Anatomy of the Ligure-Piemontese subduction system: evidence from Late Cretaceous–middle Eocene convergent margin deposits in the Northern Apennines, Italy

Abstract

In the Northern Apennines, in contrast to the Western Alps and Alpine Corsica, upper structural levels of the Late Cretaceous–middle Eocene subduction complex are still preserved and well exposed. This subduction complex developed in the Ligure-Piemontese basin since the Late Cretaceous time as a consequence of convergence between the Eurasia and Adria plates. Representative successions of this ancient subduction complex are well preserved in the Ligurian units of the Northern Apennines, where turbidite and mass-gravity deposits showing pristine stratigraphic features are present. Three main domains, represented by different groups of tectonic units, can be identified, each delineating a different domain of the subduction zone. In this article, we first present a brief history of geological research in the Northern Apennines during the last half of the twentieth century and then a comprehensive picture of the stratigraphy and tectonics of the Ligurian units. A new interpretation of the related tectonostratigraphic units is proposed within the conceptual modern geodynamic framework of convergent margins.