Multi-stage rodingitization of ophiolitic bodies from Northern Apennines(Italy): Constraints from petrography, geochemistry and thermodynamic modelling

The investigated mantle bodies from the External Ligurians(Groppo di Gorro and Mt.Rocchetta)show evidences of a complex evolution determined by an early high temperature metasomatism,due to percolating melts of asthenospheric origin,and a later metasomatism at relatively high temperature by hydrothermal fluids,with formation of rodingites.At Groppo di Gorro,the serpentinization and chloritization processes obliterated totally the pyroxenite protolith,whereas at Mt.Rocchetta relics of peridotite and pyroxenite protoliths were preserved from serpentinization.The rodingite parageneses consist of diopside+vesuvianite+garnet+calcite+chlorite at Groppo di Gorro and garnet+diopside+serpentine±vesuvianite±prehnite±chlorite±pumpellyite at Mt.Rocchetta.Fluid inclusion measurements show that rodingitization occurred at relatively high temperatures(264-334℃ at 500 bar and 300-380℃ at 1 kbar).Garnet,the first phase of rodingite to form,consists of abundant hydrogarnet component at Groppo di Gorro,whereas it is mainly composed of grossular and andradite at Mt.Rocchetta.The last stage of rodingitization is characterized by the vesuvianite formation.Hydrogarnet nucleation requires high Ca and low silica fluids,whereas the formation of vesuvianite does not need CO2-poor fluids.The formation of calcite at Groppo di Gorro points to mildly oxidizing conditions compatible with hydrothermal fluids;the presence of andradite associated with serpentine and magnetite at Mt.Rocchetta suggests Fe^3+-bearing fluids with fO2 slightly higher than iron-magnetite buffer.We propose that the formation of the studied rodingite could be related to different pulses of hydrothermal fluids mainly occurring in an oceancontinent transitional setting and,locally,in an accretionary prism associated with intra-oceanic subduction.

Present Tectonic Setting and Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Seismicity in the Apennine Belt

In previous papers, we have argued that a close connection may exist between the discontinuous northward displacement of the Adria plate and the spatio-temporal distribution of major earthquakes in the?periAdriatic?regions?[1]-[3]. In particular, five seismic sequences are tentatively recognized in the post 1400 A.D. seismic history, each characterized by a progressive migration of major shocks along the eastern (Hellenides, Dinarides), western (Apennines) and northern (Eastern Southern Alps) boundaries of Adria. In this work, we describe an attempt at gaining insights into the short-term evolution of the strain field that underlies the migration of seismicity in the Apennine belt. The results of this study suggest that seismicity in the study area is mainly conditioned by the fact that the outer (Adriatic) sector of the Apennine belt, driven by the Adria plate, is moving faster than the inner (Tyrrhenian) belt. This kinematics is consistent with the observed Pleistocene deformation pattern and the velocity field inferred by GPS data. The spatio-temporal distribution of major shocks during the last still ongoing seismic sequence (post 1930) suggests that at present the probability of next major shocks is highest in the Northern Apennines. Within this area, we suggest that seismic hazard is higher in the zones located around the outer sector of the Romagna-Marche-Umbria units (RMU), since that wedge is undergoing an accelerated relative motion with respect to the inner Apennine belt. This hypothesis may also account for the pattern of background seismicity in the Northern Apennines. This last activity might indicate that the Upper Tiber Valley fault system is the most resisted boundary sector of the RMU mobile wedge, implying an higher probability of major earthquakes.

Belt-Parallel Shortening in the Northern Apennines and Seismotectonic Implications

Major seismic activity in the Northern Apennines concentrates in few zones, distributed in a peculiar way. It is argued that such context may be plausibly explained as an effect of belt-parallel?shortening, which has caused oroclinal bending of the longitudinal ridges formed during the Late Miocene to Lower Pliocene evolutionary phase. The main effects of this process, developed since the upper Pliocene, have mainly affected the outer sectors of the belt. The major seismic sources have generated in the zones where different oroclinal bendings of adjacent ridges have produced extensional/transtensional deformation. In the inner side of the Northern Apennines, belt parallel shortening has occurred at a lower rate. The main effects have resulted from the shortening of the?Albano-Chianti-Rapolano-Cetona ridge. In particular, the proposed tectonic setting may account?for the moderate seismic activity that occurs in the Firenze, Elsa, Pesa, Siena and Radicofani basins.

