We identify evidence of late Quaternary compressive tectonics
in the Northern sector of the Central Po Plain through a systematic
revision of the literature, new field mapping, and a new study of
seismic reflection data obtained by ENI E&P. In particular, the reinterpretation
of ca. 18.000 km of seismic profiles clearly shows a belt
of segmented, 10 to 20 km long, fault propagation folds, controlled
by the Plio-Quaternary growth of several out-of-sequence thrusts. As
an example of this active structural style, in this paper we focus on a
buried fold located just south of the Castenedolo Hill, a few km SE
of Brescia. Although the Castenedolo anticline has long ago been
described as a young compressional structure (e.g., DESIO, 1965), no
detailed structural analysis of this feature has been performed until
now. We calculated the uplift rates of this fold through the analysis
of its syntectonic sedimentary record as imaged by the extremely
high quality ENI E&P subsurface data available in the area. The evolution
of this anticline was a discontinuous process characterized by
several tectonic uplift pulses (with rates of ca. 0.1 mm/yr) of different
duration, separated by periods of variable extent in which no
fold growth occurred. The Quaternary growth history of this anticline
and the presence of faulted and folded late Pleistocene to
Holocene deposits at nearby sites (Ciliverghe and Monte Netto)
demonstrate that the significant seismicity of this area (e.g., the
December 25, 1222, Io = IX MCS Brescia earthquake, MAGRI &
MOLIN, 1986; GUIDOBONI, 1986) must be related to active compressional
structures within the Brescia piedmont belt. Our
regional investigations show that the structural and paleoseismic
setting illustrated near Castenedolo is typical of the whole Lombardia
domain of the Southern Alps. This implies that the currently
accepted seismotectonic model for this region, and related
seismic hazard assessment, should be thoroughly and carefully
re-evaluated
