction also emphasize the partitioning of the area into three distinct sectors characterized by different tilting rates this behavior is likely caused by the combined role and activity of three major tectonic structures working at different scales and rates including 1 the reactivation of an out of sequence thrust 2 sliding along the basal detachment of the external apennines wedge and 3 a lithospheric scale duplexing crustal or deeper as a major conclusion within the external sector of the southern apennines chain and its foredeep regional shortening and a contractional tectonic regime persisted throughout the whole quaternary and it is probably still active

the dynamics of back arc extension an experimental approach to the opening of the tyrrhenian sea the e w opening tyrrhenian sea developed after the cretaceous palaeogene alpine collision nearly perpendicular to the motion of the african plate as a back arc of the adria ionian westward subduction three driving mechanisms have been proposed to explain the dynamic evolution of the tyrrhenian apennine system 1 the northward indentation of the african plate 2 the retreating subduction of the adria ionian lithosphere and 3 the gravitational collapse of the alpine post collisional wedge in order to define the relative contribution of each of these mechanisms in the neogene dynamic of the tyrrhenian apennine system we performed 3 d laboratory experiments in which we simulated a retreating subduction process in a compressional regime oriented perpendicularly to the direction of subduction in this framework we also tested the influence of the gravitational collapse of the overriding plate experiments were constructed using dry sand and silicone putties to simulate brittle upper crust and ductile lower crust upper mantle respectively these layers floated on a high density low viscosity glucose syrup which simulated the asthenosphere the main conclusion of our experiments is that large scale continental extension similar to that observed in the tyrrhenian area could be reproduced perpendicular to the shortening direction induced by the indentation of the african plate in this framework extensional processes are indeed possible if the trench retreat velocity is higher than the rate of shortening induced by the advancing african plate our experimental results indicate that this high trench retreat velocity could be explained by the coexistence of the gravitational collapse of the post alpine wedge with a slab pull process linked to the retreating subduction of the adria ionian plate while the first mechanism is predominant in the northern tyrrhenian area the second one seems to be important in the latest stage of extension and oceanic accretion of the southern tyrrhenian area

active faulting and seismicity along the siculo calabrian rift zone southern italy abstract southern italy is dominated by extensional tectonics that in the calabrian arc and eastern sicily produced the development of the siculo calabrian rift zone scrz this zone is represented by a 370 km long fault belt consisting of 10 to 50 km long distinct fault segments which extend both offshore and on land being also responsible of the crustal seismicity of this region the geological and morphological observations indicate that the active normal faults of the scrz are characterized by throw rates ranging from 0 7 to 3 1 mm a they accommodate an almost uniform horizontal extension rate of about 3 0 mm a along a wnw ese regional extension direction based on our field observations and following empirical relationships between magnitude and surface rupture length connections between large crustal earthquakes and distinct fault segments of the scrz have been also tentatively tested our data indicate moreover that the magnitudes m of the historical and instrumental earthquakes are consistent with the estimated values and that the geometry and kinematics of the fault segments and the related different crustal features of the scrz control the different seismic behaviours of adjacent portions of the active rift zone

origin and role of major strike slip transfers during plate collision in the central mediterranean variations in the crustal structure along the northern african plate margin have caused different modes of collision with eurasia lateral density variations along the central mediterranean collision zone are expressed in a change of the angle of the downbending african plate and lead to the formation of strike slip transfers in these transition zones that are roughly perpendicular to the trend of the collisional zone in some cases these transfer zones are developed into hinge faults while in others they can be developed into transform faults this process governs the segmentation of the collision zone in the central mediterranean region south of the maghrebian thrust belt in tunisia and sicily through the calabrian arc to the northeastern hellenic arc extending further to the cyprian arc and to the taurus zagros chain

european mediterranean regional centroid moment tensors 1997 2000 the mediterranean region is seismically very active and undergoing rapid deformation earthquakes as strong as m 6 are present but relatively rare on the other hand moderate magnitude seismicity 4 5 m 5 5 is widespread and often damaging an improved knowedge of moderate magnitude earthquakes can contribute significantly to a better understanding of active tectonics in the region harvard centroid moment tensors cmt today represent the most widely used reference for reliable source mechanisms but modelling seismic sources with the cmt technique for earthquakes with magnitude less than m 5 5 5 is quite difficult since 1997 we are using an extension of the standard cmt algorithm to compute regional centroid moment tensors rcmt for moderate magnitude earthquakes mw as low as 4 0 analyzing intermediate period surface waves from regional and teleseismic seismograms we routinely apply the algorithm to european mediterranean seismicity to produce a catalog of seismic moment tensors for events with magnitude between 4 5 and 5 5 which generally are not included in the harvard cmt catalog in this paper we show the results for earthquakes that occurred between 1997 and 2000 consisting of 252 solutions and we discuss the characteristics of the catalog and the areas where these new data are most relevant

origin of the rhyolitic rocks of the taupo volcanic zone new zealand abstract major element rb sr ba cr and v analyses as well as 13 new rare earth element ree analyses are presented for the greywacke basement surrounding the taupo volcanic zone tvz on this basis the basement rocks are divided into a western basement of approximately andesitic composition 62 sio2 and an eastern basement of approximately granodiorite composition 75 sio2 these analyses 5 new ree analyses for the rhyolites and published data for the volcanic rocks of tvz are used to investigate the petrogenesis of rhyolitic rocks in the area least squares mixing calculations for major elements show that 88 fractional crystallisation of high alumina basalt produces a liquid of rhyolitic bulk composition but rayleigh fractionation models show that the trace element concentrations of the rhyolites are inconsistent with basalt fractionation 57 fractionation of the assemblage plagioclase 35 6 orthopyroxene 9 7 clinopyroxene 7 8 ilmenite 0 6 and magnetite 3 4 from a plagioclase pyroxene andesite can produce liquids of rhyolitic bulk composition ree concentrations produced by this model are consistent with those observed in the rhyolites but predicted ba and rb values are lower and v concentrations are higher than those in the rhyolites andesite fractionation also produces an unrealistic fractionation of the cr v ratio a non modal melting model involving 35 melting of a granulitic assemblage plagioclase quartz clinopyroxene orthopyroxene biotite magnetite cordierite with a bulk composition equivalent to the western basement can reproduce the ree pattern of the rhyolites as well as the concentrations of rb and ba sr values remain anomalously high but the cr v ratio does not indicate fractionation absolute values of cr and v are within the uncertainties of published crystal liquid partition coefficients the rhyolites have relatively flat ree patterns la yb 7 5 as do the greywackes la yb 8 2 so it is therefore unlikely that the rhyolites equilibrated with a garnet or amphibole bearing assemblage

gps based monitoring of land subsidence in the po plain northern italy abstract we use regional and local networks of continuously operating gps stations cgps distributed in the northern central part of the italian peninsula to investigate the subsidence phenomenon of the po plain sedimentary basin and vertical movements of the surrounding areas the observations of 146 scientific and commercial stations are analyzed and compared adopting analytical techniques widely used to study gps coordinate time series the use of simple antenna supports in commercial installations instead of a more rigorous geodetic monument does not seem to induce significant differences in the noise characteristics and in the amplitudes of annual and semi annual periodic signals the vertical velocity field deduced from 129 sites with observation time spans greater than one year located in the central northern italian peninsula indicates the presence of two mainly subsidence areas the po plain and the arno plain while the sites located in the alps and apennine domains show relatively low uplift the areas of the po plain monitored by gps seem to indicate that the subsidence rate is constant or in some cases decreasing with respect to the values obtained from the last measurements performed up to 2006 by means of both sar and levelling techniques only the central part of the eastern po plain close to the apennine border modena city area is characterized by a peak in subsidence consisting in a velocity of about 15 mm yr

