Abstract
The southern Apulia foreland recorded a strong (Imax=X MCS) earthquake in 1743 and a concomitant tsunami, which struck the southeastern Salento coast. The seismo-genetic fault and the triggering factors of the tsunami are unknown. Three-dimensional interpretation of multichannel seismic profiles calibrated by wells using a GIS software enabled the recognition of the stratigraphic succession, structural framework, and submarine landslides offshore Salento. A thin Pliocene unit overlying the Mesozoic-Cenozoic substrate is covered by a Pleistocene succession separated by a Middle Pleistocene unconformity that formed during the regional uplift of Salento. The latter gave rise to the morphologic conditions for the deposition of a prograding wedge off the Salento coast, with a shelf break located at 150 m depth. Normal faults, mainly oriented NW–SE, displaced the early Lower Pleistocene succession and are buried by younger deposits. Since the Middle Pleistocene, a compressional event gave rise to the Apulia uplift and large folds and basement-involved reverse faults that are active in the eastern part of Apulia. A huge (58 km3) slump affecting the Middle Pleistocene prograding wedge has been documented offshore the southeast coast of Salento. The proposed geological scenario of the 1743 earthquake and subsequent tsunami is (1) an initial strong earthquake (Imax=X MCS) associated with a thrust fault located in the eastern sector of the Apulia offshore, (2) a shacking-induced large-volume slump offshore Otranto, and (3) landslide-triggered tsunamis that struck the Salento coast.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson H, Jackson J (1987) Active tectonics of the Adriatic Region. Geophy J Int 91 (3):937–983
Argnani A, Frugoni F, Cosi R, Ligi M, Favali P (2001) Tectonics and seismicity of the Apulian Ridge south of Salento peninsula, Southern Italy. Ann Geofis 44(3):527–540
Bardet JP, Okal EA, Synolakis CE, Davies HL, Imamura F (2003) Landslide tsunamis: recent findings and research directions. Pure Appl Geophys 160(10/11):1793–1809
Billi A, Funiciello R, Minelli L, Faccenna C, Neri G, Orecchio B, Presti D (2008) On the cause of the 1908 Messina tsunami, southern Italy. Geophys Res Lett 35, L06301. doi:10.1029/2008GL033251
Boncio P, Mancini T, Lavecchia G, Selvaggi G (2007) Seismotectonics of strike-slip earthquakes within the deep crust of southern Italy: geometry, kinematics, stress field and crustal rheology of the Potenza 1990-1991 seismic sequences (Mmax 5.7). Tectonophysics 445:281–300
Bonini M, Sani F (2000) Pliocene-Quaternary transpressional evolution of the Anzi-Calvello and northern S. Arcangelo basins (Basilicata, Southern Apennines, Italy) as a consequence of deep-seated fault reactivation. Mar Pet Geol 17(8):909–927
Bonini M, Sani F, Moratti G, Benvenuti MG (2011) Quaternary evolution of the Lucania Apennine thrust front area (Southern Italy), and its relations with the kinematics of the Adria Plate boundaries. J Geodyn 51(2):125–140
Brosolo L, Mascle J, Loubrieu B (2012) Carte morpho-bathymétrique de la Méditerranée, à l'echelle 1/4 000 000. Commission de la Carte Géologique du Monde, Paris
Brothers DS, Ruppel C, Kluesner JW, ten Brink US, Chaytor JD, Hill JC, Andrews BD, Flores C (2014) Seabed fluid expulsion along the upper slope and outer shelf of the US Atlantic continental margin. Geophys Res Lett 41:96–101
Butler RWH (2009) Relationships between the Apennine thrust belt, foredeep and foreland revealed by marine seismic data, offshore Calabria. Ital J Geosci 128:269–278. doi:10.3301/IJG.2009.128.2.269
Butler RWH, Mazzoli S, Corrado S, De Donatis M, Di Bucci D, Gambini R, Naso G, Nicolai C, Scrocca D, Shiner P, Zucconi V (2004) Applying thick-skinned tectonic models to the Apennine thrust belt of Italy – Limitations and implications. In: McClay KR (ed) Thrust tectonics and hydrocarbon systems. Am Assoc Pet Geol Mem 82:647–667
Catalano S, Monaco C, Tortorici L, Tansi C (1993) Pleistocene strike-slip tectonics in the Lucanian Apennine (southern Italy). Tectonics 12:656–665
Catalano S, Monaco C, Tortorici L (2004) Neogene-Quaternary tectonic evolution of the southern Apennines. Tectonics 23, TC2003. doi:10.1029/2003TC001512
Ciaranfi N, Pieri P, Ricchetti G (1988) Note alla carta geologica delle Murge e del Salento (Puglia meridionale). Boll Soc Geol Ital 41:449–460
Cinque A, Patacca E, Scandone P, Tozzi M (1993) Quaternary kinematic evolution of the Southern Apennines. Relationships between surface geological features and deep lithospheric structures. Ann Geofis 36:249–260
De Alteriis G (1995) Different foreland basins in Italy: examples from the central and southern Adriatic Sea. Tectonophysics 252:349–373
