Plio-Quaternary coastal landscape evolution of north-western Sicily (Italy)

We present and discuss the results of a geomorphological and geological study aimed at reconstructing the Plio-Quaternary evolution of the NW Sicily coastal belt , a low strain rate region in the central Mediterranean Sea.We performed morphometric and field analysis of Quaternary marine terraces extracting more than 300 shoreline location points subdivided into six orders. The obtained dataset was validate by investigating the morphological changes along topographic profiles and comparing the extracted locations and elevations with the stratigraphic boundaries in the Plio-Quaternary units.We distinguished two contiguous coastal sectors characterized by different paleo-shoreline elevations and Plio-Quaternary evolution, whose estimated uplift rates fit well with the well-known, regional eastward uplift rate increase along the Northern Sicilian continental margin.Obtained results, summarized in a geomorphological map and a morpho-evolutionary model, provide new valuable data to characterize the active deformation processes and the seismotectonic setting in this critical sector of the Africa-Europe plate boundary.

Automated summary

We conducted a geomorphological and geological study of the NW Sicily coastal belt, aiming to understand its Plio-Quaternary evolution. By analyzing marine terraces and validating the data through morphological changes and stratigraphic boundaries, we identified two coastal sectors with different paleo-shoreline elevations and uplift rates. These findings provide valuable insights into the active deformation processes and seismotectonic setting in this critical region of the Africa-Europe plate boundary.