Abstract: Post-Pliocene strike-slip tectonics in the Molise area, Central Apennines (Italy): implications for petroleum exploration

CORRADO, S.; DI BUCCI, D.; NASO, G.; SALVINI*, F.; and CHIULLI, R.

The "Alto Molise" area (Central Apennines, Italy) belongs to the Apennine thrust and fold orogenic belt, which has been developing since the Late Cenozoic as the result of the Europe-Africa post-Jurassic collision. This area is characterized by the tectonic superposition of different paleogeographic domains that developed during the Mesozoic along the southern margin of Tethys. Four main structural units can be recognized, whose general framework developed by Early Messinian to Late Pliocene thrusting. This contribution details the results of geometric and kinematic analyses of the "Alto Molise" area. This research consisted of detailed mapping within a key area and brittle structure analyses at the outcrop-scale. These data were compared with subsurface data, such as well logs and seismic lines acquired for hydrocarbon exploration.

This new set of data into the "Alto Molise" structural style shows that strike-slip tectonics played a primary role during post-Pliocene times, modifying the previous thrust structures. The thrusting event (late Pliocene) was followed by the dissection and rotation of the pre-existing structures by N-S and ENE oriented, high-angle, strike-slip faults. This new insight in the structural setting of the Central Apennines suggests implication for petroleum exploration.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria