Late Pleistocene differential uplift inferred from the analysis of fluvial terraces (southern Apennines, Italy)

Abstract

The stratigraphic architecture and morphological assemblage of the Pleistocene fluvial terraces contained in two contiguous fluvial valleys are used to understand the spatial distribution and the timing of the differential uplift that affected two different geological and geomorphological settings of an active orogen. The study areas, both placed in the eastern sector of the southern Apennines of Italy, are the Sant'Arcangelo sedimentary basin and the Valsinni Ridge anticline. Pleistocene uplift rate of 0.7–0.9mmy−1 and historical earthquakes affecting those areas suggest active tectonics. Based on the synthem units used to classify the fluvial deposits in the field, several strath, fill, and fill-cut terraces have been mapped in the middle valleys of the Agri and Sinni rivers. Four Middle Pleistocene high terraces (Qes) are found in the Sant'Arcangelo Basin and cut its infill, and three Late Pleistocene low terraces (Qt) are found at both the Agri and Sinni valley flanks. The Agri and Sinni rivers cross-cut the NW–SE-oriented fold-and-thrust belt of the southern Apennines from W to E, producing a transverse drainage. As a result, ten- to hundred-metre deep gorges and wide floodplains were created in the middle reach of the river valleys. Computation of the bedrock incision rates from the Qes1, Qes4, and SQt1 terraces, corresponding to 1.2±0.2mmy−1 at 400–240ka and 0.8±0.2mmy−1 in the last 240ka, together with the terrace profile arrangements in the Agri and Sinni valleys, allow for the documentation of i) the differential uplift of the study area and ii) the age of terrace abandonment corresponding to the beginning age of the vertical incision in the valley floor sediments to form the Qt terraces. The differential uplift is subsequently discussed in a space and time–sequence evolution of the Late Pleistocene to assess the complex morphotectonic development that occurred in the eastern threshold of the basin. The differential uplift of both the Sant'Arcangelo Basin and Valsinni Ridge would appear to indicate that buried fold-and-thrust structures that affect the Mesozoic–Cenozoic sedimentary nappes are still active, and they also controlled the slab retreat processes in the Mediterranean region during the Late Pleistocene.