Quaternary Tectonic Activity in the North-Eastern Friuli Plain (NE Italy)
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Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica ed Applicata Vol. 61, n. 3, pp. 309-332; September 2020 DOI 10.4430/bgta0319 Quaternary tectonic activity in the north-eastern Friuli Plain (NE Italy) G. PATRICELLI1,2 and M.E. POLI1 1 Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, Italy 2 Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy (Received: 4 June 2019; accepted: 21 January 2020) ABSTRACT Interpretation of ENI industrial seismic lines, integrated with geophysical and morphotectonic data, allowed us to reconstruct the deep geometry, kinematics and Quaternary rates of the main blind thrusts in the north-eastern corner of the Friuli Piedmont Plain. The study area is located in the eastern Friuli close to western Slovenia, where the front of Late Cretaceous - Paleogene SW-verging External Dinarides joins with the front of south-verging Neogene eastern Southalpine Chain. Instrumental and historical earthquakes show that both the Alpine and Prealpine areas bordering the plain are seismically active. Nevertheless, the seismogenic role of the main buried tectonic structures of this sector of the Friuli Plain is still not completely clear. In this study, we present four geological cross-sections which depict the buried setting of the eastern Friuli area. Through the implementation with well logs and geoelectrical data, the 3D Plio-Quaternary bottom surface was also reconstructed. By merging these new data with morphotectonic observations, the 2D geometry and kinematics of two main buried active fault systems were investigated. Quaternary and late LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) slip rates (ranging between 0.14 and 0.27 mm/yr and 0.20 and 0.38 mm/yr, respectively) were estimated. Key words: active faults, Quaternary activity rates, Friuli Plain, NE Italy. 1. Introduction Friuli is the most seismic area in north-eastern Italy. Located at the northernmost tip of the Adria microplate, the complex structural framework of the present Friuli region is the result of the indentation and counterclockwise rotation of Adria microplate with respect to Eurasia (Márton et al., 2003; Vrabec and Fodor, 2006). Since late Mesozoic, the paleogeography of Tethyan extensional domain underwent compressional tectonics; in particular, north-eastern Italy has been affected by different tectonic processes due to the variation of σ1 in time. Within this context, Friuli represents the junction area between the external fronts of the SW-verging Paleogene External Dinarides and S-SE-verging Neogene Southalpine Chain. Moreover, since Pliocene NE Italy was influenced by the NE propagation of the northern Apennines (Castellarin and Cantelli, 2000; Caputo et al., 2010; Toscani et al., 2016). With geodetic velocity vectors in the order of 2-3 mm/yr (D’Agostino et al., 2008; Devoti et al., 2011) and a ca. N-S oriented σ1, the Friuli area is characterised by a © 2020 – OGS 309 Boll. Geof. Teor. Appl., 61, 309-332 Patricelli and Poli complex stress field, changing from west to east (Serpelloni et al., 2016; Bressan et al., 2018). Seismic catalogues show that at least four MW ≥ 6.0 seismic events struck this area in historical times (Rovida et al., 2016), whereas the inversion of focal mechanisms and a comparison with structural maps allow us to distinguish two different deformational domains: a western mostly compressional sector and an eastern area dominated by dextral strike-slip tectonics (Poli and Renner, 2004; Burrato et al., 2008; Moulin et al., 2014). Despite the medium to high seismicity, knowledge regarding the active tectonic structures that presently accommodate deformation is still not complete. This study deals with the 2D reconstruction of the main fault systems in the NE piedmont plain of Friuli region, with the aim to detect the active tectonic structures and to characterise their geometry, kinematics, and Quaternary activity rates. The parametrisation of active faults and the quantification of their activity are essential to better understand how the accumulating deformation is released in such an active area. These data play a fundamental role in the assessment of seismic hazard, in a highly urbanised region, strongly affected by the damage of the 1976 earthquakes. 2. Geological setting The structural setting of Friuli region (Fig. 1) comes from the superimposition of different tectonic phases on pre-existing structural inheritances. 