Active deformation along the northern margin of the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily) from GPS and geological data

Abstract

A diffuse fragmentation of the Nubia-Eurasia tectonic boundary, due to the propagation of distinct extensional belts, has characterised the post-collision evolution of the region. In this frame, the Hyblean Plateau was affected, since about 1.5 Ma B.P., by the propagation of the the roughly N-S trending Siculo-Calabrian Rift Zone (SCRZ in Fig.1a; MONACO & TORTORICI, 2000), an extensional belt that extends from the onshore of southern Calabria to the SE Sicily. In the Hyblean plateau the propagation of the rift zone caused the reactivation of the main previous discontinuity. The earlier SE Sicily branch of the rift zone, in fact, propagated from the Ionian coast to the Scicli Line, causing the collapse of the NEtrending Scordia-Lentini Graben, at the northern margin of the plateau. This extensional basin represents an half-graben, which is controlled by a SE-facing master fault.