F. Brozzetti

Architecture and seismotectonics of a regional low‐angle normal fault zone in central Italy

Information from surface geology, subsurface geology (boreholes, seismic reflection, and refraction profiles), and seismicity are used to depict the geometry and the possible seismogenic role of the Altotiberina Fault (AF), a low-angle normal fault in central Italy. The AF extends along the inner Umbria region, for a length of ∼70 km, with an average dip of ∼30° and an horizontal displacement up to 5 km. It emerges west of the inner border of the Tiber basin and deepens beneath the Umbria-Marche carbonate fold-and-thrust belt to a depth of 12–14 km. Close to the AF surface trace, low-angle synthetic east dipping normal faults extensively outcrop, whereas high-angle antithetic west dipping normal faults prevail farther east. Integrating geological and seismologic information, it can be stated that the AF behaves as an active extensional fault zone and represents the basal detachment of the west dipping seismogenic normal faults of the Umbria-Marche region. The AF belongs to a regional NE dipping low-angle normal fault system (Etrurian Fault System (EFS)), which extends for ∼350 km from northwestern Tuscany to southern Umbria. Early preliminary considerations suggest that the EFS may play an important role in controlling active extension and related seismicity in northern central Italy.

Ground deformation and source geometry of the 24 August 2016 Amatrice earthquake (Central Italy) investigated through analytical and numerical modeling of DInSAR measurements and structural-geological data

We investigate the ground deformation and source geometry of the 2016 Amatrice earthquake (Central Italy) by exploiting ALOS2 and Sentinel-1 coseismic differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) measurements. They reveal two NNW-SSE striking surface deformation lobes, which could be the effect of two distinct faults or the rupture propagation of a single fault. We examine both cases through a single and a double dislocation planar source. Subsequently, we extend our analysis by applying a 3-D finite elements approach jointly exploiting DInSAR measurements and an independent, structurally constrained, 3-D fault model. This model is based on a double fault system including the two northern Gorzano and Redentore-Vettoretto faults (NGF and RVF) which merge into a single WSW dipping fault surface at the hypocentral depth (8 km). The retrieved best fit coseismic surface deformation pattern well supports the exploited structural model. The maximum displacements occur at 5–7 km depth, reaching 90 cm on the RVF footwall and 80 cm on the NGF hanging wall. The von Mises stress field confirms the retrieved seismogenic scenario.

Structural style of Quaternary extension in the Crati Valley (Calabrian Arc): Evidence in support of an east-dipping detachment fault

New geological field data, integrated with commercial seismic lines, allowed us to constrain the geometry and time-space evolution of the fault system that ruled the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the NS-striking Crati graben, in the axial portion of the northern Calabrian Arc.We highlight that this basin is controlled by a 60-km long east-dipping master fault, referred to as the Crati Graben Detachment Fault (CGDF).On the seismic sections, the CGDF appears as an east-dipping low-angle reflection reaching the surface along the eastern slope of the Catena Costiera Calabra. Its surface expression corresponds to an alignment of moderately-inclined (30° to 45°) left-stepping en-echelon faults.More to the East, a number of E- and W-dipping high-angle normal faults branch upward from the CGDF. Their reconstructed timing suggest that the westernmost faults are active since the Early Pleistocene and show a progressive eastward rejuvenation trend.The conversion to depth of a W-E oriented seismic section, crossing the entire Crati graben, highlights that the CGDF has a staircase geometry, with an average angle of 30°, and reaches a depth of 7-8 km below the east side of the basin. The evolutionary stages of the related fault system were reconstructed by restoring the section through the Move suite software (Midland Valley Exploration), in order to verify the kinematic consistency of our subsurface interpretation and estimate the amount of associate extension.Finally, the present activity and the possible seismogenic role of the CGDF is preliminarily discussed, by comparing the geometry of the extensional fault system with the available historical and seismological instrumental datasets.