Del Ben A, Barnaba C, Taboga A (2008) Strike-slip systems as the main tectonic features in the Plio-Quaternary kinematics of the Calabrian Arc. Mar Geophys Res 29(1):1–12
Del Ben A, Mocnik A, Volpi V, Karvelis P (2015) Old domains in the South Adria plate and their relationship with the West Hellenic front. J Geodyn 89:15–28
Di Bucci D, Angeloni P (2013) Adria seismicity and seismotectonics: review and critical discussion. Mar Pet Geol 42:182–190
Di Bucci D, Coccia S, Fracassi U, Iurilli V, Mastronuzzi G, Palmentola G, Sansò P, Selleri G, Valensise G (2009) Late Quaternary deformation of the southern Adriatic foreland (southern Apulia) from mesostructural data: preliminary results. Ital J Geosci 128:33–46
Doglioni C, Mongelli F, Pieri P (1994) The Puglia uplift SE Italy: an anomaly in the foreland of the Apenninic subduction due to buckling of a thick continental lithosphere. Tectonics 13(5):1309–1321
Doglioni C, Merlini S, Cantarella G (1999) Foredeep geometries at the front of the Apennines in the Ionian Sea (central Mediterranean). Earth Planet Sci Lett 168:243–254
Farrell EJ, Ellis JT, Hickey KR (2015) Tsunami case studies. In: Ellis JT, Sherman DJ, Shroder JF (eds) Coastal and marine hazards, risks, and disasters. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 93–128. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-396483-0.00004-2
Favali P, Mele G, Mattietti G (1990) Contribution to the study of the Apulian microplate geodynamics. Mem Soc Geol Ital 44:71–80
Finetti IR, Del Ben A (2005) Crustal tectono-stratigraphic setting of the Adriatic Sea from new CROP seismic data. In: Finetti IR (ed) CROP PROJECT Deep Seismic Exploration of the Central Mediterranean and Italy. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 519–547
Galli P, Naso G (2008) The “taranta” effect of the 1743 earthquake in Salento (Apulia, Southern Italy). Boll Geof Teor Appl 49(2):177–204
Gambini R, Tozzi M (1996) Tertiary geodynamic evolution of Southern Adria microplate. Terra Nov. 8:593–602
Katz O, Reuven E, Aharonov E (2015) Submarine landslides and fault scarps along the eastern Mediterranean Israeli continental-slope. Mar Geol 369:100–115. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2015.08.006
Lacombe O, Bellahsen N (2016) Thick-skinned tectonics and basement-involved fold–thrust belts: insights from selected Cenozoic orogens. Geol Mag 153(5/6):763–810. doi:10.1017/S0016756816000078
Locati M, Camassi R, Rovida A, Ercolani E, Bernardini F, Castelli V, Caracciolo CH, Tertulliani A, Rossi A, Azzaro R, D’Amico S, Conte S, Rocchetti E (2016) DBMI15, the 2015 version of the Italian Macroseismic Database. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. 10.6092/INGV.IT-DBMI15
Maramai A, Brizuela B, Graziani L (2014) The Euro-Mediterranean Tsunami Catalogue. Ann Geophys 57(4):S0435. doi:10.4401/ag-6437.0
Marnelis N, Roussos N, Rigakis N, Karakitsios V (2007) Structural geology of the Western Greece Fold and Thrust Belt. AAPG and AAPG European Region, Energy Conference and Exhibition 2007 Athens, Greece, Guide to Fieldtrip no 1, 14–17 November 2007, pp 1–47
Masson DG, Harbitz CB, Wynn RB, Pedersen G, Løvholt F (2006) Submarine landslides: processes, triggers and hazard prediction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond A Math Phys Eng Sci 364(1845):2009–2039
Mastronuzzi G, Pignatelli C, Sansò P, Selleri G (2007) Boulder accumulations produced by the 20th of February, 1743 tsunami along the coast of southeastern Salento (Apulia region, Italy). Mar Geol 242:191–205
Merlini S, Cantarella G, Doglioni C (2000) On the seismic profile Crop M5 in the Ionian Sea. Boll Soc Geol Ital 119:227–236
Milia A, Torrente MM, Giordano F (2006) Gravitational instability of submarine volcanoes offshore Campi Flegrei (Naples Bay, Italy). In: De Vivo B (ed) Volcanism of the Campania Plain: Vesuvius Campi Flegrei and ignimbrites. Developments in Volcanology, vol 9. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 69–83
Milia A, Iannace P, Tesauro M, Torrente MM (2016) Upper plate deformation as marker for the Northern STEP fault of the Ionian slab (Tyrrhenian Sea, central Mediterranean). Tectonophysics (in press). doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2016.08.017
Mitchum RM, Vail PR, Sangree JB (1977) Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level, Part 6: stratigraphic interpretation of seismic reflection patterns in depositional sequences. In: Payton CE (ed) Seismic stratigraphy – Application to hydrocarbon exploration. Am Assoc Pet Geol Mem 26:117–133
Montone P, Mariucci MT, Pondrelli S, Amato A (2004) An improved stress map for Italy and surrounding regions (central Mediterranean). J Geophys Res 109, B10410. doi:10.1029/2003JB002703
