Magnetic fabric of Plio-Pleistocene sediments from the Crotone fore-arc basin: Insights on the recent tectonic evolution of the Calabrian Arc (Italy)

Low-field anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) analyses were performed on 532 samples collected in 36 (mostly lower Pliocene to lower Pleistocene) marine clay sites from the Crotone basin, a fore-arc basin located on top of the external Calabrian accretionary wedge. The Crotone basin formed since mid-late Miocene under a predominant extensional tectonic regime, but it was influenced thereafter by complex interactions with NW–SE left-lateral strike-faults bounding the basin, which also yielded post-1.2 Ma ∼30° counterclockwise block rotations. The basin is filled by continental to marine sediments yielding one of the thickest and best-exposed Neogene succession available worldwide. The deep-marine facies – represented by blue-grey marly clays gave the best results, as they both preserved a clear magnetic fabric, and provided accurate chronology based on previously published magnetostratigraphy and calcareous plankton (i.e. foraminifers and nannofossils) biostratigraphy. Magnetic susceptibility range and rock magnetic analyses both indicate that AMS reflects paramagnetic clay matrix crystal arrangement. The fabric is predominantly oblate to triaxial, the anisotropy degree low (<1.06), and the magnetic foliation mostly subparallel to bedding. Magnetic lineation is defined in 30 out of 36 sites (where the e12 angle is <35°). By also considering local structural analysis data, we find that magnetic fabric was generally acquired during the first tectonic phases occurring after sediment deposition, thus validating its use as temporally dependent strain proxy. Although most of the magnetic lineations trend NW–SE and are orthogonal to normal faults (as observed elsewhere in Calabria), few NE–SW compressive lineations show that the Neogene extensional regime of the Crotone basin was punctuated by compressive episodes. Finally, compressive lineations (prolate magnetic fabric) documented along the strike-slip fault bounding the basin to the south support the significance of Pleistocene strike-slip tectonics. Thus the Crotone basin shows a markedly different tectonics with respect to other internal and western basins of Calabria, as it yields a magnetic fabric still dominated by extensional tectonics but also revealing arc-normal shortening episodes and recent strike-slip fault activity. The tectonics documented in the Crotone basin is compatible with a continuous upper crustal structural reorganization occurring during the SE-migration of the Calabria terrane above the Ionian subduction system.     

Debris flow and slide deposits at the top of the Internal Liguride ophiolitic sequence, Northern Apennines, Italy: A record of frontal tectonic erosion in a fossil accretionary wedge

Abstract In the Northern Apennines, the Internal Liguride units are characterized by an ophiolite sequence that represents the stratigraphic base of a late Jurassic–early Paleocene sedimentary cover. The Bocco Shale represents the youngest deposit recognized in the sedimentary cover of the ophiolite and can be subdivided into two different groups of deep sea sediments. The first group is represented by slide, debris flow and high density turbidity current-derived deposits, whereas the second group consists of thin-bedded turbidites. Facies analysis and provenance studies indicate, for the former group, small and scarcely evoluted flows that rework an oceanic lithosphere and its sedimentary cover. We interpret the Bocco Shale as an ancient example of a deposit related to the frontal tectonic erosion of the accretionary wedge slope. The frontal tectonic erosion resulted in a large removal of materials, from the accretionary wedge front, that was reworked as debris flows and slide deposits sedimented on the lower plate above the trench deposits. The frontal tectonic erosion was probably connected with subduction of oceanic crust characterized by positive topographic relief. This interpretation can be also applied for the origin of analogous deposits of Western Alps and Corsica.     

Raised Holocene paleo-shorelines along the Capo Vaticano coast (western Calabria,Italy): Evidence of co-seismic and steady-state deformation

