Seminar: Revisiting the Sicily Channel Rift Zone (Pelagian sea): From crustal tectonics to upper mantle dynamics

Thursday 1st March, 15:00, online and in presence (room B2)
Department of Science, Università Roma Tre
Giorgio Arriga (Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Italy)
Matthew Agius (Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Italy/ Department of Geosciences, University of Malta)
Claudio Faccenna (Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Italy/ GFZ Potsdam/ Jackson School of Geoscience, University of Texas at Austin)
PiRATES (PhD at uni RomA Tre in Earth Sciences and friends) seminar series

The tectonics of the Calabrian arc is characterized by the superimposition of different tectonic processes that occur at various time scales and spatial resolutions. The Sicily Channel, located at the northernmost portion of the African plate on top of the Pelagian block, borders the Sicilian-Maghrebide thrust fronts to the north and the Calabrian arc to the northwest. The main geological feature of the area is the Sicily Chanell Rift Zone (SCRZ), a ~300 km-long bathymetric scar that is segmented in three main NW-SE-oriented tectonic depressions (Malta, Linosa, and Pantelleria grabens). The grabens are characterized by extensional faults active from the upper Miocene to Quaternary times. The tectonic evolution of the SCRZ is still a matter of debate, mainly due to a lack of broadband seismic data in the area until recently.
With the help of newly acquired seismic data, we investigated the dynamic interaction between the surficial tectonics and the upper mantle beneath the SCRZ. We reinterpret the surface tectonics and determine the crustal and lithospheric thickness of the Sicily Channel. Our results highlight how low shear velocity and negative seismic radial anisotropy in the asthenosphere suggest mantle upwelling that is likely contributing to the surface extension on top.

Information: paolo.ballato@uniroma3.it or marco.liberatore@uniroma3.it
PhD in Earth Sciences

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