Geological model of the central Periadriatic basin (Apennines, Italy)

Abstract 3D geological models from multi-source data (cross-sections, geological maps, borehole logs and outcrops) are a critical tool to improve the interpretation of the spatial organization of subsurface structures that are not directly accessible. In this paper, we reconstruct the main geological structures and surfaces in three dimensions through the interpolation of closely and regularly spaced 2D seismic sections, constrained by wells data and surface geology. The methodology was applied in the Marche–Abruzzi sector of the Periadriatic basin, where the more external part of the Apennines fold-and-thrust belt is mostly buried under a syn- and post-orogenic, Plio–Pleistocene, siliciclastic sequence. The 3D model allowed us to correlate the main thrust fronts and related anticlines along strike, revealing a general ramp – flat – ramp trajectory characterizing the main structural trends. This geometric organization influences the sequence of thrust-system propagation and characterizes the evolution of syntectonic basins. The obtained 3D model points out several variation occurring along strike: i) main trends geometric relationships; ii) deformation chronology and iii) displacement distribution. In the northern sector, higher displacement and structural elevation are reached out by the Nereto–Bellante structure, whereas in the southern sector the Villadegna–Costiera Structure is the prevalent. All structures show a diachronic thrusts activity along strike, younger toward the north.

[1]  R. Casnedi.  Hydrocarbon-Bearing Submarine Fan System of Cellino Formation, Central Italy , 1983 .

[2]  W. Schlager,et al.  Architecture and growth history of a Miocene carbonate platform from 3D seismic reflection data; Luconia province, offshore Sarawak, Malaysia , 2004 .

[3]  C. Doglioni,et al.  The Western Mediterranean extensional basins and the Alpine orogen , 1997 .

[4]  S. Bigi,et al.  Stratigraphy, structural setting and burial history of the Messinian Laga basin in the context of Apennine foreland basin system , 2009 .

[5]  P CASERO,et al.  STRUCTURAL SETTING OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION PLAYS IN ITALY , 2004 .

[6]  P. Ledru.  The Cadomian crust of Brittany (France): 3D imagery from multisource data (GéoFrance 3D) , 2001 .

[7]  F. Storti,et al.  Growth stratal architectures associated to decollement folds and fault-propagation folds. Inferences on fold kinematics , 1997 .

[8]  Giancarlo Ciotoli,et al.  Seismic interpretation of the Laga basin; constraints on the structural setting and kinematics of the Central Apennines , 2011, Journal of the Geological Society.

[9]  Xukai Zou,et al.  An effective method for 3D geological modeling with multi-source data integration , 2005, Comput. Geosci..

[10]  George T. Chou,et al.  Rates of folding and faulting determined from growth strata , 1992 .

[11]  M. Zucali,et al.  Three-dimensional evaluation of fabric evolution and metamorphic reaction progress in polycyclic and polymetamorphic terrains: a case from the Central Italian Alps , 2010 .

[12]  Christopher K. Morley,et al.  The Brunei slide: A giant submarine landslide on the North West Borneo Margin revealed by 3D seismic data , 2007 .

[13]  E. Carminati,et al.  Control of differential compaction on the geometry of sediments onlapping paleoescarpments: Insights from field geology (Central Apennines, Italy) and numerical modeling , 2005 .

[14]  Simone Sterlacchini,et al.  3D reconstruction of complex geological bodies: Examples from the Alps , 2009, Comput. Geosci..

[15]  Peter B. Flemings,et al.  A synthetic stratigraphic model of foreland basin development , 1989 .

[16]  S. Bigi,et al.  Contribution of different kinematic models and a complex Jurassic stratigraphy in the construction of a forward model for the Montagna dei Fiori fault‐related fold (Central Apennines, Italy) , 2010 .

[17]  R. Lisle,et al.  Kinematic evolution and structural styles of fold-and-thrust belts , 2011 .