Detailed mapping of geomorphological and biological sea-level markers around the Capo Vaticano promontory (western Calabria, Italy), has documented the occurrence of four Holocene paleo-shorelines raised at different altitudes. The uppermost shoreline (PS1) is represented by a deeply eroded fossiliferous beach deposit, reaching an elevation of ∼2.2 m above the present sea-level, and by a notch whose roof is at ∼2.3 m. The subjacent shoreline PS2 is found at an elevation of ∼1.8 m and is represented by a Dendropoma rim, a barnacle band and by a wave-cut platform. Shoreline PS3 includes remnants of vermetid concretions, a barnacle band, a notch and a marine deposit, and reaches an elevation of ∼1.4 m. The lowermost paleo-shoreline (PS4) includes a wave-cut platform and a notch and reaches an elevation of ∼0.8 m. Radiocarbon dating of material from individual paleo-shorelines points to an average uplift rate of 1.2–1.4 mm/yr in the last ∼6 ka at Capo Vaticano. Our data suggest that Holocene uplift was asymmetric, with a greater magnitude in the south-west sector of the promontory, in a manner similar to the long-term deformation attested by Pleistocene terraces. The larger uplift in the south-western sector is possibly related to the additional contribution, onto a large-wavelength regional signal, of co-seismic deformation events, which are not registered to the north-east. We have recognized four co-seismic uplift events at 5.7–5.4 ka, 3.9–3.5 ka, ∼1.9 ka and <1.8 ka ago, superposed on a regional uplift that in the area, is occurring at a rate of ∼1 mm/yr. Our findings places new constrains on the recent activity of border faults south of the peninsula and on the location of the seismogenic source the 1905 destructive earthquake.     

Mesozoic to Tertiary tectonic history of the Mirdita ophiolites, northern Albania

Abstract In this paper, a summary of the tectonic history of the Mirdita ophiolitic nappe, northern Albania, is proposed by geological and structural data. The Mirdita ophiolitic nappe includes a subophiolite mélange, the Rubik complex, overlain by two ophiolite units, referred to as the Western and Eastern units. Its history started in the Early Triassic with a rifting stage followed by a Middle to Late Triassic oceanic opening between the Adria and Eurasia continental margins. Subsequently, in Early Jurassic time, the oceanic basin was affected by convergence with the development of a subduction zone. The existence of this subduction zone is provided by the occurrence of the supra‐subduction‐zone‐related magmatic sequences found in both the Western and Eastern units of the Mirdita ophiolitic nappe. During the Middle Jurassic, continuous convergence resulted in the obduction of the oceanic lithosphere, in two different stages – the intraoceanic and marginal stages. The intraoceanic stage is characterized by the westward thrusting of a young and still hot section of oceanic lithosphere leading to the development of a metamorphic sole. In the Late Jurassic, the marginal stage developed by the emplacement of the ophiolitic nappe onto the continental margin. During this second stage, the emplacement of the ophiolites resulted in the development of the Rubik complex. In the Early Cretaceous, the final emplacement of the ophiolites was followed by the unconformable sedimentation of the Barremian–Senonian platform carbonate. From the Late Cretaceous to the Middle Miocene, the Mirdita ophiolitic nappe was translated westward during the progressive migration of the deformation front toward the Adria Plate. In the Middle to Late Miocene, a thinning of the whole nappe pile was achieved by extensional tectonics, while the compression was still active in the westernmost areas of the Adria Plate. On the whole, the Miocene deformations resulted in the uplift and exposition of the Mirdita ophiolites as observed today.     

Crustal seismic tomography in the Calabrian Arc region, south Italy

27,646 P- and 15,025 S-wave readings obtained from 2238 earthquakes and 84 artificial sources were used to perform tomographic inversion of P velocity and V_P/V_S ratio in the crust of Calabrian Arc by Thurber’s inversion algorithm. For this investigation a seismic database with more than twelve-thousand events was built, including all local earthquake data recorded between 1978 and 2001 at all stations of the national and local networks in south Italy. Spread Function computations and checkerboard and restore tests proved higher accuracy of velocity estimates in the upper 40 km beneath Calabrian Arc compared to previous investigations in the same area. The obtained three-dimensional velocity model furnished remarkable improvement of hypocenter locations of the global earthquake dataset (RMS reduction of 38% respect to 1D locations) and greater accuracy in the definition of microplates and tectonic units in the study region. Velocity domains evidenced by our tomography correspond to tectonic units locally identified with geological methods by previous investigators and allow us to better detail their shape and geometry at depth. In particular, at a depth of about 20 km beneath Calabria we detected the deep contact between the overthrusting Tyrrhenian crust and the subducting Ionian slab, improving the accuracy of the current subduction model of the Calabrian Arc region.     

