Electrical imaging and self-potential surveys to study the geological setting of the Quaternary slope deposits in the Agri high valley (Southern Italy)

Abstract

We present the results of a geophysical survey carried out to outline the structural modelling of Quaternary slope deposits in the northern part of the Agri high valley (Basilicata, Southern Italy). Quaternary folding and brittle deformations of the subaerial slope deposits have been studied combining electrical imaging and self-potential surveys with geological structural analysis. This integrated approach indicates that the area underwent both transpressional and transtensional tectonics during Pleistocene times as testified by the existence of a push up structure in the basement buried by deformed Quaternary breccias. On this basis, the valley appears to be a more complex structure than a simple extensional graben, as traditionally assumed in the literature.