New geological data on the Cassino intermontane basin, central Apennines, Italy

This paper presents the outcome of photogeological
analysis, field survey as well as borehole correlation,
to add new data concerning the intermontane Cassino
basin and define facies and thickness of its Quaternary
deposits. The investigated area is located in the end sector
of the Latina Valley, Southern Lazio and belongs to the
Lazio–Abruzzi domain. With a maximum extension of 250
km2 and a NW–SE trend, this paleo-lake was created by
lava flows from the Roccamonfina volcano, which barred
the Latina Valley. The lacustrine facies were described
during the 1960s but available bibliographic data about its
spatial distribution and its relationship with the Mesozoic–
Cenozoic bedrock are scarce. The thickness of Quaternary
deposits has been deeply influenced by inherited paleomorphologies.
Indeed the geological reconstruction of the
basin has outlined the presence of an underlying horst and
graben structure. This latter obscured the contractional
tectonics originated by the orogenetic deformation, even if
new structures have been recognized at the foot of Montecassino Hill. We infer that a key role has been per-
formed by the Roveto Valley–Atina–Caserta fault, between
Atina and San Pietro Infine.