Old domains in the South Adria plate and their relationship with the West Hellenic front

摘要

The compactness and continuity of the Apulia carbonate platform, outcropping on the Salento peninsula, contrasts with the structural complexity that developed during the Mesozoic-Miocene in the most southern region, which was later affected by the Neogenic compression of the Calabrian and Hellenic Chains. Although the north-eastern margin of the Apulia carbonate platform has been clearly defined by seismic profiles in the South Adriatic basin, the identification of the southern platform margin and the transition between the Apulia and Pre-Apulia units are more difficult. Our analysis, based on seismic facies interpretation, suggests a complex trend of a reefal margin between the carbonate platform and a newly recognized deep basin, herein called as the South Apulia basin. This margin transversely crosses the Otranto Channel from the Apulian coast, where it outcrops, to the Albanian/Greek coasts, where the platform sinks below the Albanian/Hellenic Chain. The South Apulia basin originated from an extensional phase that was probably active during the Jurassic. Furthermore, this pelagic sequence depicts a trough that was almost partially separating the Apulia from the Pre-Apulia units, these last being widely exposed on the Ionian islands of Greece.