<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The morphological evolution of a carbonate fault line scarp from southern Italy, generated by transpressional faulting and evolved by slope replacement, has been reconstructed. 14C dating of faulted slope deposits (ages included between 18 ka and ∼8 ka BP) have been performed to constrain the Late Pleistocene — Holocene evolution of that scarp. Long-to short-term denudation rates have been also evaluated for the understanding of the mountain front origin. The slope shows well-defined triangular facets combined with the presence of N-S-striking mountainward-dipping fault planes. The envelope of the slope foot appears slightly curved in a planimetric view and shows an E-W-trending offset in its southern part, making such a feature quite different from the recurrent rectilinear fault scarps, often related to normal faulting. Morphostructural analysis showed that: i) the oldest displacement was generated by a fault with a reverse component of movement; ii) the slope represents an inherited feature, only recently exhumed, and developed starting from a high-angle curved surface; iii) the upper Pleistocene — Holocene extensional faulting has only affected the slope foot and associated waste deposits, causing a series of collateral morphological effects, as fluvial cut of preexisting valleys and the genesis of conspicuous mass movements.</p></abstract>

The morphological evolution of a carbonate fault line scarp from southern Italy, generated by transpressional faulting and evolved by slope replacement, has been reconstructed. 14C dating of faulted slope deposits (ages included between 18 ka and ∼8 ka BP) have been performed to constrain the Late Pleistocene — Holocene evolution of that scarp. Long-to short-term denudation rates have been also evaluated for the understanding of the mountain front origin. The slope shows well-defined triangular facets combined with the presence of N-S-striking mountainward-dipping fault planes. The envelope of the slope foot appears slightly curved in a planimetric view and shows an E-W-trending offset in its southern part, making such a feature quite different from the recurrent rectilinear fault scarps, often related to normal faulting. Morphostructural analysis showed that: i) the oldest displacement was generated by a fault with a reverse component of movement; ii) the slope represents an inherited feature, only recently exhumed, and developed starting from a high-angle curved surface; iii) the upper Pleistocene — Holocene extensional faulting has only affected the slope foot and associated waste deposits, causing a series of collateral morphological effects, as fluvial cut of preexisting valleys and the genesis of conspicuous mass movements.

Age constraints and denudation rate of a multistage fault line scarp: an example from Southern Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze, University of Basilicata, Campus Macchia Romana, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano, 10, I-85100, Potenza, Italy

Geochronometria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The morphological evolution of a carbonate fault line scarp from southern Italy, generated by transpressional faulting and evolved by slope replacement, has...

Age constraints and denudation rate of a multistage fault line scarp: an example from Southern Italy

Published Online: Jun 22, 2014

Page range: 245 - 255

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-013-0158-x

Keywords
geomorphology of slopes, 14C dating, denudation rates, southern Apennines, Italy

© 2013 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Age constraints and denudation rate of a multistage fault line scarp: an example from Southern Italy

Published Online: Jun 22, 2014

Page range: 245 - 255

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-013-0158-x

Keywordsgeomorphology of slopes, 14C dating, denudation rates, southern Apennines, Italy

© 2013 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
geomorphology of slopes, 14C dating, denudation rates, southern Apennines, Italy