On the geodynamics of the northern Adriatic plate

The northern Adriatic plate underwent Permian-Mesozoic rifting and was later shortened by three orogenic belts (i.e., Apennines, Alps and Dinarides) developed along three independent subduction zones. The inherited Mesozoic horst and graben grain determined structural undulations of the three thrust belts. Salients developed in grabens or more shaly basins, whereas recesses formed regularly around horsts. A new interpretation of seismic reflection profiles, subsidence rates from stratigraphic analysis, and GPS data prove that the three orogens surrounding the northern Adriatic plate are still active. The NE-ward migration of the Apennines subduction hinge determines the present-day faster subsidence rate in the western side of the northern Adriatic (> 1 mm/year). This is recorded also by the SW-ward dip of the foreland regional monocline, and the SW-ward increase of the depth of the Tyrrhenian sedimentary layer, as well as the increase in thickness of the Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments. These data indicate the dominant influence of the Apennines subduction, which controls the asymmetric subsidence in the northern Adriatic realm. The Dinarides front has been tilted by the Apennines subduction hinge, as shown by the eroded Dalmatian anticlines subsiding in the eastern Adriatic Sea. GPS data suggest that southward tilting of the western and central Southern Alps, whereas the eastern Southern Alps are uplifting. The obtained strain rates are on average within 20 nstrain/year. The horizontal shortening obtained from GPS velocities at the front of the three belts surrounding the northern Adriatic plate are about 2-3 mm/year (Northern Apennines), 1-2 mm/year (Southern Alps), and < 1 mm/year (Dinarides). The shortening directions tend to be perpendicular to the thrust belt fronts. The areas where the strain rate sharply decreases along a tectonic feature (e.g., the Ferrara salient, the Venetian foothills front) are proposed to be occupied by locked structures where stress is accumulating in the brittle layer and thus seismically prone. Finally, we speculate that, since the effects of three independent subduction zones coexist and overlap in the same area, plate boundaries are passive features

Digitized geological and geophysical data from the Po Plain and the northern Adriatic Sea (north Italy) collected from public sources.

This database comprises subsurface geological and geophysical data from the Po Plain and the northern Adriatic Sea (north Italy). We realized the database by collecting, revising, and digitizing data, originally in raster format, from public sources. These data have been then used to reconstruct the overall subsurface 3D architecture and to extract the physical properties of the subsurface geological units. The data have a common geographical system: WGS 84/UTM zone 32N; EPSG: 32632. The database contains borehole information from 160 deep wells (i.e., wellhead coordinates, rotary table elevation, measured depth, true depth, total depth and deviation survey) and digitized Spontaneous Potential, Gamma Ray, and Sonic logs. Five horizons were digitized from 61 geological cross-sections and from 10 isobath maps that roughly correspond to the boundaries of units showing different lithological properties and with different mechanical properties. The horizons are, from the oldest to the youngest: the top of the magnetic basement, the top of the carbonate succession, the base of the Pliocene, the base of the Calabrian and the base of recent continental deposits. In addition, the gridded surfaces of the 3D geological model are available. We organized the database into two groups: “primitive data” and “derived data”. Primitive data are the result of the digitization of public data. The database of the primitive data is formed by the main horizons reported in the geological cross-sections, the isobaths of the main geological surfaces, the well locations, comprised their trajectory along depth, lithological and stratigraphical information, and geophysical logs from composite well logs. Well data include specific sets of well logs aimed to geological/mechanical characterization of the geological units (e.g., Spontaneous Potential log, Resistivity log, Gamma Ray log, and Sonic log). Derived data consist of two datasets: i) the primitive isobaths maps and geological cross-sections data that have been filtered and verified after a data accuracy analysis performed to unravel discrepancies in the interpretation of the subsurface geological horizons; ii) a set of regional surfaces of the main geological units of the Po Plain subsurface. These surfaces were generated by interpolating the filtered primitive data and without considering the fault occurrence/displacements. Primitive and derived data are provided in delimited text file format organized according to the data type (i.e., well, geological cross-section, map and gridded surface). The format and the organization of data are explained in the related “readme” file presents within each data folder. Our database represents a collection of the main published works regarding the Po Plain. Detailed studies related to specific sectors of the Po Plain might not be present in our database. Further details about the data processing and organization are given in the related manuscript