Structural and tectono-stratigraphic review of the Sicilian orogen and new insights from analogue modeling

The Apennines-Sicilian-Maghrebian fold-and-thrust belt originated from the subduction of the Alpine Tethys and the later collision of drifted continental blocks against the African and Apulian paleomargins. From North to South, the Sicilian Fold-and-Thrust Belt (SFTB) is divided in four main tectono-stratigraphic domains: (1) the Calabro-Peloritani terrane, drifted from the European margin, (2) the remnants of the Alpine Tethys accretionary Wedge (ATW) related to the subduction of the Tethys, (3) the folded and thrusted platform (Panormide) and deep-water (Imerese-Sicanian) series of the offscrapped African margin, and (4) the African foreland (Hyblean). Unfortunately, scarce quality seismic lines and outcrops of key tectono-stratigraphic units make the structure and dynamic evolution of the central-eastern part of the SFTB controversial. First, this study outlines through a review of the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the central-eastern sector of the Sicilian orogen, the major remaining issues concerning: (1) the occurrence of inferred Alpine Tethys units far from the region where the remnants of the ATW outcrop (Nebrodi Mountains); both, in a forearc position above the Peloritani block to the North and in an active foreland context along the present day southern front of the belt; and (2) the diverging tectonic styles, from stacked large-scale tectonic nappes to foreland imbricated thrust systems rooted into a main basal décollement. Secondly, new constraints are given using analogue modeling to test mechanically the hypothesized structural and tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the SFTB. The experiment simulates the orogenic evolution of the SFTB at crustal-scale, from the Oligocene Tethys subduction, to the Middle Miocene-Late Pliocene continental collision between the European and African paleomargins. The tectono-stratigraphic synthesis is used to model the first-order mechanical stratigraphy of the sedimentary units involved in the Sicilian belt, as well as the imprint of the African margin structural inheritance. The experiments succeed in reproducing the general structure and tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the SFTB. In particular, the models support field observations hypothesing a gravity-driven origin of the inferred Alpine Tethys units intercalated within the forearc and foreland syntectonic sedimentation. Moreover, the model testifies of the main tectonic steps that led to the SFTB building. First, a low-tapered accretionary wedge was accreted above the Alpine Tethys oceanic crust from the Oligocene to the Early Miocene. The following underthrusting of the stretched African continental margin and its frontal Panormide platform shortened and thickened the accretionary wedge. This phase provided favorable conditions for significant pulses of reworked Alpine Tethys units that intercalated within the forearc and foredeep successions. During the Middle-Miocene, the décollement of the African Meso-Cenozoic cover (Panormide platform and Imerese-Sicanian deep-water basin) enhanced a deep-seated deformation phase, along with duplexing of the Panormide platform beneath the Alpine Tethys wedge leading to its emersion. Since the Late Messinian, activation of basement faults led to a generalized emersion of the orogenic units through large-wavelength fold culminations accompanied by syn-tectonic deposition at their southern limbs. Concurrently, the prism front was partly indented to the southeast by the thick and locally already emerged Hyblean platform.