Off-scraped Permian-Jurassic bedded chert thrust on Jurassic-early Cretaceous accretionary prism: Radiolarian evidence from le Island, central Ryukyu Island Arc

Abstract The pre-Neogene basement of the central Ryukyu Island Arc shows zonal structures analogous to those of the outer belt of southwest Japan. The innermost terrane (Iheya Zone) consists of isoclinally folded beds dipping northwestward; the anticlinal cores are composed mainly of Permian chert, whereas the synclinal parts are represented by Jurassic to Cretaceous sandstone-rich alternating siliceous shale and chert, bearing appropriate radiolarian fossils. At the east-central area of Ie Island, the basement rocks are exposed as a 172 m high peak, Tattyu. The flank area of Tattyu is composed of latest Jurassic to Berriasian siliceous shale and chert as part of an accretionary prism, while most of Tattyu is composed of a continuous and very compact sequence of Norian through Kimmeridgian (?) bedded chert which is rather gently inclined. Beyond an unexposed part below the Norian chert, Guadalupian chert is recognized. It is inferred that this pelagic chert (Tattyu sequence) was off-scraped and thrust on to the accretionary prism which developed on its flank area in an accretion process after the Early Cretaceous.     

Magma generation and crustal accretion as evidenced by supra-subduction ophiolites of the Albanide–Hellenide Subpelagonian zone

Abstract Ophiolites of the Mirdita–Subpelagonian zone form a nearly continuous belt in the Albanide–Hellenide orogen, including mid‐ocean ridge basalt (MORB) associations in the western Mirdita sector and supra‐subduction zone (SSZ) complexes, with prevalent island arc tholeiitic (IAT) and minor boninitic affinities in the eastern part of the belt (i.e. eastern Mirdita, Pindos, Vourinos). In addition, basalts with geochemical features intermediate between MORB and IAT (MORB/IAT) are found in the central Mirdita and in the Aspropotamos sequence (Pindos). These basalts alternate with pure MORB and are cut by boninitic dykes. The distinctive compositional characteristics of the mafic magmas parental to the different ophiolitic suites can be accounted for by partial melting of mantle sources progressively depleted by melt extractions. Partial melting processes (10–20%) of lherzolitic sources generated pure MORB, leaving clinopyroxene‐poor lherzolite as a residuum. Approximately 10% water‐assisted partial melting of this latter source, in an SSZ setting, may in turn generate basalts with MORB/IAT intermediate characteristics, whereas IAT basalts and boninites may have been derived from 10–20% and 30% partial melting, respectively, of the same source variably enriched by subduction‐derived fluids. In addition, boninites may also have been derived by comparatively lower degrees of hydrated partial melting of more refractory harzburgitic sources. A generalized petrologic model based on mass balance calculations between bulk rock and mineral compositions, indicate that most of the intrusives (from ultramafic cumulates to gabbronorites and plagiogranites), as well as sheeted dykes and volcanics (from basalts to rhyodacites) forming the bulk crustal section of the SSZ ophiolites, may be accounted for by shallow fractional crystallization from low‐Ti picritic parental magmas very similar in composition to IAT picrites from Pacific intraoceanic arcs. The most appropriate tectono‐magmatic model for the generation of the SSZ Tethyan ophiolites implies low velocity plate‐convergence of the intraoceanic subduction and generation of a nascent arc with IAT affinity and progressive slab roll‐back, mantle diapirism and extension from the arc axis to the forearc region, with generation of MORB/IAT intermediate basalts and boninitic magmas.     

Westward younging disposition of Philippine ophiolites and its implication for arc evolution

