Subaqueous volcanism in the Etnean area: evidence for hydromagmatic activity and regional uplift inferred from the Castle Rock of Acicastello

Abstract

The subalkaline rocks outcropping at the Acicastello Castle Rock, Catania, Sicily, and on its abrasion platforms, are related to the oldest Etnean volcanism 500–300 ka; Here, submarine lavas with pillows closely packed onto each other are associated with heterogeneous and poorly sorted volcaniclastic breccia levels with sub-vertical sharp w boundaries. The present-day attitude was previously interpreted as due to a local tilt or to the seaward sliding of the entire eastern Etnean flank , on the assumption of originally horizontal boundaries. On the contrary, our observations do not match the hypothesis of a significantly tilted succession and lead us to conclude that, apart from the strong regional uplift, the present Castle Rock exposure did not suffer any substantial change of its attitude.