Geo-Petro-Structural study of the Palmi shear zone: Kinematic and rheological implications

The kinematic and the rheological properties of an early-Alpine strikeslipmylonitic shear zone (i.e. Palmi Shear Zone) have been hereinvestigated with the aim to contribute to constrain the former Alpineevolutionary stages of southern Calabrian geodynamics.Relics of these early-Alpine deep strike-slip tectonics are probablywidespread distributed around the peri-Mediterranean chains as aconsequence and/or as a precursor of the Alpine back-arc basin expansion.Nevertheless, these deep seated junction bands are resulted rarelypreserved due to the pervasive activity of the following tectonics.For this reason the Palmi Shear Zone can be considered a witnesssurvivor of the embryonic strike-slip movement that controlled theformation of the present-day arcuate shape of the internal sector of thissouthern Alpine chain segment, contributing at the same time to thepresent-day juxtaposition of differently evolved crystalline basementterranes. In this view, an integrated meso- micro-structural studyaccompanied by quartz c-axis orientation pattern analysis of myloniteshave been carried out, in order to preliminarily constrain the temperatureand the kinematic of the shearing activity.