Structural evolution of the Pleistocene Cimini trachytic volcanic complex (Central Italy)

Abstract

Structural, geomorphological, geophysical and volcanological data have been processed for the implementation of a dedicated GIS through which the structural evolution of the Pleistocene trachytic Cimini volcano (central Italy) has been reconstructed. The evolution of the Cimini complex includes three main close-in time phases: (1) intrusion of a shallow laccolith, rising along NW and NE trending faults and stagnating at the contact between the Mesozoic-Cenozoic and the Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentary units constituting the bedrock of the volcano; (2) emplacement of lava domes along radial and tangential fractures formed by the swelling induced by the laccolith growth; (3) ignimbrite eruptions and final effusion of olivine-latitic lavas. Domes are both of Pelean and low lava dome type and their morphology was controlled by the location on the inclined surface of the swelled area. Some domes show to have uplifted upper Pliocene thermally metamorphosed clay sediments, suggesting a cryptodome-like growth. Comparison of the top of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic units with the top of the upper Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentary complex, suggests that the laccolith emplaced in a graben of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary complex filled by the Pliocene–Pleistocene sediments uplifted by the shallow intrusion. Stress patterns acting on the Cimini area have been deduced analysing the drainage network and the morphotectonic lineaments. Rose diagrams show a large dispersion of the lineaments reflecting the local presence of radial and tangential fractures. The most frequent extensional NW and NE trending lineaments have regional significance and controlled the magma uprise leading to the laccolith emplacement.