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

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.

BEN-AVRAHAM Z. & GRASSO M., (1990) - Collisional zone segmentation in Sicily and surrounding areas in Central Mediterranean. Ann. Tectonicae, 4 (2), 131-139.
BEN-AVRAHAM Z. & GRASSO M. (1991) - Crustal structure variations and transcurrent faulting at the eastern and western margins of the eastern Mediterranean. Tectonophysics, 75, 269-277.
BOCCALETTI M., CELLO G. & TORTORICI L. (1987) - Transtensional tectonics in the Sicily Channel. Journal of Structural Geology, 9, 869-876.
BOUSQUET J.C. & LANZAFAME G., (2004) - Compression and Quaternary tectonic inversion on the Northern edge of the Hyblean Mountains, foreland of the Apennine-Maghrebian chain in Eastern Sicily (Italy): geodynamic implications for Mt. Etna. GeoActa, 3, 165-177.
BUROLLET P.F., MUGNIOT G.M.Y. & SWEENEY, P. (1978) - Geology of the Pelagian Block: The margin and basin of Southen Tunisia and Tripolitania. In: A. Nairn, W. Kanes and F.G. Stelhi, (Eds.) – The Ocean Basin and Margin. Plenum, New York, 331-419.
CARBONE S., GRASSO M. & LENTINI F. (1982) - Considerazioni sull’evoluzione geodinamica della Sicilia Sud-Orientale dal Cretaceo al Quaternario. Mem. Soc. Geol. Ital., 24, 367-
386.CATALANO S., DE GUIDI G., ROMAGNOLI G., TORRISI S., TORTORICI G. & TORTORICI L. (2008) - The migration of plate boundaries in SE Sicily: Influence on the large-scale kinematic model of the African promontory in southern Italy. Tectonophysics, 449, 41-62.CATALANO S., ROMAGNOLI G. & TORTORICI G. (2010) - Kinematics and dynamics of the late quaternary rift-flank deformation in the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily). Tectonophysics, 486, 1-14.
CATALANO S., TORRISI S., TORTORICI G. & ROMAGNOLI G., (2011) - Active folding along a rift-flank: The Catania region case history (SE Sicily). Journal of Geodynamics,
51, 53-63.GRASSO M. & LENTINI F. (1982) - Sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the eastern Hyblean Plateau (Southeast Sicily) during Late Cretaceous to Quaternary time. Paleogeogr., Paleoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 39, 261-280.
FINETTI I. (1982) - Structure, stratigraphy and evolution of the Mediterranean Sea. Bollettino Geofisica Teorica Applicata, 15, 263-341.
GHISETTI F.& VEZZANI L., (1980) - The structural features of the Hyblean Plateau and the Mount Judica area (South-Eastern Sicily): a microtectonic contribution to the deformational history of the Calabrian Arc. Boll. Soc. Geol. It., 99, 55-102.
GRASSO M. & REUTHER C.D. (1988) - The western margin of the Hyblean Plateau: a neotectonic transform system on the SE Sicilian foreland. Annales Tectonicae, II (2), 107-120.
ILLIES J. H. (1981) - Graben formation - The Maltese Islands: a case history. Tectonophysics, 73, 151-168.
LICKORISH W.H., GRASSO M., BUTLER R.W.H., ARGNANI A. & MANISCALCO R., (1999) - Structural styles and regional tectonic setting of the “Gela Nappe” and frontal part of the Maghrebian thrust belt in Sicily. Tectonics, 18, 655-668.
MONACO C. & TORTORICI L. (2000) - Active faulting in the Calabrian arc and eastern Sicily. J. Geodyn., 29, 407-424. REUTHER C.D., BEN-AVRAHAM Z. & GRASSO M. (1993) - Origin and role of major strike-slip transfer during plate collision in the central Mediterranean. Terra Nova, 5, 249-257.