Paleo-Drainage Network, Morphotectonics, and Fluvial Terraces: Clues from the Verde Stream in the Middle Sangro River (Central Italy)

Enrico Miccadei,Cristiano Carabella,Giorgio Paglia,Tommaso Piacentini

doi:10.3390/geosciences8090337

Enrico Miccadei, Cristiano Carabella + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences8090337

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Abstract

This work analyzes the role of paleo-drainage network, morphotectonics, and surface processes in landscape evolution in a sector of the transition zone between the chain and the piedmont area of Central Apennines. Particularly, it focuses on the Verde Stream, a tributary of the middle Sangro River valley, which flows in the southeastern Abruzzo area at the boundary with the Molise region. The Verde Stream was investigated through a drainage basin scale geomorphological analysis incorporating the morphometry of the orography and hydrography, structural geomorphological field mapping, and the investigation of morphological field evidence of tectonics with their statistical azimuthal distributions. The local data obtained were compared with the analysis of the middle Sangro River valley and the tectonic features of the Abruzzo–Molise area. This approach led us to also provide relevant clues about the definition of the role of karst features and paleo-landscapes in the general setting of the study area and to identify the impact of active tectonics, confirmed by recent and active seismicity. In conclusion, the paper contributes to defining the main stages of the geomorphological evolution of this area, driven by uplift and local tectonics and due to a combination of fluvial, karst, and landslide processes.

Highlights

The transition zone between the chain and the piedmont area of the Central Apennines is a key sector in the comprehension of the long-term landscape evolution of this chain [1,2,3]
The morphotectonic investigation presented in this paper allowed us to outline the role of paleo-drainage, morphotectonics, and surface processes in landscape evolution of the Verde
Stream catchment area and middle Sangro River valley (Central Italy). This area is located in the transition zone between Apennines chain and piedmont area and features a complex geological setting—different types of lithological sequences and tectonic directions—and a recent evolution driven by tectonic processes since the Miocene and by uplift and geomorphological processes post-Early

Summary

Introduction

The transition zone between the chain and the piedmont area of the Central Apennines is a key sector in the comprehension of the long-term landscape evolution of this chain [1,2,3]. This area experienced a strong uplift and it is largely characterized by deep dissection along transversal valleys [9,10,11,12] that cross the front of the chain along the main rivers (i.e., Tronto, Pescara, Sangro, Trigno, Biferno [2,12,13,14,15,16]) and it is usually mostly affected by denudational landforms and poorly characterized by continental deposits This transition zone can provide useful contributions in the comprehension of the landscape evolution, if investigated through an integrated morphotectonic analysis as documented in several studies along the Apennines and in other mountain ranges [17,18,19,20,21,22].

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