Tectonic evidence for the ongoing Africa-Eurasia convergence in central Mediterranean foreland areas: A journey among long-lived shear zones, large earthquakes, and elusive fault motions.

Abstract

We investigate the role of the Africa-Eurasia convergence in the recent tectonic evolution of the central Mediterranean. To this end we focused on two sectors of the Adriatic-Hyblean foreland of the Apennine-Maghrebian chain as they allow tectonic evidence for relative plate motions to be analyzed aside from the masking effect of other more local tectonic phenomena (e.g., subduction, chain building, etc.). We present a thorough review of data and interpretations on two major shear zones cutting these foreland sectors: the E-W Molise-Gondola in central Adriatic and the N-S Vizzini-Scicli in southern Sicily. The selected foreland areas exhibit remarkable similarities, including an unexpectedly high level of seismicity and the presence of the investigated shear zones since the Mesozoic. We analyze the tectonic framework, active tectonics, and seismicity of each of the foreland areas, highlighting the evolution of the tectonic understanding. In both areas, we find that current strains at midcrustal levels seem to respond to the same far-field force oriented NNW-SSE to NW-SE, similar to the orientation of the Africa-Eurasia convergence. We conclude that this convergence plays a primary role in the seismotectonics of the central Mediterranean and is partly accommodated by the reactivation of large Mesozoic shear zones.