Present geodynamics of the northern Adriatic plate

The northern Adriatic plate is surrounded and squeezed by three orogens
(i.e. Apennines, Alps and Dinarides). Therefore, in the same area, the effects of
three independent subduction zones coexist and overlap. This supports the
evidence that plate boundaries are passive features.
The northeastward migration of the Apennines subduction hinge
determines the present-day faster subsidence rate in the western side of the
northern Adriatic (>1 mm/yr). This is recorded also by the dip of the foreland
regional monocline, and the increase SW-ward of the depth of the Tyrrhenian
layer, as well as the increase in thickness of the Pliocene and Pleistocene
sediments. These data indicate the dominant influence of the Apennines
subduction and the related asymmetric subsidence in the northern Adriatic
realm. The Dinarides front has been subsided by the Apennines subduction
hinge, as shown by the eroded Dalmatian anticlines in the eastern Adriatic Sea.
GPS data show the horizontal pattern of motion along the front of the three
belts surrounding the northern Adriatic plate. Values of shortening along the
prisms are in the order of 2-3 mm/yr (Northern Apennines), 1-2 mm/yr
(Southern Alps) and <1mm/yr (Dinarides). The pattern of the new GPS
velocities relative to Eurasia account for different tectonic domains and the
estimated strain rates are within 0.1 μstrain/yr. The shortening directions tend
to be perpendicular to the thrust belt fronts, as expected. The areas where the
strain rate sharply decreases across a tectonic feature (e.g., the Ferrara salient)
are considered structures seismically loading the brittle layer

Topoeurope, Topo-4D project, CNR.

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