origin and evolution of mid cretaceous garnet bearing intermediate and silicic volcanics from canterbury new zealand abstract the mt somers volcanics are part of a suite of mid cretaceous 89 2 ma intermediate to silicic volcanics erupted onto an eroded surface of torlesse sediments rock types vary from basaltic andesite to high silica rhyolite andesites are medium to high k with phenocrysts of plagioclase orthopyroxene and pigeonite dacites are peraluminous and commonly contain granulite facies xenoliths and garnet xenocrysts equilibrium mineral assemblages indicate metamorphic pressures of close to 6 kbar at 800 c rhyolites are peraluminous with phenocrysts of quartz sanidine plagioclase biotite garnet and orthopyroxene the ferromagnesian phases show textural evidence of magmatic crystallization and are chemically distinct from xenocryst phases in dacites equilibrium assemblages indicate that early magmatic crystallization occurred at close to 7 kbar 20 km depth at above 850 c with melt water contents of less than 3 5 major element contents trace element contents and an initial 87 sr 86 sr ratio of 0 7085 indicate that the rhyolites formed by partial melting of dominantly quartzo feldspathic torlesse sediments leaving a granulite facies residue the chemical variation displayed by the rhyolites is best explained by fractional crystallization of the observed high pressure phenocryst assemblage most elements show a compositional gap between rhyolite and dacite the major element trace element and sr isotope compositions of the intermediate lavas are best explained by assimilation of lower crustal material combined with fractional crystallization in mantle derived tholeiitic magmas magmatism was the result of heat and magma flux from the mantle during the change from compressive to extensional tectonics after the culmination of the rangitata orogeny

p wave deep velocity structure of the southern tyrrhenian subduction zone from nonlinear teleseismic traveltime tomography a new 3 d model for the p wave velocity structure of the southern tyrrhenian subduction zone stsz is determined from nonlinear inversion of relative arrival times of teleseismic events the data used in the imaging are the travel time residuals of both direct p and pk p df and secondary pp sp pcp pkp bc phases computed with respect to the global 1 d velocity model ak135 2308 teleseismic waveforms were collected for this study from 109 events recorded by the italian national seismic network rsnc during 1988 1998 the velocity perturbation field is reconstructed gradually by means an iterative sequence of linearized inversions incorporating a 3 d minimum travel time ray tracing the tomographic images reveal a broad high velocity zone dominating the pattern of lateral variations beneath the southern tyrrhenian sea and calabria this fast structure extends laterally for a maximum of 350 km from northern sicily to southern campania and vertically for at least 400 km from the uppermost mantle down to 500 km depth below 350 km the geometry of the depicted slab is characterized by horizontal deflection of the subducting lithosphere towards the central tyrrhenian basin

genesis of lavas of the taupo volcanic zone north island new zealand the taupo volcanic zone forms part of the taupo hikurangi subduction system and comprises five volcanic centres tongariro taupo maroa okataina and rotorua tongariro volcanic centre is formed almost entirely of andesite while the other four centres contain predominantly rhyolitic volcanics and later fissure eruptions of high al basalt estimated total volume of each lava type are as follows 2 km3 of high al basalt 10 000 km3 of rhyolite and ignimbrite 97 4 the location of the andesites and vent alignments suggest a source from a subduction zone underlying the area however the lavas differ chemically from island arc andesites such as those of tonga in particular by having higher contents of the alkali elements light ree and sr and pb isotopes this suggests some crustal contamination and it is considered that this may occur beneath the wide accretionary prism of the subduction system amphibolite of the subduction zone will break down between 80 and 100 km and a partial melt will rise a multi stage process of magma genesis is then likely to occur high al basalts are thought to be derived from partial melting of a garnet free peridotite near the top of the mantle wedge overlying the subduction zone locations of the vents controlled largely by faults within the crust rhyolites and ignimbrites were probably derived from partial melting of mesozoic greywacke and argillite under the taupo volcanic zone initial partial melting may have been due to hydration of the base of the crust the water having come from dehydration of the downgoing slab the partial melts would rise to form granodiorite plutons and final release of the magma to form rhyolites and ignimbrites was allowed because of extension within the taupo graben dacites of the bay of plenty probably resulted from mixing of andesitic magma with small amounts of rhyolitic magma but those on the eastern side of the rotorua taupo area were more likely formed by a higher degree of partial melting of the mesozoic greywacke argillite basement this may be due to intrusion of andesite magma on this side of the taupo volcanic zone

active tectonics and gps data analysis of the maghrebian thrust belt and africa eurasia plate convergence in tunisia abstract the atlas mountains of tunisia belong to the seismically active zone of the africa nubia eurasia plate boundary in the central western mediterranean we study the eastern section of the maghrebian thrust belt using a subset 6 days from each of 5 years 2014 to 2018 of permanent survey mode gps data and active tectonics wnw to nnw trending velocities express crustal motion and geodetic strain fields from the sahara platform to the tell atlas consistent with african plate convergence to the south the velocities and trajectories indicate nearly wnw ese trending right lateral motion of the sahara fault related atlas fold belt with respect to the sahara platform farther north and northeast the significant decrease in velocities between the eastern platform sahel central atlas and tell atlas and the clockwise rotation mark the nnw trending shortening deformation associated with local ene wsw extension visible in the quaternary grabens the velocity field and strain distribution associated with the active e w to wnw ese trending right lateral faulting and ne sw fault related folds illustrate the transpression tectonics and support the identification of four tectonic domains north of the africa nubia platform in tunisia the transpression reduces northward when reaching the central and tell atlas these results change our perception of the africa eurasia plate boundary previously located along the western mediterranean coastline

gps derived strain rate field within the boundary zones of the eurasian african and arabian plates we use the gps velocity field 1988 1998 for eastern mediterranean and asia minor to determine the crustal deformation strain rate field in an area bounded by 35 n and 43 n and 20 e and 48 e we calculate the normal and shear strain rate components associated with the major faults and compare these qualitatively with seismological data uncertainties in the calculation of the strain rates reach 50 nstrain yr 1 in sparsely observed parts of anatolia whereas we estimate errors 20 nstrain yr 1 in the aegean and marmara regions the largest compressional strain rate components in the eastern part of the study area occur along the greater caucasus mountain front reaching 70 nstrain yr 1 1 nstrain yr 1 0 0317 10 15 s 1 the north anatolian fault zone is the clearest feature in the shear strain rate field it is expressed as a pronounced dextral strike slip fault zone reaching rates of up to 170 nstrain yr 1 this holds true also for the izmit area where the august 17 1999 earthquake occurred central anatolia is almost strain free whereas extension prevails in western anatolia the principal axes of extension vary around the n s direction with strain rates of up to 85 nstrain yr 1 these extensional areas coincide with graben features and normal faulting earthquakes the central and southwestern aegean sea is strain free with values far below 40 nstrain yr 1 the seismic cluster around the dodekanissa islands southeastern aegean sea coincides with nw se oriented extension attaining strain rates of up to 90 nstrain yr 1 this area of extension also exhibits recent active volcanism the entire hellenic arc shows compressional strain rates perpendicular to the arc the pliny strabo troughs along the eastern segment of the arc show left lateral shear strain rates reaching 80 nstrain yr 1 significant extension is found in central greece with a nne ssw oriented maximum of 120 nstrain yr 1 centered around the gulf of corinthos the kephalonia fault zone in nw greece is a distinct dextral fault zone separating apulia from the rapidly moving aegean microplate right lateral shear strain rates reach 150 nstrain yr 1

