New seismo-stratigraphic data on the Volturno Basin (Northern Campania Tyrrhenian margin, Southern Italy): implications for the tectono-stratigraphy of the Campania-Latium sedimentary basins

A geological section on the Volturno Basin (Northern Campania continental margin, Italy) has been constructed based on new multichannel seismic data, to show the stratigraphic relationships between the filling in the Quaternary basin and the Meso-Cenozoic acoustic basement. The new seismic sections presented here outline the underlying structures of the basin and their relationships to the filling in the Quaternary basin. Deep exploration wells in Campania and Latium on the Tyrrhenian margin have gathered litho-stratigraphic and commercial multi-channel seismic data that can be used for better integration of the geological data for the area under study. The trending of the seismic units is controlled by the Massico Structural High, which forms the boundary of the Volturno Basin towards the north-west. This produces a geometry which is characteristic of a fan complex, with NE-SW trending. This qualitative calibration of the seismic sequences that fill the sedimentary basin was carried out through the litho-stratigraphic data of the "Castelvolturno 2" well, which highlights the pyroclastic layers and conglomeratic strata of the lagoon and delta environments as they evolve upwards towards marine sediments. Seismo-stratigraphic analysis shows the complex depositional geometries of the filling in the Volturno Basin, which overlie the Meso-Cenozoic carbonatic basement and the related flysch deposits. Coupled with regional geological evidence, the data interpretation here suggests that the Volturno basin represents a half-graben structure that is characterized by down-thrown blocks along normal faults.