Role of Foreland Rugosity in Controlling Structural Styles in the Alpine Thrust System of the Central Adriatic

The Central Adriatic Basin is a unique natural laboratory in which to examine the effects of two opposed foreland propagating fold-and-thrust systems; the Apennines from the west and the Dinaride and Albanide belts from the east. Seismic interpretation enables new insights to be gained into the structural style around the foreland area of convergence and reveal the relative timing of thrust propagation and their respective influences on stratigraphic geometries. It can be shown that the Apennine thrustal front is emplaced on a foreland already deformed by Dinaride contraction. Ongoing deformation associated with thrust activity within the Dinaride fold-and-thrust-belt re-folds the Apennine front. Our results have also highlighted that the initial carbonate passive margin architecture and its role in the subsequent collision have a major influence on the thrust systems. The early architecture and rugosity of the Mesozoic province consists of NW-SE-trending platform promontories and embayments which affect and control the thrust localization of the propagating Apennine thrustal front. These platforms are oblique to the majority of Dinaride contractional structures the majority of which form short-cut faults instead of re-activating older extensional faults.