stress directions and shear wave anisotropy observations from local earthquakes in southeastern sicily italy the spatial distribution of 414 earthquakes 1 0 m l 4 6 recorded from 1994 to 2002 in southeastern sicily italy has been analyzed the seismicity generally coincides with mapped plio quaternary faults including the north north west south southeast striking offshore fault system which is the most important tectonic structure of the area for the best located events we computed 70 focal mechanisms by combining p wave polarities with s wave polarizations a predom inance of strike slip and normal faults was observed focal mechanisms were then inverted for stress tensor parameters by using the algorithm of gephart and forsyth the results highlighted a region governed mainly by a north northwest south south east to northwest southeast compressional stress regime moreover anisotropy anal ysis of shear waves showed a polarization of fast s waves coherently aligned with this stress direction a finer scale analysis of the stress tensor evidenced three regions characterized by slightly differing orientation of the greatest principal stress axis r1 the eastern sector displays a nearly horizontal r1 trending northwest southeast the central sector is affected by a low dip north northwest south southeast r1 whereas in the western sector a north northwest south southeast oriented r1 with a higher dip angle was detected finally the comparison of the spatial distribution of seismicity occurring during 1994 2002 with locations of previous instrumental earthquakes and larger m 5 0 historical events showed that the seismicity patterns are persistent

strain accumulation across the messina straits and kinematics of sicily and calabria from gps data and dislocation modeling article i nfo we use global positioning system gps velocities and dislocation modeling to investigate the rate and nature of interseismic strain accumulation in the area affected by the 1908 mw 7 1 messina earthquake southern italy within the framework of the complex central mediterranean microplate kinematics our data confirm a change in the velocity trends between sicily and calabria moving from nnw ward to ne ward with respect to eurasia and detail a fan like pattern across the messina straits where maximum extensional strain rates are 65 nanostrains yr extension normal to the coast of northern sicily is consistent with the presence of sw ne trending normal faults half space dislocation models of the gps velocities are used to infer the slip rates and geometric fault parameters of the fault zone that ruptured in the messina earthquake the inversion and the bootstrap analysis of model uncertainties finds optimal values of 3 5 2 0 1 3

exhumed conduit records magma ascent and drain back during a strombolian eruption at tongariro volcano new zealand field evidence from a basaltic andesite dyke preserved in the eroded wall of a scoria cone at red crater tongariro volcano new zealand records a history of up conduit magma flow during a strombolian eruption subsequent drain back and final cessation of flow the dyke intrudes pre strombolian andesite lavas and the overlying proximal basaltic andesite scoria deposits associated with contemporaneous lavas which are in turn overlain by laminated lapilli tuff and large blocks textural and kinematic evidence of ductile shear recorded in basaltic andesite at the dyke margins records magma deformation imposed by bypassing movement of magma up the centre of the conduit during the eruption whereas the basaltic andesite occupying the central part of the lowermost exposures of the dyke preserves ductile flow folds with the opposite down flow shear sense the evidence indicates that the downward magma flow followed the eruption and this draining left the central part of the dyke empty unfilled at uppermost levels we discuss the kinematic constraints in the context of the criteria for up flow of mafic magma and present the factors most likely to result in a final drain back event with reference to experimental and numerical work we propose a draining model for the end of this eruption and that magmatic drain back may feature commonly during closing stages of strombolian eruptions at mafic volcanoes drain back which leaves large cavities in a volcanic edifice could result in hazardous structural instabilities

sks splitting in southern italy anisotropy variations in a fragmented subduction zone abstract in this paper we present a collection of good quality shear wave splitting measurements in southern italy in addition to a large amount of previous splitting measurements we present new data from 15 teleseisms recorded from 2003 to 2006 at the 40 stations of the cat scan temporary network these new measurements provide additional constraints on the anisotropic behaviour of the study region and better define the fast directions in the southern part of the apulian platform for our analysis we have selected well recorded sks phases and we have used the method of silver and chan to obtain the splitting parameters the azimuth of the fast polarized shear wave and delay time t shear wave splitting results reveal the presence of a strong seismic anisotropy in the subduction system below the region three different geological and geodynamic regions are characterized by different anisotropic parameters the calabrian arc domain has fast directions oriented nne ssw and the southern apennines domain has fast directions oriented nnw sse this rotation of fast axes following the arcuate shape of the slab is marked by a lack of resolved measurements which occurs at the transition zone between those two domains the third domain is identified in the apulian platform here fast directions are oriented almost n s in the northern part and nne ssw to ene wsw in the southern one the large number of splitting parameters evaluated for events coming from different back azimuth allows us to hypothesize the presence of a depth dependent anisotropic structure which should be more complicated than a simple 2 layer model below the southern apennines and the calabrian arc domains and to constrain at 50 km depth the upper limit of the anisotropic layer at least at the edge of southern apennines and apulian platform we interpret the variability in fast directions as related to the fragmented subduction system in the mantle of this region the trench parallel observed in calabrian arc and in southern apennines has its main source in the asthenospheric flow below the slab likely due to the pressure induced by the retrograde motion of the slab itself the pattern of in the apulian platform does not appear to be the direct result of the rollback motion of the slab whose influence is limited to about 100 km from the slab the anisotropy in the apulian platform may be related to an asthenospheric flow deflected by the complicated structure of the adriatic microplate or may also be explained as frozen in lithospheric anisotropy

gps velocity and strain fields in sicily and southern calabria italy updated geodetic constraints on tectonic block interaction in the central mediterranean 1 we present an improved rendition of the geodetic velocity and strain fields in sicily and southern calabria obtained through the analysis of 18 years of gps observations from continuous and survey station networks the dense spatial coverage of geodetic data provides precise quantitative estimates of previously established first order active kinematic features including i a narrow east west elongated belt of contraction 1 1 5 mm yr extending offshore northern sicily from ustica to stromboli across the aeolian islands ii a narrow east west trending contractional belt located along the northern rim of the hyblean plateau in southern sicily with shortening at up to 4 4 mm yr iii right motion 3 6 mm yr on the aeolian tindari letojanni fault atlf system a main shear zone extending from the aeolian islands to the ionian coast of sicily with significant transpression and transtension partitioned between discrete sectors of the fault iv transtension 1 mm yr across the sicily channel between sicily and north africa we use geodetic observations coupled to geological constraints to better elucidate the interplay of crustal blocks revealed in the investigated area in particular we focus on the atlf which forms the primary boundary between the sicilian and calabrian blocks the atlf juxtaposes north south contraction between sicily and the tyrrhenian block with northwest southeast extension in northeastern sicily and calabria contraction between sicily and tyrrhenian blocks probably arises from the main europe nubia convergence although sicily has a component of lateral motion away from nubia we found that convergence is not restricted to the northern offshore as commonly believed but is widely accommodated between the frontal belt and the northern rim of the hyblean foreland in southern sicily geodetic data also indicate that active right shear on the atlf occurs to the southeast of the mapped fault array in northern sicily suggesting the fault cuts through till the ionian coast of the island the small geodetic divergence between the hyblean and apulian blocks rimming on both sides the calabria block and subjacent ionian slab coupled with marine geophysical evidences in the ionian sea lends credit to the proposed deep root of the atlf and to a fragmentation of the ionian domain