Abstract   The different ophiolite complexes in the Philippine island arc system define a progressive younging direction westward. This resulted from the clockwise rotation of the Philippine island arc system during its north-westward translation in the Eocene resulting in its western boundary colliding with the Sundaland–Eurasian margin. As a consequence of this interaction, ophiolite complexes and mélanges accreted into the Philippine island arc system along its western side. A new ophiolite zonation with four belts is proposed that takes into consideration the observed spatial and temporal relationships of the exposed oceanic lithosphere slices. With progressive younging from east to west, Belt 1 corresponds to Late Cretaceous complete ophiolite complexes with associated metamorphic soles along the eastern Philippines, whereas Belt 2 includes Early to Late Cretaceous dismembered ultramafic-mafic complexes with mélanges exposed mainly west of eastern Philippines. Belt 3 is defined by Cretaceous through Eocene to Oligocene ophiolite complexes emplaced along the collision zone between the Philippine Mobile Belt and the Sundaland–Eurasian margin. Belt 4 corresponds to the ophiolite complexes emplaced along continental margins as exposed in the Palawan and Zamboanga–Sulu areas. This proposed zonation hints that the whole Philippine Mobile Belt, except for the strike-slip fault bounded Eocene Zambales ophiolite complex in Luzon, is underlain by Cretaceous proto-Philippine Sea Plate fragments. This is contrary to the previous models that consider only the eastern margin of the Philippines to contain proto-Philippine Sea Plate materials.     

The Cansiwang Melange of Southeast Bohol (Central Philippines): Origin and tectonic implications

Abstract The Cansiwang Melange underlies the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex (SEBOC) and is composed mainly of sheared ophiolite-derived blocks such as harzburgites, microgabbros, basalts and cherts in a pervasive serpentinite matrix. Available field, as well as geophysical evidence show that this melange unit is not diapiric, nor does it have a sedimentary origin considering that it lacks slump and flow structures. A tectonic origin for the Cansiwang Melange is favored in view of the numerous thrust faults, which cut across the exposures, as well as the tectonic contacts that the melange has with the overlying and underlying formations. The presence of the Cansiwang Melange in between the SEBOC and the Alicia Schist provides evidence that the amphibolite of the Alicia Schist do not correspond to the metamorphic sole of SEBOC. Similar to what is recognized in the Josephine Ophiolite, this suggests a 'cold' emplacement of the ophiolite over the Alicia Schist. The Cansiwang Melange represents an accretionary prism product which marks the location of an ancient subduction zone in what is now Central Philippines.     

The Lithosphere-Asthenosphere System in the Calabrian Arc and Surrounding Seas – Southern Italy

A fairly detailed structural model of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system (thickness, S- and P-wave velocities of the crust and of the uppermost mantle layers) has been defined in the Calabrian Arc region (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Calabria and the northwestern part of the Ionian Sea) in Southern Italy using seismic data from literature as a priori constraints of the nonlinear inversion of surface-wave data. The main features identified by this study are: (1) A very shallow (less then 10 km deep) crust-mantle transition in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea and a very low v_s just below a very thin lid, in correspondence of the submarine volcanic bodies Magnaghi, Marsili and Vavilov, while the v_s in the lid is quite high in the area that separates Marsili from Magnaghi-Vavilov; (2) a shallow and very low v_s layer in the uppermost mantle in the areas of the Aeolian Islands, Vesuvius, Phlegraean Fields and Ischia, which represents their shallow-mantle magma source; (3) a thickened continental crust and lithospheric doubling in Calabria; (4) a crust about 25-km thick and a mantle velocity profile versus depth consistent with the presence of a continental rifted lithosphere, now thermally relaxed, in the investigated part of the Ionian Sea; (5) the subduction towards northwest of the Ionian lithosphere below the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea; (6) the subduction of the Adriatic/Ionian lithosphere underneath the Vesuvius and Phlegraean Fields.     

Geodynamic evolution of a forearc rift in the southernmost Mariana Arc

The southernmost Mariana forearc stretched to accommodate opening of the Mariana Trough backarc basin in late Neogene time, erupting basalts at 3.7–2.7 Ma that are now exposed in the Southeast Mariana Forearc Rift (SEMFR). Today, SEMFR is a broad zone of extension that formed on hydrated, forearc lithosphere and overlies the shallow subducting slab (slab depth ≤ 30–50 km). It comprises NW–SE trending subparallel deeps, 3–16 km wide, that can be traced ≥ ∼30 km from the trench almost to the backarc spreading center, the Malaguana‐Gadao Ridge (MGR). While forearcs are usually underlain by serpentinized harzburgites too cold to melt, SEMFR crust is mostly composed of Pliocene, low‐K basaltic to basaltic andesite lavas that are compositionally similar to arc lavas and backarc basin (BAB) lavas, and thus defines a forearc region that recently witnessed abundant igneous activity in the form of seafloor spreading. SEMFR igneous rocks have low Na₈, Ti₈, and Fe₈, consistent with extensive melting, at ∼23 ± 6.6 km depth and 1239 ± 40°C, by adiabatic decompression of depleted asthenospheric mantle metasomatized by slab‐derived fluids. Stretching of pre‐existing forearc lithosphere allowed BAB‐like mantle to flow along the SEMFR and melt, forming new oceanic crust. Melts interacted with pre‐existing forearc lithosphere during ascent. The SEMFR is no longer magmatically active and post‐magmatic tectonic activity dominates the rift.     

