High-resolution images of the fault-controlled High Agri Valley basin (Southern Italy) with deep and shallow electrical resistivity tomographies

The Electrical Resistivity Tomographic method has been applied for mapping active faults and to estimate the subsurface resistivity patterns of the High Agri Valley basin (Southern Italy). The study area is a complex Quaternary fault network of the Apennine chain and its geometry, the location and dip of the master fault and the tectonic evolution are still controversial. The electrical imaging highlights the asymmetrical shape of the basin, bordered by shallow-depth active faults and filled by Pleistocene alluvial deposits. The results of geoelectrical survey allow us to improve the basic knowledge regarding the geological and seismological setting of the High Agri valley. Furthermore, our findings have great relevance in defining the geophysical monitoring strategy in this seismic active zone where is operating a geoelectrical network to detect self-potential signals possible correlated with local earthquakes. The mapping of the resistivity subsurface patterns discloses the way to better locate the geoelectrical measuring stations in the investigated area.