Late Quaternary deformation history of the volcanic edifice of Panarea, Aeolian Arc, Italy

Abstract

A series of raised palaeoshorelines is documented along the emergent coastal slopes of Panarea and surrounding islets at elevations of 115 (palaeoshoreline Ia) and 100 m a.s.l. (Ib), 62.5 m (II), 35 m (III), 12 m (IV), 10–12 (Va) and 5 m (Vb). According to stratigraphic constraints and cross-cutting relationships, these palaeoshorelines are correlated with discrete high sea-level stillstands during marine oxygen-isotope stages (MIS) 5e, 5c, 5a and 3. Coastal elevation changes suggest the occurrence of a long-term, sustained uplift trend of the volcanic edifice since the last interglacial (last 124 ka). The uplift rates are not constant but display a progressive deceleration from maximum values of 1.5–1.58 m/ka, in the period between 124 and 100 ka, down to the lowest values of 0.66–0.69 m/ka, which tend to be constant starting from 81 ka BP. The long-term deformation pattern of Panarea suggests that a transitory, volcano-related component of uplift interplayed with the regional tectonic component affecting the sub-volcanic basement, which has undergone a persistent and widespread uplift since the mid-Pleistocene. The volcano-related component of uplift, prevailing between 124 and 100–81 ka, is interpreted as the result of visco-elastic deformation mechanisms which characterize the progressive re-equilibration of the shallow magmatic system following the incoming quiescence of the volcanic edifice. The long-term uplift values at Panarea are higher than in the main portion of the western-central Aeolian Arc, where a mean uplift rate of 0.34 m/ka was estimated since the last interglacial (last 124 ka). Such a pattern of deformation on a regional scale may be a response to active deformation processes connected with the southeastward rollback of the subducting Ionian slab which is still active only in correspondence with the eastern sector of the Aeolian Arc (including Panarea). In the short-term, a localized submergence trend has been documented at the nearby islet of Basiluzzo for the last 2,000 years, likely connected to neo-tectonic movements along main NE–SW trending faults.