Seismic stratigraphy and structural characteristics of back-arc rifts on the Izu-Ogasawara Arc

Abstract Seven back-arc rifts are recognized in the Izu-Ogasawara Arc, namely, the Hachijo, the Aogashima, the Myojin, the Sumisu, the Torishima, the Sofu and the Nishinoshima Rifts from north to south. The acoustic stratigraphy is divided into three units (Units A, B and C) based on the seismic reflection profiles crossing the rifts. The structure of the rifts systematically changes from a half-graben type to a full graben type in the back-arc rifts from the Hachijo Rift to the Torishima Rift. The Hachijo and the Aogashima Rifts have a structure of half-graben, and the Myojin Rift has both structural characteristics of a half-graben and a full graben. The Sumisu and the Torishima Rifts are an asymmetric full graben. The Sofu and the Nishinoshima Rifts have different structural characteristics from the remaining rifts, from the Hachijo Rift to the Torishima Rift. The boundary faults in the back-arc rifts from the Hachijo to the Torishima Rifts cut to Unit B. Unit B correlates with volcaniclastic sediments during pre-rift volcanism between 4 and 2 Ma. The pre-rift volcanism was probably widespread on the northern Izu-Ogasawara Arc as is the present arc volcanism. These factors suggest that the beginning of rifting is dated at some time after 2 Ma. The developing process of the rift consists of three stages; (i) a sag stage in the crust at the location of the large offset boundary fault; (ii) a stage of half-graben formation; (iii) a stage of full graben formation. The offset of the boundary faults becomes larger from the Hachijo Rift to the Torishima Rift and the east-west width of the rifts also widens to the south. This is presumably because the Hachijo Rift is an earlier rifting stage than the Sumisu and the Torishima Rifts. The more primitive structure in the rifting stage from the Torishima Rift to the Hachijo Rift is probably caused by the propagation of rifting from south to north. The structural difference between the rifts in the northern part and the Sofu and the Nishinoshima Rifts seems to be due to structural differences in the crust between the northern and the southern parts from the tectonic gap.     

Tectonic evolution of the ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) and high-pressure (HP) metamorphic belts from central China

Abstract In the Triassic suture between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons, the Dabie metamorphic Complex in central China includes three tectonic units: the northern Dabie migmatitic terrane, the central ultrahigh-P coesite- and diamond-bearing eclogite belt, and the southern high-P blueschist-eclogite belt. This complex is bounded to the north by a north-dipping normal fault with a Paleozoic accretionary complex and to the south by a north-dipping reverse fault with Yangtze basement plus its foreland fold-and-thrust sequence. Great differences in metamorphic pressure suggests that these units reached different depths during metamorphism and their juxtaposition occurred by wedge extrusion of subducted old continental fragments. These units were subsequently subjected to (i) Barrovian type regional metamorphism and deformation at shallow depths; (ii) intrusion of Cretaceous granitic plutons; and (iii) doming and segmentation into several blocks by normal and strike-slip faults. A new speculative model of tectonic exhumation of UHP rocks is proposed.     

