Foreland deformation in the Central Adriatic and its bearing on the evolution of the Northern Apennines

Abstract

Seismic profiles in the Central Adriatic show the presence of a WNW-ESE trending belt (Central Adriatic Deformation Belt, CADB) where broad folds of Quaternary age occur. Seismicity in the Adriatic foreland seems to be localised along the CADB which is interpreted as the result of foreland deformation linked to the Apennine fold-and-thrust belt and possibly due to the presence of an inherited structural discontinuity. Geological arguments indicate that the CADB lineament can continue underneath the Northern Apennines and might have affected its recent evolution, characterised by the rise of a linear orographic front.