Possible Location of the Next Major Earthquakes in the Northern Apennines: Present Key Role of the Romagna-Marche-Umbria Wedge

It is argued that in some zones of the Northern Apennines, in particular the Rimini-Ancona thrust system, the Romagna Apennines and the Alta Valtiberina trough, the probability of major earthquakes is now higher than in other Apennine zones. This hypothesis is suggested by the comparison of the present short-term kinematics of the Romagna-Marche-Umbria wedge in the Northern Apennines, deduced by the distribution of major shocks in the last tens of years, with the previous repeated behavior of the same wedge, evidenced by the distribution of major earthquakes in the last seven centuries. The seismotectonics of the Apennine region here considered is closely connected with the larger context that involves the progressive migration (from south to north) of seismicity along the peri-Adriatic zones. The information provided by this study can be used to better manage the resources for prevention in Italy.

Italian Non-Fiction Literature Towards the Phenomenon of Contemporary Emigration From Africa and the Near East on the Apennine Peninsula

The phenomenon of recent emigration on the Apennine Peninsula is quite fresh but intense. The emigration literary culture which is formed in this exile is not very abundant, but with distinct trends between certificating and documenting the experiences of immigrants. Reportages play an important role, including A Sud di Lampedusa. Cinque anni di viaggi sulle rotte dei migranti by Stefano Liberti, A Lampedusa. Affari, malaffari, rivolta e sconfitta dell＇isola che voleva diventare la porta d＇Europa, a book written by Italian journalists Fabio Sanfilippo and Alice Scialoja, and a diary La scelta di Catia written by Catia Pellegrino. In addition, many materials （including journalistic materials） confirm the existence of a preliminary reconnaissance, however, requires further research. Italian documentaries, personal opinions and comments that go far beyond literature in the strict sense complement the panorama of contemporary emigration which comes from Africa and the Near East. However, they allow us to understand better the area of psychosocial determinants of individual migration decisions and specificity of the migrants＇ experience, including the experience of the community. How do human solidarity and effectiveness work in the process of the emigration on the European continent？ An analysis of the phenomenon of the emigration on the Apennine Peninsula is inextricably linked with the questions about the confrontation and integration, about the literature which is created in this community and the impact political correctness has on its shape, as well as about the new model of immigrant/the African/the European.

The interpretation of gravity anomaly on lunar Apennines

The lunar Apennines,located in the southeast of Mare Imbrium,is the largest range on the Moon. The gravity anomalies on profiles across the mountains reveal evidence of a great fault zone characteristic. The deep crustal structures of lunar Apennines are analyzed on the basis of topographic data from Chang'E-1 satellite and gravity data from Lunar Prospector. The inverted crust-mantle models indicate the presence of a lithosphere fault beneath the mountains. Inverted results of gravity and the hypothe-sis of lunar thermal evolution suggest that the lunar lithosphere might be broken ～3.85 Ga ago due to a certain dynamic lateral movement and compression of lunar lithosphere. This event is associated with the history of magma filling and lithosphere deformation in the mountain zone and adjacent area. Moreover,the formation and evolution of Imbrium basin impose this effect on the process.

Detrital zircon ages of Oligocene to Miocene sandstone suites of the Southern Apennines foreland basin system,Italy