structural analysis and miocene to present tectonic evolution of a lithospheric scale transcurrent lineament the sciacca fault sicilian channel central mediterranean sea abstract seismo stratigraphic and structural analysis of a large number of multichannel seismic reflection profiles acquired in the northern part of the sicilian channel allowed a 3 d reconstruction of a regional ns trending transfer zone which displays a transcurrent tectonic regime and that is of broad relevance for its seismotectonic and geodynamic implications it is constituted of two major transcurrent faults delimiting a 30 km wide mostly undeformed basin the western fault capo granitola does not show clear evidence of present day tectonic activity and toward the south it is connected with the volcanic area of the graham bank the eastern fault sciacca is structurally more complex showing active deformation at the sea floor particularly evident along the nerita bank the sciacca fault is constituted of a master and splay faults compatible with a right lateral kinematics sciacca fault is superimposed on an inherited weakness zone a mesozoic carbonate ramp which borders to the east a 2 5 km thick plio quaternary basin and that was reactivated during the pliocene a set of scaled claybox analogue models was carried out in order to better understand the tectonic processes that led to the structural setting displayed by seismic data tectonic structures and uplift subsidence patterns generated by the models are compatible with the 3 d model obtained from seismic reflection profiles the best fit between the tectonic setting deriving from the interpretation of seismic profiles and the analogue models was obtained considering a right lateral movement for the sciacca fault nevertheless the stress field in the study area derived from gps measurements does not support the present day modelled right lateral kinematics along the sciacca fault moreover seismic events along this fault show focal mechanisms with a left lateral component we ascribe the slip change along the sciacca fault from a right lateral transcurrent regime to the present day left lateral kinematics to a change of principal horizontal stress direction starting from late pliocene

modern tectonic regime in the tyrrhenian area observations and models summary the rapid opening since 10 ma of the tyrrhenian sea in a context of convergence between eurasia and africa remains a puzzling geodynamic problem one of the most plausible scenarios proposed by malinverno ryan 1986 attributes extension to southward and eastward migration of the trench resulting from subduction of the african adriatic lithosphere below the european lithosphere at present subduction only continues along the calabrian arc a compilation of recent strain and stress indicators by rebai philip taboada 1992 indicates that an extensional regime still prevails in the tyrrhenian sea whereas compression dominates north and south of this area in an earlier paper bassi sabadini 1994 used a numerical model to demonstrate the necessity of a trench suction force acting along the subduction trench to produce the present extension in the tyrrhenian domain this study however did not discuss in detail the tectonic regime in the different areas composing the domain nor the match between the observations and the model in this paper we first review the constraints provided by the observations compiled by rebaiet al 1992 and by more recent measurements we then investigate how much of the observed tectonic regime can be understood in terms of plate interaction forces using thin plate models bird 1989 the geometry and heterogeneous lithospheric properties of the models are constrained by observations the best constrained boundary conditions are held constant the remaining are regarded as parameters that we tune in order to fit the observations our results indicate that the present day tectonic regime in the tyrrhenian area can be explained as a consequence of trench retreat associated with the subduction of ionian oceanic lithosphere under the calabrian arc combined with a rotation of the apennines possibly related to a rotation of the adriatic microplate this study supports therefore the model of malinverno ryan 1986 and suggests moreover that rotation of the apennines is an ongoing process which is supported by seismological and geodetic data but remains to be understood in terms of geodynamics a discrepancy between observations and models is observed in western sicily which can be attributed to modelling limitations the weak extensional activity of the corsica sardinia block however is not explained by this model

pb sr nd isotopes in surficial materials at the pebble porphyry cu au mo deposit southwestern alaska can the mineralizing fingerprint be detected through cover the cretaceous pebble porphyry cu au mo deposit is covered by tundra and glacigenic sediments pb sr nd measurements were done on sediments and soils to establish baseline conditions prior to the onset of mining operations and contribute to the development of exploration methods for concealed base metal deposits of this type pebble rocks have a moderate range for 206pb 204pb 18 574 to 18 874 207pb 204pb 15 484 to 15 526 and 208pb 204pb 38 053 to 38 266 mineralized granodiorite shows a modest spread in 87sr 86sr 0 704354 0 707621 and 143nd 144nd 0 512639 0 512750 age corrected 89 ma values for the granodiorite yield relatively unradiogenic pb e g 207pb 204pb 15 52 low values of 87sr 86sr and positive values of nd 1 00 4 52 that attest to a major contribution of mantle derived source rocks pond sediments and soils have similar pb isotope signatures and 87sr 86sr and 143nd 144nd values that resemble the mineralized granodiorites glacial events have obscured the recognition of isotope signatures of mineralized rocks in the sediments and soils baseline radiogenic isotope compositions prior to the onset of mining operations reflect natural erosion transport and deposition of heterogeneous till sheets that included debris from barren rocks mineralized granodiorite and sulfides from the pebble deposit and other country rocks that pre and postdate the mineralization events isotopic variations suggest that natural weathering of the deposit is generally reflected in these surficial materials the isotope data provide geochemical constraints to glimpse through the extensive cover and together with other geochemical observations provide a vector to concealed mineralized rocks genetically linked with the pebble deposit

evolution of the taupo hikurangi subduction system abstract the present day taupo hikurangi subduction system is a southward extension of the tonga kermadec arc system into a sediment rich continental margin environment it consists of a shallow structural trench the hikurangi trough a 150 km wide imbricate thrust controlled accretionary borderland the continental slope shelf and coastal hills of eastern north island a frontal ridge the main greywacke ranges of north island and a volcanic arc and marginal basin the taupo volcanic zone structural elements become progressively more elevated and subduction more oblique towards the south the whole nne trending system is truncated at a largely strike slip transform boundary that extends along the southwestern part of the hikurangi trough and the hope fault of south island to the main alpine fault the volcanic arc is 200 270 km from the structural trench and comprises a nne trending chain of andesite dacite volcanoes extending along the eastern side of the taupo volcanic zone most of the andesites are olivine bearing and have been erupted within the last 50 000 years it is suggested the taupo hikurangi margin has evolved by rotation of accretionary elements from an original nw trending subduction system north of new zealand the older elements of the prism were associated with subduction of a re entrant of the pacific plate and perhaps the south fiji basin in mid tertiary times they subsequently became separated from their nw trending volcanic arc by dextral strike slip movement along curved faults east of the main greywacke ranges during the plio pleistocene oblique subduction and accretion intensified as the taupo hikurangi margin rotated into line with the nne trending kermadec system and a marginal basin was developed along a similar trend to form the taupo volcanic zone within the last 50 000 years olivine bearing andesite volcanism has commenced along the eastern side of the taupo volcanic zone

new gps constraints on the africa eurasia plate boundary zone in southern italy 1 southern italy is a key area for understanding the tectonic processes in the africa eurasia collision zone we analyze new gps measurements carried out between 1994 and 2001 the results are presented in terms of time series trajectories and velocities of crustal motion as well as a geodetic strain rate field while central italy corsica sardinia and the tyrrhenian sea move like the eurasian plate the overall motion of the sicily rift zone region matches african plate motion unexpected are the north northwest directed motions of northeastern sicily and the eolian islands most striking on the deformation field are a north south oriented compression along the northern sicilian coast compression between apulia and northwestern greece as well as extension in the sicily rift zone and the interior of sicily

