Mesozoic volcanics of western sicily

Abstract

The Mesozoic lavas and minor intrusions in the thrust sheets of western Sicily have the following characteristics: 1. The lavas in the Triassic Mufara Formation in the north were broken into fragments which rotated independently within the incompetent strata that enclose them. This behavior is characteristic of igneous rocks found within the more internal (northerly) thrust units. 2. The Jurassic lavas in the more external (southerly) units have consistent directions which agree with those of the Ammonitico Rosso limestones in the same zone and lie about 30° clockwise from those of coeval autochthonous formations in Tunisia.Schult's presumed Cretaceous directions from Custonaci on the north coast (similar to those found in the Cretaceous Scaglia Rossa at Terrasini to the east byChannel et al., 1980) are rotated still more (140°) with respect to those of the autochthonous Iblean platform of SE Sicily. These differences are believed to reflect rotation of the thrust sheets during tectonic transport in Cenozoic times, the internal units being the most strongly rotated. 3. All the igneous rocks are highly altered: generally the original mineralogy cannot be completely determined. Relative abundances of some of the less mobile elements (Ti, Sr, Y) suggest that they are intraplate basalts.