U-Pb spot ages on detrital zircons from turbidite quartzarenites,quartz-feldspathic and volcaniclastic sandstones of the Tufiti di Tusa(TTF),Numidian Flysch(NF),Bifurto(BF),Gorgoglione(GF)and Serra Palazzo(SPF)formations,exposed in southern Italy,were detected to define their provenance signatures aiming to contribute to reconstructing the complex geodynamic evolution of the southern Apennine chain.The deposition ages of these sandstones range from Rupelian(TTF),Burdigalian p.p.-Early Langhian(NF and BF)and Langhian-Serravallian-Early Tortonian(GF and SPF).The detrital zircon ages in each deposit show different clusters.In TTF,the zircon age clusters are:610±6 Ma;390±4 Ma;287±3 Ma;157±2 Ma;78±1 Ma and 67±1 Ma;33±1 Ma.In NF and BF formations,the prevalent zircon ages are clustered at 661±10 Ma,607±8 Ma and 547±8 Ma.In GF sandstones,the ages of detrital zircons are clustered around 672±28 Ma,458±9 Ma,297±8 Ma and 24±1 Ma.The sandstones of SPF contain zircons showing age clusters at649±10 Ma,486±7 Ma and 315±5 Ma.Zircons and lithic fragments from TTF display a dominant provenance from Oligocene calc-alkaline effusive products located on western domains of the Mesomediterranean Microplate,and minor detritus from granitoids and metamorphic rocks of Variscan ages.Zircons of NF and BF indicate a provenance of detritus from the African Craton without evidence of Variscan or Alpine signatures.Zircons from GF and SPF show a provenance from both Variscan crystalline basement rocks forming the Alpine chain(Calabria-Peloritani Terranes)and Variscan magmatic and metamorphic rocks unaffected by Alpine tectonics,similar to Sardinia-Corsica(pro-parte)block.In addition,the Oligocene magmatic component dated at 24 Ma in GF sandstones is evidence for the maximum age of sedimentation for these deposits.In light of the recent and preliminary geochronological data acquired,a revised paleogeographic restoration could be inferred for the location of sedimentary basins during the Apennines tectonic evolution.The Rupelian sedimentation age of TTF suggests that the deposition domains of the Numidian sequences and the successive deposits of GF and SPF,were located in a more complex paleogeographic scenario along the orogenic system.

Active Tectonics in Tuscany (Central Italy): Ten Years of Seismicity (2009-2019)

Strong earthquakes (moment magnitude MW ≥ 5.5) are uncommon in Tuscany and surroundings (central Italy). The last strong seismic event occurred a century ago (September 7, 1920 Garfagnana, MW = 6.53). The paucity of seismic instrumental recordings hinders the identification of the tectonic regime active in Tuscany. On the other hand, the geological and geomorphological pieces of evidence collected so far, concerning potential active and capable faults, are scarce, fragmentary and ambiguous. In this work I shed light on the active deformation of Tuscany by using two independent approaches: earthquake source mechanisms and GNSS (GPS) geodetic measurements. I have considered 41 small seismic events (MW ≤ 5.1) that occurred in the study area during the last decade. The related source mechanisms (retrieved by the Time Domain Moment Tensor method) define a relatively clear picture of the active deformation: extension along the northern Apennine watershed and strike-slip regime within inner Tuscany, up to the Tyrrhenian coast. This pattern broadly agrees with the horizontal strain field reconstructed by the geodetic velocity field. The latter has been constrained by a network of 840 GPS stations located in Italy and neighboring countries, operating in the last 20 years.

The“underfilled trinity model”of foreland basins revisited:reality or myth?

The“underfilled trinity”model of foreland-basin stratigraphy was proposed based on the observation that the initial sedimentary stages along the western and northern front of the western and central Alps were represented by shallow-water carbonates(Calcaires a Nummulites)overlain by hemipelagic marls(Marnes Bleues)and capped by siliciclastic turbidites(Gr es d'Annot).Subsequently,this model has been widely accepted and applied in foreland basins worldwide.We here re-investigated the Eocene-Oligocene sedimentary succession of the Western Alps to check its validity.Major geological features of this region include:i)the existence of a Cretaceous-Eocene unconformity spanning more than 25 Myr in the studied sections;ii)a virtually synchronous age of the Calcaires a Nummulites,Marnes Bleues,and Gr es d'Annot formations across the Western Alps;iii)a long-term deepening-upward trend,from inner to outer ramp,documented by the Calcaires a Nummulites,followed by the pelagic Marnes Bleues and by the Gr es d'Annot turbidites;iv)the provenance of the Gr es d'Annot Formation from the Maures-Est erel Massif and/or CorsicaSardinia block in the south,rather than from the Alpine orogen in the east.By integrating field observations,sedimentological,biostratigraphic,and provenance analyses,we found the Eocene“underfilled foreland”model too simplistic and inadequate to explain the basin evolution in the western Alpine region.Based on the alternative scenario proposed herein,the Annot and Barr^eme basins formed in the late Eocene(40-35 Ma)in an extensional/transtensional setting during a period of major change in tectonic stress fields across western Europe on the upper plate of the Apennine subduction.