high resolution surface wave tomography beneath the aegean anatolia region constraints on upper mantle structure summary this study provides new constraints on the upper mantle structure from western greece to central anatolia using seismic data of permanent broad band networks recently installed in greece and turkey and from a two year temporary array simbaad experiment we used 200 seismic events recorded at 146 broad band stations with a typical interstation distance of 60 100 km across the study area the high resolution 3 d shear wave velocity model of the mantle is obtained by inversion of fundamental mode rayleigh wave phase velocity maps for periods between 20 and 195 s the tomography is based on ray tracing in heterogeneous media taking into account external propagation effects the horizontal resolution is approximately 100 km however small heterogeneities may suffer from some horizontal smearing and damping the vertical resolution is approximately 100 km the vertical smoothing is necessary to avoid unresolved spurious shear wave velocity oscillations in the upper mantle the errors on shear wave velocities in our 3 d model 0 02 0 1 km s 1 are significantly smaller than the amplitude of vs variations 0 3 0 5 km s 1 in spite of the vertical and horizontal smoothing our model shows details in the upper mantle structure never reached at regional scale in the area the overall structure is characterized by a low velocity zone 80 200 km depth reflecting a slow and warm asthenosphere underlying a thin lithosphere the southwesternmost termination of the low velocity anomaly corresponds to the northward dipping hellenic slab the detailed shear velocity structure of the upper mantle beneath anatolia appears to be far more geometrically complex than revealed in previous tomographic studies of the area at depths larger than or equal to 160 km velocities are overall high beneath anatolia partly due to the presence of dipping high velocity anomalies which we tentatively interpret as remnant slabs the southernmost high velocity anomaly beneath anatolia is separated from the eastern edge of the hellenic slab by a major low velocity anomaly which we interpret as the trace of asthenospheric mantle material rising inside a vertical slab tear beneath southwestern anatolia

crustal velocity and strain rate fields in italy and surrounding regions new results from the analysis of permanent and non permanent gps networks summary we present a new geodetic velocity solution for italy and the surrounding areas obtained from an analysis of continuous and survey mode global positioning system observations collected between 1991 and 2002 we have combined local regional and global networks into a common reference frame velocity solution providing a new detailed picture of the regional scale deformation field in the central mediterranean our velocity estimates are computed with respect to a new stable eurasian reference frame constraining the kinematics of the greater african eurasian plate boundary system in the study area we provide strain rate values for the main seismotectonic districts which are in good agreement with the seismic deformation inferred from earthquake focal mechanisms the southern tyrrhenian area calabria the apennines the southeastern alps the southern dinarides and the albanides display deformation rates at the order of 20 30 nanostrain yr 1 the corsica sardinia block moves according to eurasian plate motions and there is no indication that the opening of the tyrrhenian is still active the pelagian and sicilian domains are separated by a northwest southeast discontinuity the sicily channel rifted area and marginally significant relative motion between the pelagian plateau and the african plate is also observed the southern tyrrhenian is affected by north south compression and accommodates up to 50 per cent of the africa eurasia relative plate motion whereas the calabrian arc exhibits 2 mm yr 1 northwest southeast extension the observed deformation pattern suggests the presence of a major approximately north south tectonic discontinuity separating the sicilian and calabrian domains an extensional boundary observed along peninsular italy coincides with the distribution of seismogenic faults along the axis of the apennines this boundary separates a tyrrhenian and an adriatic domain with diverging velocities orientated north nnw ward and northeastward respectively the apennines are extending perpendicularly to the chain axis at rates of less than 3 mm yr 1 and only in the outer northern apennines indications of active shortening are observed insignificant deformation is observed in the western po plain and the western alps while the central and eastern alps display north south shortening the eastern adriatic domain is shortening perpendicular to the dinaric front with strain rates increasing from north to south the locus of collision between the aegean balkan system and the adriatic and ionian domains is marked by the kephalonia fault system which accommodates up to 20 1 mm yr 1 of right lateral motion the deformation pattern observed in the peri adriatic domain is well described by a counter clockwise rotation of the adriatic microplate around a pole located in the western alps

africa eurasia kinematics main constraints and uncertainties abstract it is widely believed that the africa eurasian relative motion in the mediterranean region is oriented se nw to s n this result has been deduced from the analysis of north atlantic kinematic data by assuming that eurasia is a unique coherent plate from the north atlantic ridges to the pacific trenches however this assumption cannot easily account for the not negligible tectonic activity inside and around western europe rhine graben system pyrenees and off shore portugal this paper shows that if one allows western europe to move independently from main eurasia the kinematic indicators in the north atlantic do not exclude other kinematic solutions which are significantly different from those currently accepted in particular it is demonstrated that a ssw nne to sw ne trending africa eurasia convergence beside allowing plausible explanations of major post tortonian deformation events in the central mediterranean region can fit north atlantic data within experimental errors

incipient extension along the active convergent margin of nubia in sicily italy cefalu etna seismic zone 1 recent geodetic data are compatible with nne ssw tectonic extension at a rate of 5 mm yr in sicily southern italy within a broader region of net active compression along the nubian plate margin northern africa the structures that accommodate such extensional regime and its cause are still unknown from field structural surveys and seismological analyses the geometry kinematics structural architecture and seismic potential of an extensional seismic zone linking cefalu and mount etna in central eastern sicily are defined the zone includes high angle wnw striking normal and right lateral strike slip faults and subordinate north and nne striking strike slip faults either right or left lateral the occurrence of small discontinuous faults and the absence of related depressions and sedimentary basins suggest that the extensional regime is still in an incipient stage the ongoing seismic activity possibly reactivates preexisting faults instrumentally and historically recorded earthquakes are lower than about 6 in magnitude and destructive events are historically unknown since at least 1300 a d this apparent upper bound of earthquake magnitudes is consistent with the maximum magnitude values estimated from the length of the longest mapped faults and sources of seismic swarms which all together suggest a value between 6 and 6 5 as the maximum expected magnitude that can be proposed at the present stage of investigation for earthquakes in the study area lateral extension on preexisting faults and upwelling of melt mantle material beneath mount etna are considered viable processes to explain at least in part the active extensional tectonics along the cefalu etna seismic zone strike slip seismic faulting beneath mount etna may be part of a previously proposed diffuse transfer zone affecting northeastern sicily and including the tindari fault

deflation acting on pantelleria island sicily channel inferred through geodetic data abstract pantelleria is a volcanic island situated at the centre of the sicily channel continental rift since 1980 the island has been monitored by geodetic techniques electro optical distance measurements edm and levelling and gravimetry after more than 10 years the edm network was re measured in 1995 and successively it has been improved and measured also with global position system gps techniques it has therefore been possible to carry out a long term analysis 1980 1996 of the deformation pattern the levelling in the 1980 1996 period revealed a marked lowering of the central southern part of the island with respect to the northern sector the horizontal edm measurements all prove to be in contraction and suggest that a deflation is ongoing in the central southern part the effects of areal contraction and lowering are interpreted as being due to the volcanic field which appears to predominate over possible stretching induced by the sicily channel dynamics we modelled the horizontal and vertical changes accumulated over 16 years using a 3d ellipsoidal depressuring model which indicates a ca 5 km deep source located under the area within the most recent caldera this model could explain a short term tens of years acting deflation we also propose an interpretive framework in the case where the deflation is acting over a long period thousands of years in this case the deflation is interpreted as readjustment following the loss of mass occurring with recent volcanism 18 3 kyr