[18]  S. Corrado,et al.  Testing thrust tectonic models at mountain fronts: where has the displacement gone? , 2006, Journal of the Geological Society.

[19]  C. Perotti,et al.  Tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the Lower Pliocene Periadriatic foredeep in Central Italy , 2006 .

[20]  A. Argnani,et al.  Foreland deformation in the Central Adriatic and its bearing on the evolution of the Northern Apennines , 1997 .

[21]  W. Ryan,et al.  Extension in the Tyrrhenian Sea and shortening in the Apennines as result of arc migration driven by sinking of the lithosphere , 1986 .

[22]  G. Caumon,et al.  Surface-Based 3D Modeling of Geological Structures , 2009 .

[23]  S. Mitra,et al.  Structural geology of fold and thrust belts , 1992 .

[24]  J. Boissonnat,et al.  3D volumetric modelling of Cadomian terranes (Northern Brittany, France): an automatic method using Voronoı̈ diagrams , 2001 .

[25]  G. Rusciadelli,et al.  Stratigraphic and tectonic evolution of the Pliocene Abruzzi basin (Central Apennines, Italy) , 2004 .

[26]  Gian Gabriele Ori,et al.  Sedimentary basins formed and carried piggyback on active thrust sheets , 1984 .

[27]  J. Ogg,et al.  The Concise Geologic Time Scale , 2008 .

[28]  G. Ori,et al.  Plio–Pleistocene Sedimentation in the Apenninic–Adriatic Foredeep (Central Adriatic Sea, Italy) , 2009 .

[29]  R. Pasi,et al.  DEPOSITIONAL AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF THE PLIOCENE PERI‐ADRIATIC FOREDEEP, NE ITALY , 1999 .

[30]  P. DeCelles,et al.  Foreland basin systems , 1996 .

[31]  F. Fonnesu.  3D seismic images of a low-sinuosity slope channel and related depositional lobe (West Africa deep-offshore) , 2003 .

[32]  C. Doglioni,et al.  A proposal for the kinematic modelling of W-dipping subductions - possible applications to the Tyrrhenian-Apennines system , 1991 .

[33]  S. Bigi,et al.  Load and unload as interference factors on cyclical behavior and kinematics of Coulomb wedges: Insights from sandbox experiments , 2010 .

[34]  Chakib Bennis,et al.  Construction of coherent 3D geological blocks , 2003 .

[35]  K. McClay,et al.  Fault-related folding in sandbox analogue models of thrust wedges , 1997 .

[36]  L. Royden.  Flexural behavior of the continental lithosphere in Italy - Constraints imposed by gravity and deflection data , 1988 .

[37]  S. Bigi,et al.  Kinematic evolution and strain simulation, based on cross-section restoration, of the Maiella Mountain: an analogue for oil fields in the Apennines (Italy) , 2011 .

[38]  M. Ford.  Depositional wedge tops: interaction between low basal friction external orogenic wedges and flexural foreland basins , 2004 .

[39]  W. Schlager,et al.  18 – Architecture and growth history of a Miocene carbonate platform from 3D seismic reflection data: Luconia province, offshore Sarawak, Malaysia , 2012 .

[40]  G. Cavinato,et al.  Structural architecture of the central Apennines: Interpretation of the CROP 11 seismic profile from the Adriatic coast to the orographic divide , 2008 .

[41]  V. Scisciani,et al.  Coexistence of thin- and thick-skinned tectonics: An example from the Central Apennines, Italy , 2006 .

[42]  E. Carminati,et al.  The role of slab detachment processes in the opening of the western–central Mediterranean basins: some geological and geophysical evidence , 1998 .

[43]  F. Lucchi.  The Oligocene to Recent Foreland Basins of the Northern Apennines , 2009 .

[44]  T. Rockwell,et al.  Active tectonics at Wheeler Ridge, southern San Joaquin Valley, California , 1998 .

[45]  A. Artoni,et al.  Sequential balancing of growth structures, the late Tertiary example from the central Apennine , 1997 .