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Domenico Liotta
Ruolo
Professore Associato
Organizzazione
Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro
Dipartimento
DIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE DELLA TERRA E GEOAMBIENTALI
Area Scientifica
AREA 04 - Scienze della Terra
Settore Scientifico Disciplinare
GEO/03 - Geologia Strutturale
Settore ERC 1° livello
Non Disponibile
Settore ERC 2° livello
Non Disponibile
Settore ERC 3° livello
Non Disponibile
Estimating values of permeability (k), ef cient porosity (P) and hydraulic conductivity (K) by analysing eld outcrops as analogue of geothermal reservoirs, is a timely theme useful for predictions during geothermal ex- ploration programs. In this paper we present a methodology providing k, P and K values, based on geomet- ric analysis of quartz-tourmaline faults-vein arrays hosted in micaschist exposed in south-eastern Elba Island (Tuscan Archipelago, Italy), considered as the analogue of rock hosting the so-called “deep reservoir” in the Larderello geothermal eld. The methodology is based on the integration among structural geology, uid inclu- sions results and numerical analyses. Through a detailed structural mapping, scan-lines and scan-boxes analy- ses, we have reconstructed three superposed faulting events, developed in an extensional setting and framed in the Neogene evolution of inner Northern Apennines. Geometrical data of the fault-veins array were processed by reviewing the basic parallel-plate-model-equation for k evaluation. Fluid inclusion analyses provided those salinity and pressure-temperature values necessary for de ning density and viscosity of the parent geothermal uids. Then, permeability, density and viscosity were joined to get hydraulic conductivity (K). Permeability is estimated between 5 × 10− 13 and 5 × 10− 17 m2 with variations among the different generation of faults, while the hydraulic conductivity is encompassed between 1.31 × 10− 8 and 2.4 × 10− 13 m/s. The obtained permeabil- ity and hydraulic conductivity values are comparable with those from several geothermal areas, and in particular from the Larderello geothermal eld. The main conclusion is that the proposed integrated approach provides a reliable methodology to obtain crucial values, normally obtained after drilling, for developing numerical ow models of geothermal uid path in active geothermal systems by eld and laboratory analyses of analogue, ex- humed, geothermal systems.
A thermo-rheological model of the Monte Capanne pluton, Elba Island, Italy is proposed as having general relevance for the thermal and tectonic evolution of upper crustal granites and their surrounding rocks in extensional regions. The thermal evolution of the pluton and country rocks is followed for 1 myr after emplacement, which occurred at c. 6.9 Ma. The pluton completely crystallized in c. 210 kyr (±20%). The adjacent rocks reached a thermal peak of 550 °C (±10%), maintaining a temperature higher than 500 °C for c. 100 kyr. The temperature distribution is used to construct a model for the time-dependent rheology of the pluton and surrounding rocks. A series of 2D cross-sections shows an upward migration of the regional brittle−ductile transition, and the formation of a ductile horizon above the pluton. The former is a combined effect of unroofing and middle crust heating; the latter is the result of temperature increase in rheologically weak country rocks. This ductile horizon has a potential role in the tectonic evolution of the region, since it could favour the formation of upper crustal shear zones and listric faults rooting in the transient brittle−ductile transition and playing a major role in further post-emplacement extension.
n the extensional province of SW-Anatolia, the cross-cutting relationship between the NW- and NE-oriented Neogene and Quaternary basins is an ongoing debate in the understanding of the tectonic evolution of this area. In order to contribute to this issue, we carried out a structural and kinematic study along the seismogenic NW-trending Dinar Fault Zone (DFZ). This structure was initially controlled by the sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the NE-oriented Neogene Baklan, Acıgöl and Burdur basins and, later, by the NW-oriented Quaternary Dinar Basin. On the basis of N 1000 structural and kinematic data, in conjunction with basin stratigraphy, the DFZ can be divided into three almost parallel and continuous bands, that are: (a) the Hangingwall where Quaternary sediments are deformed by normal faults with mechanical striations; (b) the Inner Zone, corresponding to the present Dinar fault scarp, where NW-trending normal faults with mechanical striations are dominant, and (c) the Outer Zone, located in the footwall of the structure comprising the area between the fault scarp and undeformed bedrock, where faults exhibit variable orientation and kinematics, from strike-slip to normal dip-slip. These kinematics are mainly indicated by calcite shear veins and superimposed mechanical striations, respectively. This suggests that the DFZ changed kinematics over time, i.e., the DFZ initiated as dominant dextral strike-slip to oblique-slip fault system and continued with a dominant normal movement. Therefore, we hypothesize that the NW- trending DFZ was initially a transfer zone during the late Miocene–Pliocene, coeval to the sedimentary and struc- tural evolution of the NE-trending Baklan, Acigöl and Burdur basins. During the Quaternary the DFZ, representing an already weakened crustal sector, played the role of a normal fault system providing the accommodation space for the Quaternary Dinar Basin. Hydrothermal circulation and volcanism at NE-/NW-trending faults intersection implies structurally-driven conduits channeling fluids from depth to surface.
We describe stratigraphic, structural and kinematic data from the sediments of the Upper Pliocene Santa Barbara Basin and from its substratum. The results shed light on the relationships between tectonics and sedimentation in the larger Late Pliocene-Middle Pleistocene Upper Valdarno Basin of which the Santa Barbara Basin is considered a precursor. The sediments filling up the Santa Bar- bara Basin are made up of alluvial to deltaic and lacustrine deposits, grouped in the Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni (CSB) Synthem, related to Late Pliocene. This synthem was deposited in a tectonic depression reasonably delimited to the East by a west-dipping normal fault sys- tem and delimited to the North and to the South by left-lateral trans- tensional shear zones, which controlled the main directions of the alluvial drainage. During Early Pleistocene, a new master normal fault system (Trappola fault system) developed further to the East, determining the widening of the previous tectonic depression, now delimited to the North and to the South by the regional Piombino- Faenza and Arbia-Val Marecchia transfer zones, respectively. In this new tectonic depression, with a dominant axial drainage direction, alluvial, fluvio-aeolian and fluvial sediments (Montevarchi Synthem, VRC) deposited during Early Pleistocene. The VRC Synthem, being located in the hanging-wall of the Trappola normal fault system, is slightly tilted to the NE. Finally, during Early-Middle Pleistocene, axial fluvial deposits (Torrente Ciuffenna Synthem, UFF), sealed the previously formed brittle structures. Our kinematic and structural data allow us to confirm the interpretation that the Santa Barbara Basin is the precursor of the Upper Valdarno Basin and that both basins developed in structural depressions formed by the interplay between normal and transfer faults, framed in the extensional tectonics which characterizes Tuscany since Miocene.
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