Forward Modeling of the Southern Apennines Foreland

L. Endignoux, I. Moretti, F. Roure

Thrust belts and foreland areas are characterized by a flexural depression lying between the subducting lithospheric plate and the topographic surface. This depression is continuously filled with tectonic units (accretionary prism) and synorogenic deposits (foredeep basin). Internal geometry of this wedge evolves continuously through time in response to the progressive migration of the deformation toward the foreland, simultaneous erosion of tectonized units, and redeposition of reworked materials in piggy-back basins and foredeep.

We use forward modeling to reconstruct the successive geometries of a geological section across the southern Apennines. Results are discussed in the light of regional constraints, which favor basement-involved structures at depth. Amounts of shortening are calculated using two opposite hypotheses: thin-skinned vs. basement-involved tectonics. Effects of erosion and evolution of piggy-back basins are also taken into account.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.