LONG - TERM EFFECTS OF LATE QUATERNARY NORMAL FAULTING IN SOU THERN CALABRIA AND EASTERN SICILY

Abstract

The Calabrian are, located in the peri-Tyrrhenian collisional belt of Southem Italy, is characterised by intense post-collisional dynamics. These consist of a large scale uplifting of the mountain belt which is associated, since the Late Quaternary, with the active norma! faulting, originating the "Siculo-Calabrian Rift Zone", from the Tyrrhenian side of Calabria to the Ionian coast of Sicily. In these regions, suffering an high leve! crustal seismicity, the effects of the two combined processes are well exposed in the Straits of Messina area, a major transfer zone which separates the southern Calabria and the northeastem Sicily branches of the rift. In the area, flights of Late Quatemary marine terraces are severely displaced along the coastal slopes by active normal faults. [...]