Stefano Tavani

Transverse zones (TZs) in fold‐and‐thrust belts typically comprise strike‐slip to transpressional faults and related folds, oriented sub‐parallel to the regional shortening direction. These zones are typically associated with inherited faults or lateral stratigraphic changes, which promote strain partitioning, stress rotation, and kinematic decoupling between adjacent blocks. In the Central Southern Alps (CSA), transverse zones sub‐parallel to the N–S shortening direction originated as pre‐orogenic rift‐related faults, later reactivated during the Alpine orogeny under compressional regimes. Their structural complexity has long been recognized, but no systematic absolute dating has constrained their long‐term evolution and reactivation history. To address this gap, we combine geological mapping, multi‐scale structural analysis, and U–Pb geochronology on syn‐tectonic carbonates from TZs and major thrust faults in the Lecco area to reconstruct their structural evolution within the Alpine thrust system. We infer a pre‐orogenic origin for N–S TZs and some E–W striking faults linked to rift‐related extensional tectonics active during the Late Norian and Early–Middle Jurassic times. U–Pb ages provide new insights into the Early Cretaceous‐Miocene syn‐orogenic evolution of the Central Southern Alps. During this interval, rift‐inherited N–S faults were episodically reactivated in strike‐slip mode under N–S shortening for nearly 100 Ma. We discuss how the TZs influence the build‐up of the belt, promoting along‐strike strain partitioning, acting as lateral connectors of thrusts and contributing to shortening accommodation when oblique to the maximum horizontal compression.

Ichnofossils are sedimentological structures left by humans and other organisms in the environment of the past. They can represent different activities of organisms but rarely can provide information about their behaviour. From this point of view, the "Devil's trails" fossil footprints are exceptionally important since they show some of the oldest human footprints and trails in Europe and give a glimpse into the locomotor control ability of Middle Pleistocene humans. Impressed on a volcanic rock in a remote locality of Southern Italy, their extreme scientific importance deserves to be shared with the scientific community for further studies and novel interpretations. By using complex photogrammetric methods, we digitised the entire area bearing the imprints and shared the 3D model to provide a digital heritage of the site. In addition, by means of virtual reality technologies, we provided a virtual experience for an inclusive dissemination of this unique palaeontological site.

Technical details on the 3-D virtual outcrop model construction, including image acquisition and processing workflows, and rock mass mechanical properties and parameters adopted for the finite element method stability analysis.

Technical details on the 3-D virtual outcrop model construction, including image acquisition and processing workflows, and rock mass mechanical properties and parameters adopted for the finite element method stability analysis.

Technical details on the 3-D virtual outcrop model construction, including image acquisition and processing workflows, and rock mass mechanical properties and parameters adopted for the finite element method stability analysis.

The Tuscan marbles, primarily exposed in the Alpi Apuane Metamorphic Complex and the Montagnola Senese ridge, record a protracted deformation history spanning the rheological spectrum from ductile flow to brittle fracturing. While the syn-metamorphic ductile evolution of these units has been extensively studied, the subsequent brittle deformation—specifically post-metamorphic faulting and fracturing—remains poorly constrained. These fracture networks are not only uplift-related features; they record a polyphase brittle history with direct implications for fluid migration, quarry slope stability, and Neogene–Quaternary stress field reconstruction.In this work, we characterize brittle structures within marble from the Montagnola Senese, located along the Mid-Tuscan Ridge in the Northern Apennines. This marble has been quarried since Roman times, making rock mass characterization relevant for both scientific and practical purposes. We adopt a multidisciplinary approach, integrating classical field surveys with 3D digital outcrop models obtained by photogrammetry. Data were collected at the outcrop scale and subsequently extrapolated to define the fracture pattern across the entire Montagnola Senese ridge.The detected fractures and faults cut the marble schistosity, therefore post-dating the last metamorphism event (middle Miocene). Our results reveal at least two brittle deformation phases: (I) a first, left-lateral strike-slip system, followed by (II) extensional structures, which crosscut or reuse the previous ones. Fracture attributes, such as fracture intensity and density, within the non-faulted rock mass were compared to those associated with fault damage zones. These data provide constraints on both quarrying operations and fluid circulation models, whilst contributing to the definition of the tectonic setting of this sector of the Mid-Tuscan Ridge from the middle Miocene to the present day.