Geology of the Kokchetav UHP-HP metamorphic belt, Northern Kazakhstan

Abstract Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) rocks of the Kokchetav Massif of Kazakhstan contain metamorphic microdiamond and coesite inclusions inside rigid capsules such as garnet and zircon. Precambrian protoliths of the UHPM rocks were metamorphosed at around 530 Ma, at pressures of about 7 GPa, which suggests that crustal protoliths were subducted to depths of over 200 km. Primary UHPM minerals are poorly preserved due to partial obliteration by subsequent Barrovian overprint during exhumation and later collision events in Caledonian times. We report the results of detailed mapping of the Kokchetav Massif and use structural data to propose intrusion and exhumation mechanisms for the UHPM rocks. Detailed mapping revealed that many subvertical structures in the ultrahigh-pressure–high-pressure (UHP–HP) units were formed due to later folding. The primary structure appears to be subhorizontal and the total thickness of the UHP rocks is estimated at around 2 km. The first order structure is sandwich-like; that is, the UHP–HP units are separated from underlying low-P metamorphic rocks of the Daulet Series and from feebly metamorphosed to unmetamorphosed sedimentary strata on the top by subhorizontal faults. Kinematic indicators show top-to-the-south sense of shear along the top, and top-to-the-north displacement along the bottom boundaries. These shear senses, together with the observed metamorphic gradients, suggest that the thin UHPM sheet was extruded toward the north. We consider wedge extrusion to have been the most effective mechanism for the exhumation of the UHPM rocks.     

Volcanic history and tectonics of the Southwest Japan Arc

Abstract Remarkable changes in volcanism and tectonism have occurred in a synchronous manner since 1.5–2 Ma at the junction of the Southwest Japan Arc and the Ryukyu Arc. Although extensive volcanism occurred in Kyushu before 2 Ma, the subduction-related volcanism started at ca 1.5 Ma, forming a NE–SW trend volcanic front, preceded by significant changes in whole-rock chemistry and mode of eruptions at ca 2 Ma. The Median Tectonic Line has intensified dextral motion since 2 Ma, with a northward shift of its active trace of as much as 10 km, accompanied by the formation of rhomboidal basins in Central Kyushu. Crustal rotation and incipient rifting has also occurred in South Kyushu and the northern Okinawa Trough over the past 2 million years. We emphasize that the commencement age of these events coincides with that of the transition to the westward convergence of the Philippine Sea plate, which we interpret as a primary cause of these synchronous episodes. We assume that the shift in subduction direction led to an increase of fluid component contamination from subducted oceanic slab, which then produced island-arc type volcanism along the volcanic front. Accelerated trench retreat along the Ryukyu Trench may have caused rifting and crustal rotation in the northern Ryukyu Arc.     

Episodic accretion and metamorphism of Jurassic accretionary complex based on biostratigraphy and K-Ar geochronology in the western part of the Mino-Tanba Belt, Southwest Japan

Abstract The low grade metamorphic Jurassic accretionary complex in the western part of the Mino-Tanba Belt, Southwest Japan, is a chaotic sedimentary complex which consists of argillaceous matrices with allochthonous blocks of chert, greenstone, siliceous mudstone, terrigenous sandstone and mudstone. The complex is divided into three distinct geologic units, Units I, II and III, with a tectonic boundary (thrust) between them, forming a pile-nappe structure. They have different features for lithologies, fossil age, metamorphic condition and K-Ar age. Microfossil researches revealed that their timings of accretion were in the early Early Jurassic ( ca 195 Ma) for Unit III, in the early Middle Jurassic ( ca 175 Ma) for Unit II and in the latest Late Jurassic (ca 147 Ma) for Unit I. On the other hand, K-Ar age determinations of white mica separated from pelitic rocks of the three units clarified that the subsequent subduction-related metamorphism was 23 million years after the accretion of each unit. These results strongly suggest that the accretionary and metamorphic process had taken place episodically with an interval of 20 to 28 million years during Mesozoic time in the western part of the Mino-Tanba Belt, Southwest Japan.     

Neogene tectonic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc: New paleomagnetic constrains from the Betic chain

New paleomagnetic results from Neogene sedimentary sequences from the Betic chain (Spain) are here presented. Sedimentary basins located in different areas were selected in order to obtain paleomagnetic data from structural domains that experienced different tectonic evolution during the Neogene. Whereas no rotations have been evidenced in the Late Tortonian sediments in the Guadalquivir foreland basin, clockwise vertical axis rotations have been measured in sedimentary basins located in the central part of the Betics: the Aquitanian to Messinian sediments in the Alcalà la Real basin and the Tortonian and Messinian sediments in the Granada basin. Moreover, counterclockwise vertical axis rotations, associated to left lateral strike-slip faults have been locally measured from sedimetary basins in the eastern Betics: the Middle Miocene to Lower Pliocene sites from the Lorca and Vera basins and, locally, the Tortonian units of the Huercal-Overa basin. Our results show that, conversely from what was believed up to now, paleomagnetic rotations continued in the Betics after Late Miocene, enhancing the role of vertical axis rotations in the recent tectonic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc.     

