Space accommodation by roof lifting during pluton emplacement at Amiata (Italy)

The Amiata area is characterized by an uplift attributed to pluton emplacement during the Pliocene epoch. The shape of the buried pluton is constrained by gravity data. Fieldwork was carried out to identify possible deformations within the overburden, in order to evaluate the mechanism of emplacement. The attitudes of Lower Pliocene marine sediments, deposited immediately before the uplift, were measured also. The overall pattern of the deposits defines a dome, approximately 2.5 km high and 35 × 50 km wide. Consistency between these field data and the existing geophysical data suggests that the dome results from the emplacement of a laccolith-like intrusion which was responsible for lifting and flexuring the overburden. The Amiata case shows that roof lifting is a viable process by which space in the upper crust, to a depth of 7 km, can be accommodated during pluton emplacement.