crust and mantle contributions to granite genesis an example from the variscan batholith of corsica france studied by trace element and ndsro isotope systematics the corsican batholith formed during the variscan orogeny was studied with particular emphasis on the respective roles played by crustal and mantle derived material in granite genesis major and trace element data identify the various types of magma and their genetic relationships the magmatic processes that gave rise to the observed rocks and the primitive liquids o sr nd isotope systematics constrain the origin of primitive liquids trace element models provide data on the various source materials and their possible geodynamic setting the evolution of two main calc alkaline plutonic associations is compared an older high mg k association u1 with both ultrapotassic mafic and silicic rocks the latter ranging from monzonite to leucosyenogranite and a younger calc alkaline composite association u2 involving a mafic cumulate sequence and granodiorite to leucomonzo granite both types of granite are accompanied by mafic units that were non cogenetic with surrounding granitic melts trace element calculations indicate that a primitive liquid of monzodioritic composition gave rise to the u1 mg k granite by fractional crystallization amphibole and titanite playing a major role which with increasing crystallization gave decreasing ree contents without a strong negative eu anomaly the u2 calc alkaline suite was formed by fractional crystallization involving feldspar and lree rich minerals i e monazite from a liquid of monzogranitic composition field and petrographical data identify magma mingling in both u1 and u2 between mafic and silicic rocks but geochemical data only indicate how magma mixing processes led to u2 granodiorite geochemical modelling shows that a single protolith of calculated graywacke composition yielded the two associations under different melting conditions the high mg k monzodiorite melt was formed after partial melting of a 30 non modal batch of granulite facies metamorphic protolith low ph2o but the calc alkaline monzogranite was formed by the same process in an amphibolite facies source of similar composition higher ph2o the primitive granite magmas of both associations show the same crustal characteristics i e sri 0 706 0 707 nd t 4 3 to 2 2 and 18o 7 to 8 this provides evidence that composition of both u1 and u2 granite melts probably was controlled by physico chemical fusion rather than protolith composition parameters the u1 ultrapotassic mafic rock is thought to be of mantle origin i e a deep source containing phlogopite garnet zone refining led to a significant increase of incompatible trace element contents during ascent of the magma mantle crust interaction lowered the la yb and 143nd144nd ratios but the 87sr86sr ratio increased nevertheless interaction with associated u1 mg k granite was not important and the crustal component is thought to be different from the associated granitic magma in u2 the mafic cumulate sequence clearly of mantle origin has e morb characteristics and seems the result of 10 non modal partial melting of a heterogeneous mantle of spinel or amphibole peridotite without garnet some interaction occurred with the associated granitic melt the e morb character of the mafic rock indicates that a large part of the batholith and at least the u2 magmatic association was generated under post collisional extensional conditions

lithosphere tearing at step faults response to edges of subduction zones abstract slab edges are a relatively common feature in plate tectonics two prominent examples are the northern end of the tonga subduction zone and the southern end of the new hebrides subduction zone near such horizontal terminations of subduction trenches ongoing tearing of oceanic lithosphere is a geometric consequence we refer to such kinks in the plate boundary as a subduction transform edge propagator or step other steps are the north and south ends of the lesser antilles trench the north end of the south sandwich trench the south end of the vrancea trench and both ends of the calabria trench volcanism near steps is distinct from typical arc volcanism in some cases slab edges appear to coincide with mantle plumes using 3d mechanical models we establish that step faults are stable plate tectonic features in most circumstances in the probably rare cases that the resistance to fault propagation is high slab break off will occur relative motion along the transform segment of the plate boundary often is non uniform and the step is not a transform plate boundary in the rigid plate tectonics sense of the phrase step propagation may result in substantial deformation rotation topography and sedimentary basins with a very specific time space evolution surface velocities are substantially affected by nearby steps

new gps constraints on the kinematics of the apennines subduction abstract we present the velocity field of the italian area derived from continuous gps observations from 2003 to 2007 the gps sites were installed by different institutions and for different purposes they cover the whole country with a mean inter site distance of about 60 km and provide a valuable source of data to map the present day kinematics of the region the absolute itrf2005 rotation poles and rates of eurasia africa and adriatic plates are estimated to study the kinematics along their boundaries in the apennines belt the corsica sardinia block coherently moving as the eurasia plate is used as reference of the upper plate for the apennines subduction zone we apply a simple kinematic model to estimate the rates and spatial pattern of the subduction along the apennines we identify at least four different independently moving lower plates i e the adriatic diverging and internally segmented ionian sicily and africa converging plates with different subduction rates the conservative estimates of the subduction rate are 5 mm yr in the calabrian arc 1 5 mm yr in sicily and 0 9 mm yr in the northern apennines this variegate mixture of behaviors seems to reflect the variable lithospheric thickness and composition of the lower plates inherited from the mesozoic rifting an unexpected along strike contraction is observed along the western side of the central northern apennines velocities are estimated both relative to eurasia and relative to the deep and shallow hotspot reference frames hsrf the hotspot representation seems more coherent with the geophysical and geological constraints along the subduction system in which the adriatic and ionian plates move sw ward and their deeper slab portions provide an obstacle to the opposite relative mantle flow all these patterns better reconcile if the subduction process is conceived as a passive feature controlled by the far field plate velocities and the relative eastward mantle flow acting on a disrupted slab

structure and deformation processes in the strait of sicily rift zone abstract the strait of sicily rift zone ssrz is a young tectonic feature early pliocenerecent cutting across the pelagian sea it is characterized by a thin continental type crust which progressively thickens towards the african continental margin and beneath the sicilian chain geophysical data available for the whole area show that extensional faulting is active in many places along structures trending roughly nnw sse but that the dominant mode of deformation at a regional scale can be best described in terms of strike slip tectonics strike slip faults trending nw se are seismically documented west of the island of pantelleria in the eastern sector of the malta graben and along the southern border of the medina graben similar features have also been mapped on land in malta and pantelleria kinematic analysis of these structures suggest that the ssrz cannot be considered as a classical intracontinental rift because the deformation does not appear to be dominated by a generalized thermal instability but rather by compressive stresses in a transcurrent tectonic regime therefore an alternative model which accounts for the activation of large scale right lateral strike slip faults seems to be more suitable within this main dextral shear zone the progressive development of pull apart basins could be responsible for the incipient separation of the sicilian microplate from the african continent and for the thinning of the crust and the associated volcanic activity of the northwestern sector of the ssrz

evolution of the southern tyrrhenian slab tear and active tectonics along the western edge of the tyrrhenian subducted slab abstract the evolution of the southern tyrrhenian subduction has been possibly controlled by distinct episodes of slab break off as indicated by a critical review of the geological literature and by the analysis of purposely acquired multichannel seismic profiles within the proposed interpretation the first episode occurred from 8 5 to 4 0 ma and affected the segment of the slab located in the sardinia channel causing the abandonment of the adventure thrust front in western sicily the second episode occurred between 2 5 and 1 6 ma affecting the segment of slab located north of sicily and was preceeded by rifting in the strait of sicily the space and time location of these episodes appear controlled by discontinuities pre existing within the subducted african plate that trend at high angle to the advancing subduction front these discontinuities delimit segment of subducted slab that can be affected by slab break off and can act as wayouts for magma and mantle derived he the major of these discontinuities the malta escarpment has been reactivated in the quaternary as a trench perpendicular tear step faults ultimately the hierarchy in strength of these trench perpendicular features could have affected the timing and amount of trench retreat and backarc opening

