Strike-slip systems as the main tectonic features in the Plio-Quaternary kinematics of the Calabrian Arc

The oblique and diachronous collision of theApennine-Maghrebian Chain with the Apulian (in thenorth-east) and Pelagian (in the south) continental forelands,has determined the characteristic arcuate structure ofthis orogen. The effects of Plio-Pleistocene deformationof the Calabrian Arc have been analysed on the basis ofavailable reflection seismic profiles and using local timestructuralmaps reconstructed along the main structures.During this period, internal sectors of the Tertiary chainmigrated forward on the oceanic Ionian foreland, and werecut by important strike-slip systems. These last have anorientation approximately coincident with that of themigration of the front, allowing differential movement ofthe different sectors of the arc, towards the weakly buoyantIonian oceanic domain. The dataset suggests a clear connectionbetween the development of the strike-slip systemscutting the chain and the direction of tectonic transport,towards the East during Late Messinian/Early Pliocenetime, to the ESE during Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocenetime, finally to the SSE during the Middle/Late Pleistoceneto Present, showing a clockwise rotation in well definedstages during the kinematic evolution of the chain. Theorigin of the Strait of Messina during the different phases isalso interpreted in the context of the analysed regionaltectonic setting.