An active margin across the Adriatic Sea (central Mediterranean Sea)

Abstract

New seismological and structural data from the central Adriatic-Gargano promontory area demonstrate that the current models of an aseismic and slightly deformed Adriatic block have to be revised. A seismically active deformational belt is mapped along two main fault systems, the Tremiti Islands and Mattinata faults. Moreover, geologic and geophysical evidence suggests that a more extensive lithospheric boundary may cut across the central Italian peninsula to the Tyrrhenian basin.