Pliocene–Quaternary seismogenic faults in the inner Northern Apennines (Valdelsa Basin, southern Tuscany) and their role in controlling the local seismicity

Pliocene–Quaternary faults are relevant structures with which to constrain the seismotectonic context and contribute to the evaluation of the seismic hazard of a region. Many of these faults, however, do not show clear surface evidence even when releasing earthquakes. For these reasons they can be e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geological magazine 2022-06, Vol.159 (6), p.853-872
Main Authors: Mirabella, Francesco, Braun, Thomas, Brogi, Andrea, Capezzuoli, Enrico
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apennines
Castelfiorentino earthquake 2016
Cenozoic
Certaldo earthquakes 2014
Dimensions
Earthquakes
Europe
Fault detection
Fault lines
Faults
Geological faults
Geological hazards
Geology
geophysical methods
geophysical profiles
geophysical surveys
Italy
kinematics
main shocks
Neogene
Northern Apennines
Original Article
Pliocene
Quaternary
Relocation
Seismic activity
Seismic hazard
seismic methods
seismic profiles
Seismic reflection profiles
seismic risk
Seismic surveys
Seismicity
Seismology
seismotectonics
Shear zone
shear zones
Southern Europe
Structural geology
surveys
tectonics
Tertiary
Tuscany Italy
Valdelsa Basin
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Summary:Pliocene–Quaternary faults are relevant structures with which to constrain the seismotectonic context and contribute to the evaluation of the seismic hazard of a region. Many of these faults, however, do not show clear surface evidence even when releasing earthquakes. For these reasons they can be extremely dangerous as they receive relatively little attention and can be difficult to identify. From among the various surface geology studies and/or palaeoseismological investigations, we focus our attention on the integration of different datasets such as seismic reflection profiles, surface kinematic data and the relocation of seismological data, which make it possible to identify and characterize active faults whose dimension and earthquake potential would otherwise not be large enough to make them identifiable. We take as an example the Montespertoli NE-trending fault in southern Tuscany (central Italy) with which we associate the 2016 M=3.9 Castelfiorentino earthquake. This structure is part of a wider (in the order of 15–20 km) crustal-scale shear zone, which may be responsible for strong historical earthquakes in the area.
ISSN:0016-7568
1469-5081
DOI:10.1017/S0016756822000036