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Stella, G.
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- PublicationOpen AccessGeological record of tsunami inundations in Pantano Morghella (south-eastern Sicily) both from near and far-field sources(2012)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;Gerardi, F.; Università di Catania ;Smedile, A.; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma1, Roma, Italia ;Pirrotta, C.; Università di Catania ;Barbano, M. S.; Università di Catania ;De Martini, P. M.; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma1, Roma, Italia ;Pinzi, S.; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma1, Roma, Italia ;Gueli, A. M.; Università di Catania ;Ristuccia, G. M.; Università di Catania ;Stella, G.; Università di Catania ;Troja, S. O.; Università di Catania; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Analysis of tsunami deposits from the Pantano Morghella area provided geological evidence for two inundations occurred along the south-eastern Ionian coast of Sicily. Pantano Morghella is a large pond characterised by a finegrained sedimentation indicating a low-energy depositional environment. Two anomalous yellow sandy layers found at different depths indicate the occurrence of high-energy marine inundations. We studied sedimentological and paleontological features of the anomalous deposits as well as their spatial distribution observing the following properties: different facies with respect to the local stratigraphic sequence; erosive bases, rip-up clasts and broken elements testifying violent deposition mechanisms; macro and micro fauna of marine environment; relatively constant thickness throughout most of the depositional zone with thinning at the distal end; large sand sheets that extend inland. These observations, jointly with their infrequency in the sedimentary record and the age indicating a fast deposition, provided strong evidence for tsunami inundations. Correlations between anomalous layers and historical tsunamis are supported by radiocarbon and OSL dating results. The younger deposit is likely due to the 1908 near-source tsunami, whereas the flooding of the oldest event is most likely associated with a far and large source, the Crete 365AD earthquake.326 260 - PublicationOpen AccessComplexity of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake causative fault system (Abruzzi Apennines, Italy) and effects on the Middle Aterno Quaternary basin arrangement(2019-04-23)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;; An Mw 6.1, devastating earthquake, on April 6, 2009, struck the Middle Aterno Valley (Abruzzi Apennines, Italy) due to the activation of a poorly known normal fault system. Structural analysis of the fault population and investigation of the relationships with the Quaternary continental deposits through integrated field and laboratory techniques were conducted in order to reconstruct the long-term, tectono-sedimentary evolution of the basin and hypothesize the size of the fault segment. A polyphasic evolution of the Middle Aterno Valley is characterized by a conjugate, ∼E-W and ∼NS-striking fault system, during the early stage of basin development, and by a dip-slip, NW-striking fault system in a later phase. The old conjugate fault system controlled the generation of the largest sedimentary traps in the area and is responsible for the horst and graben structures within the basin. During the Early Pleistocene the E-W and NS system reactivated with dip-slip kinematics. This gave rise to intra-basin bedrock highs and a significant syn-tectonic deposition, causing variable thickness and hiatuses of the continental infill. Subsequently, since the end of the Early Pleistocene, with the inception of the NW-striking fault system, several NW-strands linked into longer splays and their activity migrated toward a leading segment affecting the Paganica-San Demetrio basin: the Paganica-San Demetrio fault alignment. The findings from this work constrain and are consistent with the subsurface basin geometry inferred from previous geophysical investigations. Notably, two major elements of the ∼E-W and ∼NS-striking faults likely act as transfer to the nearby stepping active fault systems or form the boundaries, as geometric complexities, that limit the Paganica-San Demetrio fault segment overall length to 19 ± 3 km. The resulting size of the leading fault segment is coherent with the extent of the 6 April 2009 L'Aquila earthquake causative fault. The positive match between the geologic long-term and coseismic images of the 2009 seismogenic fault highlights that the comprehensive reconstruction of the deformation history offers a unique contribution to the understanding faults seismic potential.458 192