HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zecchin, M. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Relationships Between Fault-Controlled Subsidence and Preservation of Shallow-Marine Small-Scale Cycles: Example from the Lower Pliocene of the Crotone Basin (Southern Italy)

¹ Via Ca'Correr 138, Cittadella (PD), 35013 Italy; zecchin{at}aliceposta.it

The northern part of the Crotone Basin (southern Italy) was characterized by the activity of Pliocene growth faults bounding half-graben sub-basins. The thickest unit deposited during growth-fault activity is the lower Pliocene Belvedere Formation (up to 450 m thick), which shows a small-scale, highly regular rhythmic cyclicity. This sandstone unit was deposited in a shallow-marine environment, and its accumulation was mostly influenced by storm processes and locally by flows in tectonically confined areas.

The meter-scale cycles are represented by rhythmic alternations between shell-rich intervals, characterized by storm structures or large-scale cross sets, and shell-poor sandy intervals that are commonly burrowed and poorly stratified. The better preserved cycles commonly show a fining-upward trend with minor progradation in their upper part, and may be bounded at the base by a shell lag. The deposition of large-scale cross sets is thought to be the consequence of the creation of fault scarps, which led to tectonic confinement in the half-graben basins. In the tectonically confined areas, tidal currents were enhanced and large subaqueous dunes migrated.

The evidence suggests that the observed cyclicity was generated by sea-level and climatic variations that controlled the sediment input into the basin. The relationship between large-scale cross sets and tectonic confinement demonstrates that local extensional tectonics significantly influenced the sedimentation. The excellent preservation of the observed small-scale cycles is thought to be the consequence of deposition in the highly subsiding half-graben sub-basins. On the structural highs, this cyclicity is amalgamate and less appreciable. The data presented may be significant for a better understanding of the role of subsidence in preserving sedimentary successions in these growth-faulted settings.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Noda and S. Toshimitsu Backward stacking of submarine channel-fan successions controlled by strike-slip faulting: The Izumi Group (Cretaceous), southwest Japan Lithosphere, February 1, 2009; 1(1): 41 - 59. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Zecchin, D. Mellere, and C. Roda Sequence stratigraphy and architectural variability in growth fault-bounded basin fills: a review of Plio-Pleistocene stratal units of the Crotone Basin, southern Italy Journal of the Geological Society, May 1, 2006; 163(3): 471 - 486. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. D. Celma, L. Ragaini, G. Cantalamessa, and W. Landini Basin physiography and tectonic influence on sequence architecture and stacking pattern: Pleistocene succession of the Canoa Basin (central Ecuador) Geological Society of America Bulletin, September 1, 2005; 117(9-10): 1226 - 1241. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]