Paleomagnetism of the Hyblean Plateau, Sicily: a review of the existing data set and new evidence for lack of block rotation from the Scicli-Ragusa Fault System

Alessandra G. Pellegrino (*), Rosanna Maniscalco (*), Fabio Speranza (**), Catalina Hernandez-Moreno (**) & Giovanni Sturiale (*)
(*) Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Catania, Corso Italia, 57 - 95129 Catania, Italy. Corresponding author e-mail: maniscal@unict.it; tel. +39 095 7195717; fax +39 095 7195728.
(**) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata, 605 - 00143 Roma, Italy.

The present paper has two aims: first, to re-evaluate the rotation of the Hyblean Plateau with respect to Africa in the light of updated African paleopoles; second, to obtain information about the block rotation pattern, possibly associated with the Scicli-Ragusa strike-slip fault zone. Our results complement pre-existing data and firmly indicate that: 1) the Hyblean Plateau did not rotate with respect to Africa, even during the Pliocene-Pleistocene rifting of the Strait of Sicily; 2) the Scicli-Ragusa fault system did not induce significant block rotations around vertical axis and therefore, the horizontal displacement of this tectonic lineament has to be considered less than 3 km.

paleomagnetism, Sicily, block rotation, Scicli-Ragusa Fault System, Hyblean Plateau.