New evidence for Late Quaternary surface deformation of the substratum of Mt. Etna(Sicily, Italy): clues indicate active crustal doming.

Stratigraphic and morpho-structural analyses have been carried out in the southernedge of Mt. Etna volcanic complex (eastern Sicily), to investigate in detail thedeformation events that have affected the Late Quaternary foredeep successionforming the substratum of the volcano. In this part of the foredeep the submarinesedimentation ended 600 ky ago when the entire area emerged in response to ahomogeneous regional uplift signal, but the irregular distribution of a stratigraphicmarker, recognized through the analysis of more than 250 borehole logs, suggests thatother, local dynamics affected the area. We identify a compressional tectonic dynamicsand a volcano-tectonic activity, and discriminate among their related deformations,which have acted inhomogeneously in time and space. In particular, in this work wequantify the vertical deformation component of the compressional structures (thrustsand folds) and recognize for the first time a vertical component of the deformationwhich pattern clearly indicates a doming process acting at Mt. Etna. The comparisonbetween long and short-term rates suggests that the doming have acted constantly inspace and time in the last 600 ky and provides clues for a deep source of the uplifting.The source could be represented either by a deep-rooted mantle plume or a shallowerlateral asthenospheric flow.