Moore GF, Strasser M (2016) Large mass transport deposits in Kumano Basin, Nankai Trough, Japan. In: Lamarche G (ed) Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 41. Springer, Switzerland, pp 371–380. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20979-1_37
Nappi R, Gaudiosi G, Alessio G, De Lucia M, Porfido S (2016) The environmental effects of the 1743 Salento earthquake (Apulia, southern Italy): a contribution to seismic hazard assessment of the Salento Peninsula. Nat Hazards. doi:10.1007/s11069-016-2548-x
Pantosti D, Valensise G (1990) Faulting mechanism and complexity of the 23 November, 1980, Campania–Lucania earthquake inferred from surface observations. J Geophys Res 95(B10):15319–15341
Patacca E, Scandone P (2001) Late thrust propagation and sedimentary response in the thrust belt-foredeep system of the Southern Apennines (Pliocene-Pleistocene). In: Vai GB, Martini IP (eds) Anatomy of a mountain belt: The Apennines and adjacent Mediterranean basins. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 401–440
Pérouse E, Sébrier M, Braucher R, Chamot-Rooke N, Bourlès D, Briole P, Sorel D, Dimitrov D, Arsenikos S (2016) Transition from collision to subduction in Western Greece: the Katouna–Stamna active fault system and regional kinematics. Int J Earth Sci. doi:10.1007/s00531-016-1345-9
Pieri P, Festa V, Moretti M, Tropeano M (1997) Quaternary tectonic activity of the Murge area (Apulian foreland-Southern Italy). Ann Geofis 15:1395–1404
Reis AT, Silva CG, Gorini MA, Leão R, Pinto N, Perovano R, Santos MVM, Guerra JV, Jeck IK, Tavares AAA et al (2016) The Chuí megaslide complex: regional-scale submarine landslides on the southern Brazilian margin. In: Lamarche G (ed) Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 41. Springer, Switzerland, pp 115–124. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20979-1_11
Santaloia F, Zuffianò LE, Palladino G, Limoni PP, Liotta D, Minissale A, Brogi A, Polemio M (2016) Coastal thermal springs in a foreland setting: the Santa Cesarea Terme system (Italy). Geothermics 64:344–361. doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2016.06.013
Satake K (2012) Tsunamis generated by submarine landslides. In: Yamada Y (ed) Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 475–484. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_42
Savini A, Corselli C (2010) High-resolution bathymetry and acoustic geophysical data from Santa Maria di Leuca Cold Water Coral province (Northern Ionian Sea—Apulian continental slope). Deep Sea Res II Topical Stud Oceanogr 57(5):326–344. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.08.014
Savini A, Marchese F, Verdicchio G, Vertino A (2016) Submarine slide topography and the distribution of vulnerable marine ecosystems: a case study in the Ionian Sea (Eastern Mediterranean). In: Lamarche G (ed) Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 41. Springer, Switzerland, pp 163–171. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20979-1_16
Scalese N (1743) Annotazioni di Don Nicola Scalese all’epistola apologetica Joannis Baptistae Casimirii. Biblioteca Arcivescovile A. di Leo, Brindisi
Scrocca D, Doglioni C, Innocenti F, Manetti P, Mazzotti A, Bertelli L, Burbi L, D’Offizi S (2003) Crop Atlas Seismic Reflection Profiles on the Italian Crust. Mem Descritt Carta Geol Ital LXII:1–193
Smith WHF, Sandwell DT (1997) Global seafloor topography from satellite altimetry and ship depth soundings. Science 277:1956–1962
Tappin DR, Watts P, Grilli ST (2008) The Papua New Guinea tsunami of 17 July 1998: anatomy of a catastrophic event. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 8:243–266
Tinti S, Maramai A, Graziani L (2004) The new catalogue of Italian tsunamis. Nat Hazards 33(3):439–465. doi:10.1023/B:NHAZ.0000048469.51059.65
ViDEPI (2009) Progetto Visibilità Dati Esplorazione Petrolifera in Italia, 2009-2010, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, UNMIG, Società Geologica Italiana, Assomineraria, 2009. http://unmig.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/videpi/
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Universita’del Sannio (FRA 2015). We thank IHS Inc. for furnishing the Kingdom software. Constructive reviews by an anonymous reviewer and the editors are greatly acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest with third parties.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Milia, A., Iannace, P. & Torrente, M.M. Active tectonic structures and submarine landslides offshore southern Apulia (Italy): a new scenario for the 1743 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Geo-Mar Lett 37, 229–239 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-017-0493-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-017-0493-7