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The Tertiary
Thrust Belt Evolution of
Barbullushi, Roland, Consultant,
The southern 
structural
evolution has been
previously approached through a hypothesis of merely orthogonal thin-skinned
thrusting controlled by a differential areal extent
of Permo-Triassic evaporites.
This presentation addresses questions that include those
relating to the subsurface geometric patterns of the thrust sheets, the kinematic framework the evaporites
operated in, the role of the pre-existing faults and the timing of the
evolution. This is done by constructing 14 regional cross sections as well as analysing fault slip data and structural relationships
between thrust sheets and the foreland basin. A large data base of seismic
profiles and wells as well as structural and kinematic
data collected in the field is used.
Their integrated
analysis demonstrates that significant along - strike changes characterize the
subsurface geometry of the thrust sheets. The Permo-Triassic
evaporites facilitated their buttressing towards a
buffer zone in the Apulian foreland under a
rotational transpressional â
“ compression regime. Pre-existing normal faults
played a significant role on thrusting, accomodation
of the strain partitioning and were inverted under the
influence of a regional shear couple. The main structural
events included
thin-skinned thrusting during Oligocene â “ Aquitaniane, formation of a
buffer zone in the foreland during Burdigalian and
subsequent thrust - buttressing during the Miocene.