Gravimetric gradient, Sicily and southern Calabria, Italy (Central Mediterranean)

Abstract

A powerful cartographic tool in identifying major tectonic lineaments and/or ancient margins along the Sicilian and southern Calabria Orogenic system (southern Italy) has been obtained by producing the 1:250,000 scale digital contour map of gravity anomalies available for the Italian region. By processing contour maps, an ‘elevation model’ of the gravity anomalies for Sicily and southern Calabria was produced. The ‘elevation model’ was used to generate a slope representation of the gravity trend that is presented in this paper at 1:500,000. The map covers an area of about 95,000 km2 and includes both the inland areas of Sicily and southern Calabria and the adjacent seas. The color of the pixels varies from blue, where no significant variation of the gradient occurs, to red with the steepest gradients. Taking into account (i) the nature of rocks which are involved in the analyzed orogenic system and (ii) the juxtaposition of rocks with different densities is usually controlled by faults, the thematic map here presented can provide an additional tool for a regional scale tectonic interpretation of this sector of the Central Mediterranean.