2.1. Mesozoic evolution Since Triassic, as part of the African passive margin, northern Italy was subjected to the extensional forces of the Tethyan realm. In particular, during late Triassic - early to middle Jurassic, the rifting phase (whose geometry was controlled by normal NW-SE and transcurrent/ transtensive NE-SW faults) caused the collapse of the carbonate platform (Tunis and Venturini, 1992; Sartorio et al., 1997). As a consequence, the structural high on which the middle-late Mesozoic Friuli carbonate platform developed was surrounded by the Slovenian Basin to the NE (Buser, 1989), the Carnian Basin to the north (Podda and Ponton, 1997), and the Belluno Basin to the west (Bosellini et al., 1981; Masetti et al., 2012). Note that NW-SE and NE-SW tectonic lineaments will represent fundamental inherited structures during the Dinaric and neo-Alpine tectonic phases. 2.2 Late Cretaceous - Paleogene evolution This phase was marked by the instauration of an about N60° oriented compressional regime (Doglioni and Bosellini, 1987; Castellarin et al., 1992; Caputo, 1996). Starting from Coniacian - Santonian the SW-ward External Dinarides propagation affected the Carnian - Slovenian Basin, where a foredeep deposition started. From late Cretaceous (Campanian p.p.) until Eocene, the SW-ward migration of the chain-foredeep system occurred, inverting NW-SE Mesozoic normal to reverse faults and forming new NE-dipping normal faults. These latter caused the tectonic erosion of the north-eastern border of the Friuli platform, and its diachronous east to west drowning. During Lutetian, the Friuli platform was completely drown (Sartorio et al., 1997; Venturini, 2002; Placer et al., 2010) and in Paleocene - late Eocene it was interested by compressional structures. The development of the outer thrust fronts caused the instauration of a piggy-back 310 Quaternary faults of NE Friuli (NE Italy) Boll. Geof. Teor. Appl., 61, 309-332 Fig. 1 - Structural sketch map of Friuli and western Slovenia (from Tentor et al., 1994; Zanferrari et al., 2013; Accaino et al., 2019). Red box: study area with the structural model proposed in this work. Legend: AR: Arba - Ragogna Thrust; BFC: Borgo Faris - Cividale Fault; CN: Colle Nero Fault; DIV: Divača Fault; FS: Fella - Sava Fault; GK: Gemona - Kobarid Thrust; IA: Idrija - Ampezzo Fault; MC: Monte Cosici Fault; MT: Montello Thrust; PM: Polcenigo - Montereale Thrust; POZ1: Pozzuolo1 Thrust; PP: Palmanova - Panzano Thrust; PRJ: Predjama Fault; RA: Ravne Fault; RS: Raša Fault; SAV: Savogna Fault; ST: Susans - Tricesimo Thrust; TN1: Trnovo Thrust; UB: Udine - Buttrio Thrust. basin to the NE and a foreland basin to the SW. About 4000 m of SW-thinning clastic turbiditic succession deposited in Julian Prealps, characterised by carbonate megabeds (seismoturbidites) interbedded with calciturbidites and siliciclastic turbidites (Tunis and Venturini 1992). The SW- ward propagation of the External Dinaric Chain ceased in late Eocene, when the Friuli region was subjected to subaerial exposure until the end of Oligocene. 2.3 Neogene - Quaternary evolution Starting from latest Oligocene a new contractional event, with a variable NNE-SSW to NNW- SSE oriented compressive regime affected the present Friuli region. The formation and the progressive (S)SE-ward migration of the eastern Southalpine Chain involved the older Dinaric structures by folding, displacing, and re-activating them, depending on their orientation with respect to the compressional field (Zanferrariet al., 2013). During the Neogene - Quaternary, a complex sequence of tectonic events can be recognised: 311 Boll. Geof. Teor. Appl., 61, 309-332 Patricelli and Poli a) Chattian - Burdigalian event (also known as “Insubric event”). In response to a N20°-30° oriented compressional regime (Castellarin and Cantelli, 2000), the uplifting of the Alpine Chain s.s. slightly affected north-eastern Italy. In particular, the Friuli area represented a distal foreland basin, gently north dipping, where terrigenous-carbonate sediments deposited. The Aquitanian - Langhian sequence (Cavanella Group, sensu ENI), very well visible in the seismic lines, is characterised by thicknesses from hundreds to tens of metres, spanning from the Friuli foothills to coastal areas, respectively. The SSE-thinning of Cavanella Group, together with its petrographic composition, reveals a northern provenance of sediments, consistent with the Austroalpine units of Alpine Chain s.s. (Stefani, 1987; Fantoni et al., 2002; Monegato et al., 2010); b) Serravallian - Messinian event (Massari et al., 1986a; Zanferrari et al., 2008b). Starting from the Serravallian, the NNW oriented compressional regime caused a rapid uplift and exhumation of the Southalpine Chain (Castellarin and Cantelli, 2000; Caputo et al., 2010). The (S)SE-ward migration of the Southalpine front occurred through the activation of new ENE-WSW oriented structures characterised by ramp-flat geometries and frontal splays (Castellarin et al., 1992, 2006; Castellarin and Cantelli, 2000; Zanferrari et al., 2013). Because of the increasing tectonic load, a strongly subsiding foredeep basin developed in the