Geomorphology and tectonics of uplifted coasts: New chronostratigraphical constraints for the Quaternary evolution of Tyrrhenian North Calabria (southern Italy)

Abstract

The Tyrrhenian coastal sector of North Calabria, stretching between Torre S. Nicola and the Lao river, belongs to the inner extensional sector of the Neogene Apennines thrust belt. It is characterised by a stair of Quaternary marine and fluvial terraces representing the geomorphic response to the interaction between the Quaternary sea level fluctuations and the regional trend of tectonic uplift experienced by the margins of the Tyrrhenian back-arc basin. Since the last century, several authors studied the North Calabria coasts, where the flight of terraces preserves significant marine and continental successions, and proposed several paleo-geomorphological and tectonic reconstructions. In this paper we present a new stratigraphic and morphostructural setting of the North Calabria coasts based on both chronostratigraphical constraints obtained from marine deposits and detailed geomorphological analysis. A ten order stair of marine terraces, stepping between 240 and 0 m a.s.l., was recognized and time-constrained by the age of the Fornaci S. Nicola marine succession which was ascribed by integrated paleoecological, biostratigraphical and paleomagentic analyses to the early Middle Pleistocene (MIS 19–15). In particular, the 240, 200 and 160 m a.s.l. high strandlines were ascribed to the Early Pleistocene and the ones between 100 and 15 m a.s.l. to the Middle Pleistocene. The total amount of the vertical motion experienced by the studied area was estimated, and evaluation of the average rates of uplift for the Middle and Late Pleistocene times were also given. Considering the elevation a.s.l. of the oldest terraces, a tectonic uplift of at least 240 m was calculated for the North Calabria coasts since the Early Pleistocene times, 100 m of which gained from the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene. On the other hand, the 8-m high Late Pleistocene strandlines display a negligible vertical displacement affecting the area during the last 130 ka. The entire staircase of terraces preserves a record of slowing down in the rate of uplift, which attained an average value of 0.15 mm/year during the Middle Pleistocene.