Sequence stratigraphy, kinematics and dynamic geohistory of the Crotone Basin (Calabrian Arc, Central Mediterranean): an integrated approach

Abstract

A comprehensive study of the Late Neogene tectonostratigraphic development of the Crotone Basin is presented. The basin is situated on the accretionary wedge along the external side of the Calabrian Arc (Central Mediterranean). The results of our analysis provide detailed insight into the relative role of local tectonic activity of the thrust wedge and regional relative sea level fluctuations in the creation of unconformity bound depositional sequences. The tectonostratigraphic significances of the sequence boundaries of the Early-Late Miocene and Late Pliocene-middle Pleistocene sequences are remarkably similar. They reflect a “composite tectonic event” comprising an uplift/regression pulse, followed by a rapid subsidence/onlap. Each composite tectonic event, in turn, represents one pulse in the progressive evolution of the accretionary wedge system. We regard the middle Messinian-Early Pliocene phases of basin fill and tectonic inversion, and the Late Pleistocene-Recent uplift phase as reflections of the increase of regional stress in the Central Mediterranean.