Testing geomorphic signal of active normal faulting: The case of the Cittanova Fault (Calabria,southern Italy)

Extracting tectonic signals from the landscape is an important challenge for constraining the style and rate of deformation associated with active faults, especially where their displacement history cannot be independently determined. Based on previous paleoseismological data coupled with new geomorphological field work and ¹⁴C dating of geomorphic markers, we analysed the geomorphic signal of the along‐strike differential throw of the Cittanova Fault in southern Calabria (Italy), the recent activity of which is already well documented and constrained. Through DTM‐derived stream power law parameters (SL and χ), we provide evidence of drainage network disequilibrium and reorganization in response to fault growth and deformation style. Furthermore, a methodological test of the reliability of the χ metric as a proxy for the differential throw along the strike of active normal faults provided good preliminary results, consistent with a strong inverse linear correlation with fault throw. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geology of a submarine volcanic caldera in the Tonga Arc: Dive results

A submersible dive conducted on Volcano #1 located near 21° 09′S–175° 45′W on the Tonga Arc showed that the volcanic edifice with a caldera floor area of 30 km² located at and 450 m deep (b.s.l.=below sea level) was constructed recently during episodic volcanism. The sequential volcanic events are recorded along a faulted terrain formed in response to the collapse of the caldera wall. The post-caldera events are marked by occasional eruptions that have built scoriaceous cones associated with low-temperature hydrothermal venting and localized small-scale collapse features. The stratigraphy of the caldera wall indicates that the volcano was built by explosive volcanism alternating with quieter eruptive events. The repeated, violent explosive events formed ≤ 20 m thick sequences composed of alternating fine-grained ash beds and sand- to boulder-sized pyroclastic layers. During quieter volcanic events, dykes and massive flows intruded and/or accompanied the eruption of the volcaniclastic deposits throughout the sections of the wall explored. Massive columnar-jointed flows consist of viscous, silica-rich lavas forming tabular and giant radial-jointed (GRJ) flows formed in large (> 8 m in diameter) conduits and extruded onto the sea floor. In addition, massive lava flows forming sill-like complexes were observed underneath and near the giant radial-jointed columnar flows. Also, an intermittent quiet type of eruption produced vesicular lava flows, which are interbedded within the pyroclastic layered deposits. The massive and vesicular lavas consist of andesites and dacites with Ca-depleted (pigeonite) and Ca-enriched (salite) pyroxene, and intermediate (andesine-labradorite) to calcic (bytownite) plagioclase. They are depleted in total alkalis (Na₂O + K₂O < 3%), K₂O (< 1%), Zr/Y (< 1.8), Nb/Zr (< 0.01) and light Rare Earth Elements. We interpret that these andesite–dacite series were erupted after undergoing crystal-liquid fractionation in a magma chamber located underneath the caldera floor.     

Structural features of Panarea volcano in the frame of the Aeolian Arc (Italy): Implications for the 2002–2003 unrest

Panarea, characterized by gas unrest in 2002–2003, is the volcanic island with the least constrained structure in the eastern-central Aeolian Arc (Italy). Based on structural measurements, we define here its deformation pattern relative to the Arc. The main deformations are subvertical extension fractures (63% of data), normal faults (25%) and dikes (12%). The mean orientation of the extension fractures and faults is N38°E, with a mean opening direction of N135° ± 8°, implying extension with a moderate component of dextral shear. These data, matched with those available for Stromboli volcano (pure opening) and Vulcano, Lipari and Salina volcanoes (predominant dextral motions) along the eastern-central Arc, suggest a progressive westward rotation of the extension direction and an increase in the dextral shear. The dextral shear turns into compression in the western arc. The recent unrest at Panarea, coeval to that of nearby Stromboli, may also be explained by the structural context, as both volcanoes lie along the portion of the Arc subject to extension.