Magnetotelluric investigation in the High Agri Valley (southern Apennine, Italy)

Abstract

In this paper we present the result of a magnetotelluric (MT) investigation carried out across the High Agri Valley (HAV), southern Italy. Several MT soundings were carried out in order to obtain a ∼15 km long 2-D resistivity model with an investigation depth of ∼10 km. The main aim was to provide valuable data on the geological and structural setting of the HAV. The MT model was compared with pre-existing geological, geophysical and seismic data. The MT model can be schematized as a superposition of three stack lateral varying layers with different thickness and resistivity values: a surficial low-medium resistivity layer associated with the Quaternary deposits and to the allochthonous units; and a deeper high resistivity layer related to the Apulia Platform, separated by a thin layer connected to the mélange zone and to the Pliocene terrigenous marine deposits. Sharp lateral resistivity variations are interpreted as faults that, on the basis of accurate focal mechanism computations, display normal-faulting kinematics.