Reconstructing the spatiotemporal evolution of fault systems in rift basins is essential for characterizing reservoirs used in geothermal exploration and CO2 or hydrogen storage projects. This study aims to elucidate the growth and reactivation of inverted normal faults in the West Netherlands Basin and their implications for subsurface renewable energy projects. With a complex tectonic history, the area experienced multiple rifting phases and basin inversion. Fault displacement-distance diagrams were produced by using an updated semi-automated workflow for nine major basin-scale faults, providing new insights into the lateral and vertical growth of faults in inverted rift basins.This study demonstrates that the faults in the West Netherlands Basin developed their lateral lengths during the early stages of Triassic rifting. Subsequent Jurassic extensional phases caused reactivation, leading to a consequent increase of vertical displacement and creating accommodation space for the deposition of the study area’s main reservoir rock. Variations in the reactivation behaviour along the different fault segments were promoted by stress field rotations, which significantly influenced the distribution and extent of sediment deposition. This resulted in a complex reservoir architecture that is characterized by spatial heterogeneities in porosity and permeability.We identified contractional features, such as pop-up structures and fault-propagation folds, formed by positive fault reactivation during Late Cretaceous basin inversion. The strength of inversion was influenced by the geometry and orientation of pre-existing faults and the thickness of the underlying sedimentary cover. Inversion-related structures further complicate the basin’s architecture, by compartmentalizing the reservoir rock and influencing sediment distribution patterns.Our findings show an example of how fault dynamics can affect the geothermal reservoir quality and storage capacity of subsurface exploration targets. This study provides valuable insights for optimizing exploration strategies and storage site selection by integrating fault growth and reactivation analysis. This helps to further reduce geothermal exploration risks and enhances storage efficiency in rift basin settings.

In this contribution, we present a kinematic reconstruction for the Tyrrhenian back-arc basin–central Apennines fold-and-thrust belt system during the last 25 Myr, illustrating how its evolution is driven by the interplay between slab rollback and the inherited rifted margin architecture of the lower plate.After an initial stage of oceanic subduction and slab rollback, which led to the formation of the Liguro-Provençal back-arc basin and the development of the thin-skinned Liguride accretionary wedge, soft collision was established around 20 Ma with the arrival of Adria’s rifted margin at the subduction zone. The transition from subduction to soft collision altered the orogenic system’s dynamics, decelerating slab rollback and slowing down the velocity of thrust migration. By 12–10 Ma, with the hard collision stage already established, the subduction interface migrated from the base of the sedimentary cover into the ductile middle crust, coevally with the onset of lower crust delamination, the renewal of slab rollback, the acceleration of forelandward thrust propagation, and the onset of back-arc extension in the axial zone of the belt. Since then, extensional and compressional deformation are migrating toward the foreland at a constant velocity. We propose a "zip-like" tectonic model for the Apennines over the last 10 Myr, in which delamination of the lower crust spreads from a forelandward-migrating singularity point. Areas of compression and extension are pinned to this migrating singularity point, providing a unified explanation for the seismicity patterns, low-angle normal faults, and Moho depth variations observed in the Apennines.

Along-strike variations in deformation and structural build-up within fold-and-thrust belts are often controlled by pre-orogenic inheritance (e.g. Krabbendam & Leslie, 2010). This is the case of the south-verging Central Southern Alps in the Lecco area, where the E-W elongated belt is segmented along its strike by N-S oriented transverse zones, formed by the reactivation of early Mesozoic rift-related normal faults (Schönborn, 1992). These normal faults displaced the pre-rift sedimentary succession and controlled the facies distribution and thickness variation of syn- and post-rift Mesozoic carbonates. This led to the lateral juxtaposition of rocks with different rheological properties, which prompted the compartmentalization of the thrust system and the complex along-strike repartition of shortening across variable numbers of thrusts.In this study, we reconstruct the early Mesozoic rift-related structures of the Lecco area and analyse their influence on the Alpine thrust system. Mesostructural analysis, geological cross-sections, burial history provided by the analysis of inorganic paleothermal indicators from clay-rich layers, and U-Pb dating of syn-tectonic carbonates have been integrated to investigate the role of inherited pre-orogenic structures within the Alpine orogenic context.Three major tectonic phases were identified in the Early Mesozoic rifting processes by meso-structural analysis and U-Pb dating of syn-tectonic carbonates. N-S and E-W striking normal faults started to develop during the Ladinian marking the transition from isolated carbonate platform units to the basin successions. A second extensional pulse in Norian led to the formation of euxinic intra-platform basins within the massive Dolomia Principale carbonate platform, bounded by N-S and E-W striking normal faults. Finally, during the Early Jurassic, E-W and major N-S striking faults developed coevally with crustal thinning and the drowning of the carbonate platforms, leading to a generalized basinal sedimentation.During S-verging thrusting and folding, the E-W striking faults were either passively translated and rotated or partially positively inverted. Some N-S striking inherited faults were also passively translated, while others underwent strike-slip reactivation; the latter are particularly evident within the N-S striking transverse zones, which exhibit complex tectonic settings with superimposed structures originated throughout different tectonic phases.U-Pb dating of syn-tectonic carbonates from S-verging thrusts returns us Lower and Upper Cretaceous ages for the more internal structures, and Oligocene to Upper Miocene ages for the external thrusts and related folds. The latters suggest the reactivation of the Cretaceous orogenic structures. U-Pb dating of syn-tectonic carbonates along N-S striking transverse zones, instead, span unevenly from the Early Cretaceous to the Late Miocene, suggesting that these structures acted as long-lasting structural elements that remained active throughout all the stages of the orogenic build-up. Krabbendam, M., & Leslie, A. G. (2010). Lateral variations and linkages in thrust geometry: the Traligill Transverse Zone, Assynt Culmination, Moine Thrust Belt, NW Scotland. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 335 (1), 335–357Schönborn, G. (1992). Alpine tectonics and kinematic models of the central southern alps. Memorie Di Scienze Geologiche, 44, 229–393