The application of palaeolandsurface analysis to the study of recent tectonics in central Italy

This paper is part of the special publication No.162, Uplift, erosion and stability : perspectives on long-term landscape development. (eds: B.J. Smith, W.B. Whalley and P.A. Warke). The analysis of remnant landsurfaces was carried out on the ranges surrounding three intermontane basins located in the central and southern Apennines. All three basins developed during the Pliocene and Quaternary, but each had a different geological, geomorphological and structural setting. Landsurfaces taken into account were those which aided in the identification of strath terraces situated on the walls of the basins. Recognition and comparison of terrace sequences aided the evaluation of the tectonic behaviour of each area by identifying sectors with differential vertical movements and by assessing the activity of the faults that caused them. The analysis of individual cases also provided useful information on fault activity that could help in devising structural schemes related to active tectonics.