convergence vs retreat in southern tyrrhenian sea insights from kinematics 1 the tyrrhenian sea is an extensional basin opened by trench retreat and back arc extension during subduction of the calabrian slab in the last 10 12 my subduction is still active beneath the semost part of the tyrrhenian sea as testified by seismicity down to 500 km depth by analyzing seismicity and geodetic data together with recent tomographic images we define the present day situation an evident n s compressional regime prevails in the tyrrhenian region west of the aeolian archipelago while east of them a nnw sse extension is documented by focal mechanisms and gps data with a much smaller strain rate with respect to the past the transition between these two domains is accommodated by a n s discontinuity zone which runs from aeolian islands to mt etna with an extensional to strike slip deformation

crustal motion along the eurasia nubia plate boundary in the calabrian arc and sicily and active extension in the messina straits from gps measurements 1 we investigate crustal deformation along the eurasia nubia plate boundary in calabria and sicily revealed by the gps velocity field obtained by the combination of continuous site velocities with previous results from episodic campaigns we recognize two distinct crustal domains characterized by different motions and styles of deformation convergence in sicily is taken up by crustal shortening along the former tyrrhenian back arc passive margin in agreement with seismological data and geological evidence of recent cessation of deformation along the plio pleistocene subduction front the analysis of the gps data and the consistency between earthquake slip vectors and convergence direction suggest that eu nu convergence in sicily does not require intermediate crustal blocks significant eurasia 3 mm yr to nne and nubia fixed 5 mm yr to ese residual velocities in calabria suggest instead the presence of an intermediate crustal block which can be interpreted as a forearc sliver or as an independent ionian block according to the first hypothesis subduction is still active in the ionian wedge although we find no evidence for active back arc spreading in the tyrrhenian sea the n115 e oriented sicily calabria gps relative motion is consistent with the extension observed during the 1908 mw 7 1 messina earthquake we suggest that up to 3 mm yr 80 of this estimated relative motion between sicily and the calabrian arc may be taken up in the messina straits

pattern of deformation around the central aeolian islands evidence from multichannel seismics and gps data the tectonics of the central aeolian islands which are located within the tyrrhenian backarc basin has been investigated through a marine seismic reflection survey we find that compressional structures dominate around the islands whereas extensional faults occur only to the north of salina and filicudi towards the marsili basin this pattern of deformation although different from previously reported is in agreement with the strain field and stress regime obtained from gps measurements and seismological data age constraints suggest that contractional deformation was active since middle pleistocene being coeval with the building of the volcanic edifices of the aeolian islands and is superimposed on pre existing extensional deformation compressional and extensional regimes therefore can coexist within a backarc setting seismic profiles show that the tindari letojanni fault considered as a major tectonic element does not extend to the north towards the island of vulcano as a throughgoing fault rather deformation is accommodated in a broader belt displaying greater structural complexity

subsurface andesite lavas and plutonic rocks in the rotokawa and ngatamariki geothermal systems taupo volcanic zone new zealand abstract deep 2 km drillholes into the rotokawa and ngatamariki geothermal systems taupo volcanic zone tvz new zealand penetrate a sequence of silicic volcanic rocks and andesite lavas the latter being locally more than 1100 m thick one drillhole at ngatamariki bottoms in diorite 2200 m the first plutonic rocks reached by any well drilled into the taupo volcanic zone the rotokawa andesite lavas which occur below 1400 m depth are older than 330 ka and locally rest upon mesozoic metasedimentary basement rocks of the torlesse terrane they are typically dense jointed and where fresh contain phenocrysts of andesine labradorite augite hypersthene titanomagnetite and in places hornblende geochemically these rocks are medium k calc alkaline orogenic andesites their major and trace element contents and sr isotopic ratios show them to be chemically coherent with little lateral or vertical variation hydrothermal alteration has typically added volatiles but has been largely isochemical on a hand specimen scale mineralogical geochemical and stratigraphic evidence indicates that the rotokawa andesites are not genetically or temporally related to andesite lavas exposed at rolles peak 5 km east of rotokawa nor to andesite or diorite penetrated at ngatamariki but they have closer chemical affinities with the plagioclase pyroxene phyric lavas of the tongariro volcanic centre at the south end of the tvz the ngatamariki andesites have distinctive trace element compositions particularly ti and zr and are chemically and petrographically different from most other tvz lavas the occurrence of thick subsurface andesite sequences in the rotokawa ngatamariki area suggests that early eruptives here were of intermediate composition rather than the more silicic volcanics now so widespread both at the surface and in the shallow levels of several nearby geothermal systems

the migration of plate boundaries in se sicily influence on the large scale kinematic model of the african promontory in southern italy abstract a detailed field mapping coupled with structural analyses and morphological investigation has been carried out along the northern and western borders of the hyblean plateau se sicily in order to define the nature and the kinematics of a major quaternary fault belt this here designed as the scicli line fault belt is composed of two n50 oriented extensional basins that linked by a regional n10 trending transfer zone originated during the early pleistocene and experienced since the late quaternary a positive tectonic inversion in both the two stages of deformation the scicli line fault belt has been characterised by displacement rate comparable with the relative velocities measured between the distinct plates composing the central mediterranean region in the period going from 1 5 1 2 to 0 85 ma the fault belt accommodated the entire divergence between adria and nubia at present the scicli line fault belt absorbs most of the nubia eurasia convergence while the western divergent margin of the adria microplate has jumped to the eastern and the southern margins of the hyblean plateau along the late quaternary siculo calabrian rift zone the off shore prolongation of the two tectonic boundaries of the hyblean plateau has been recognised in the sicily channel where they are both interrupted by a wnw ese oriented dextral fault according to our reconstruction the hyblean plateau represents an isolated lithospheric block whose evolution can be related to the propagation of the western divergent margin of the adria microplate accompanied with the southward migration of the triple junction between eurasia nubia and adria in this new large scale kinematic picture the gps velocity measured in the hyblean region at the permanent site of noto is actually representative of the local kinematics rather than of the entire african promontory of southern italy this implies a correction of previous regional kinematic models based on combination of gps vectors in particular our data constrain a new interpretation both for the kinematics along the e w oriented nubia eurasia margin dominated by prevalent dextral deformation rather than reverse motions and for the intraplate deformation in the sicily channel within the africa promontory which would be dominated by a roughly n110 oriented extension this conclusion has implication also on the mechanism and the origin of the pantelleria linosa malta rift that is here interpreted as a transtensive feature developed along a major transform fault rather than the result of passive rifting induced by the nubia eurasia collision as it is currently interpreted

revel a model for recent plate velocities from space geodesy 1 we present a new global model for recent plate velocities revel describing the relative velocities of 19 plates and continental blocks the model is derived from publicly available space geodetic primarily gps data for the period 1993 2000 we include an independent and rigorous estimate for gps velocity uncertainties to assess plate rigidity and propagate these uncertainties to the velocity estimates the velocity fields for north america eurasia and antarctica clearly show the effects of glacial isostatic adjustment and australia appears to depart from rigid plate behavior in a manner consistent with the mapped intraplate stress field two thirds of tested plate pairs agree with the nuvel 1a geologic 3 myr average velocities within uncertainties three plate pairs caribbean north america caribbean south america and north america pacific exhibit significant differences between the geodetic and geologic model that may reflect systematic errors in nuvel 1a due to the use of seafloor magnetic rate data that do not reflect the full plate rate because of tectonic complexities most other differences probably reflect real velocity changes over the last few million years several plate pairs arabia eurasia arabia nubia eurasia india move more slowly than the 3 myr nuvel 1a average perhaps reflecting long term deceleration associated with continental collision several other plate pairs including nazca pacific nazca south america and nubia south america are experiencing slowing that began 25 ma the beginning of the current phase of andean crustal shortening

