STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF THE LUCANIAN APENNINES, SOUTHERN ITALY

In this paper we present a study of an entire segment of the Southern Apennines of Italy, extending from the Pollino mountain range to the s outh, to the Agri Valley to the north, in which ail the units of the c hain are represented. Combining regional information with detailed str uctural data obtained from the different tectonic units forming the or ogenic belt, the structure as well as the tectonic evolution of this p ortion of the orogenic belt are proposed. The overall architecture of this segment of the Southern Apennines mountain chain represents the r esult of a complete orogenic cycle in which oceanic subduction, syn-co llisional and post-collisional events are well recorded. Structurally, this segment of the orogenic belt exhibits two distinct structural le vels, separated by a major detachment surface (the sole thrust of the Accretionary wedge), that occur at the surface in the allochthonous na ppes and at depth in the Adria continental margin. The upper level is characterized by an imbricated fan system affecting the allochthonous terranes emplaced during oceanic subduction and the first stages of co ntinent-continent collision. The lower level is represented by a duple x geometry that has developed in the post-collisional stage, during ev olution of the foreland migrating thrust system, involving the carbona te platform-basin system of the Adria block. During the last stages of the mountain building process, when the foreland thrust migration was locked by the thickening of the colliding continental crusts, the Sou thern Apennines were thus affected by a severe strike-slip tectonics t hat dissects the entire mountain belt deeply modifying the previous th rust geometry. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.