southern california permanent gps geodetic array error analysis of daily position estimates and site velocities we analyze time series of daily positions estimated from data collected by 10 continuously monitoring global positioning system gps sites in southern california during the 19 month period between the june 28 1992 mw 7 3 landers and january 17 1994 mw 6 7 northridge earthquakes each time series exhibits a linear tectonic signal and significant colored noise spectral power at frequencies in the range 5 yr 1 to 0 5 d 1 is dominated by white noise or possibly fractal white noise and is several orders of magnitude higher than what would be expected from random walk noise in this short period range attributed by others to geodetic monument motions estimating a single slope for the time series power spectra suggests fractal white noise processes with spectral indices of about 0 4 site velocity uncertainties assuming this fractal white noise model are 2 4 times larger than uncertainties obtained assuming a purely white noise model a combination white noise plus flicker noise spectral index of 1 model also fits the data and suggests that the velocity uncertainties should be 3 6 times larger than for the white noise model we cannot adequately distinguish between these two noise models nor can we rule out the possibility of a random walk signal at the lowest frequencies these questions await the analysis of longer time series in any case reducing the magnitude of low frequency colored noise is critical and appears to be best accomplished by building sites with deeply anchored and braced monuments otherwise rate uncertainties estimated from continuous gps measurements may not be improved significantly compared to those estimated from infrequent campaign mode measurements

ground deformation of the southern sector of the aeolian islands volcanic arc from geodetic data abstract the deformation pattern and the dynamics of the southern sector of the aeolian archipelago are investigated a study on the ground deformation measured over the last 20 years in the trilateration geodetic network between the islands of vulcano and lipari has been conducted analysis of the relative displacements and the uniform strain tensor parameters as well as the comparison between areal dilatation and the vertical variations deduced by precise levelling allow distinguishing different phases associated both with the regional dynamics and the local volcanic context of the area these phases however appear to be closely interrelated the analysis of the deformation pattern allows to constrain the predominance of a roughly e w trending extension and a n s contraction at a regional scale this regime is consistent with right lateral movements along a nw se striking fault system

geodetic strain in peninsular italy between 1875 and 2001 1 we determine geodetic strain in peninsular italy by the gps reoccupation of the first order triangulation network of italy installed from 1860 the uncertainties in the original measurements about 3 ppm and the time span between the two observations imply that tectonic signals larger than about 0 03 ppm yr are resolvable along the apenninic belt where the largest earthquakes are concentrated the geodetic deformation has a clear and consistent strain pattern between adjacent regions well above the uncertainties and shows a pervasive ne sw extension along the tyrrhenian and adriatic coasts the geodetic signal is not homogeneous and is comparable with the uncertainty in the original measurements seismic deformation calculated over the same time interval agrees well with estimated extensional direction but the magnitudes of geodetic and seismic strain differ suggesting that in part of the apennines significant strain accumulation over the past 130 years may not have been released in earthquakes

tectonics and seismicity of the tindari fault system southern italy crustal deformations at the transition between ongoing contractional and extensional domains located above the edge of a subducting slab 1 the tindari fault system southern tyrrhenian sea italy is a regional zone of brittle deformation located at the transition between ongoing contractional and extensional crustal compartments and lying above the western edge of a narrow subducting slab onshore structural data an offshore seismic reflection profile and earthquake data are analyzed to constrain the present geometry of the tindari fault system and its tectonic evolution since neogene including the present seismicity results show that this zone of deformation consists of a broad nnw trending system of faults including sets of right lateral left lateral and extensional faults as well as early strike slip faults reworked under late extension earthquakes and other neotectonic data provide evidence that the tindari fault system is still active in the central and northern sectors and mostly accommodates extensional or right lateral transtensional displacements on a diffuse array of faults from these data a multiphase tectonic history is inferred including an early phase as a right lateral strike slip fault and a late extensional reworking under the influence of the subduction related processes which have led to the formation of the tyrrhenian back arc basin within the present regional geodynamic context the tindari fault system is interpreted as an ongoing accommodation zone between the adjacent contractional and extensional crustal compartments these tectonic compartments relating to the complex processes of plate convergence occurring in the region the tindari fault system might also be included in an incipient oblique extensional transfer zone linking the ongoing contractional belts in the calabrian ionian and southern tyrrhenian compartments

geological and geodetic constraints on the active deformation along the northern margin of the hyblean plateau se sicily abstract a geologic and geodetic integrated analysis of the northern margin of the hyblean plateau se sicily has been carried out in order to test the relationship between the active deformation recorded by gps data and the long term tectonic evolution reconstructed by the interpretation of structural and morphological data our study revealed the active growth of a large antiform as a consequence of the positive tectonic inversion of the previous flexure bordering the hyblean foreland the deformation of middle late pleistocene marine terraces and the evolution of the drainage system are consistent with a progressive regional tilting of the entire eastern sector of the hyblean plateau siracusa domain representing the southern limb of the active antiform the geometry of the late quaternary marine strandlines compared with the results of analogue models is compatible with the effects of the nw ward propagation of a detachment fault at depth the active deformation of the hyblean region coherent with the nubia eurasia plate convergence suggests to candidate the inverted tectonics at the northern border of the hyblean plateau as potential seismogenic sources of the area

rare earth element geochemistry and the origin of andesites and basalts of the taupo volcanic zone new zealand abstract two types of basalt a high al basalt associated with the rhyolitic centres north of taupo and a low al basalt erupted from red crater tongariro volcanic centre and five types of andesite labradorite andesite labradorite pyroxene andesite hornblende andesite pyroxene low si andesite and olivine andesite low si andesite occur in the taupo volcanic zone tvz north island new zealand rare earth abundances for both basalts and andesites are particularly enriched in light rare earth elements high al basalts are more enriched than the low al basalt and have values comparable to the andesites labradorite and labradorite pyroxene andesites all have negative eu anomalies and hornblende andesites all have negative ce anomalies the former is probably due to changing plagioclase composition during fractionation and the latter to late stage hydration of the magma least squares mixing models indicate that neither high al nor low al basalts are likely sources for labradorite labradorite pyroxene andesites high al basalts are considered to result from fractionation of olivine and clinopyroxene from a garnet free peridotite at the top of the mantle wedge labradorite labradorite pyroxene andesites are mainly associated with an older nw trending arc the source is likely to be garnet free but it is not certain whether the andesites result from partial melting of the top of the subducting plate or a hydrated lower portion of the mantle wedge pyroxene low si andesites probably result from cumulation of pyroxene and calcic plagioclase within labradorite pyroxene andesites and hornblende andesites by late stage hydration of labradorite pyroxene andesite magma olivine andesites low si andesites and low al basalts are related to the nne trending taupo hikurangi arc structure although the initial source material is different for these lavas they have probably undergone a similar history to the labradorite labradorite pyroxene andesites all lavas show evidence of crustal contamination

on the post 25 ma geodynamic evolution of the western mediterranean during the neogene and quaternary western mediterranean geodynamics were dominated by the eastward migration of the apenninic arc and associated back arc basins the migration was controlled by retreat of the apenninic slab and was associated with boudinage of the lithosphere in the back arc area palaeo reconstruction of the kinematics of the arc suggests about 775 km of migration from the late oligocene to present along a transect from the gulf of lions to calabria a maximum of 135 km of n s converge occurred between africa and europe during the same time span the western mediterranean was thus mainly shaped by the migration of the slab related to west directed subduction it is hypothesized that minor n s convergence deformed the arc but was not the cause of its formation 1998 elsevier science b v all rights reserved