Abstract The Gioia Basin is a small trough located in the southeastern Tyrrhenian Sea between the Aeolian island arc and Sicily and Calabria. It is experiencing a post-rift margin evolution, while tectonic deformation and high rates of vertical movement are still affecting the Sicilian and Calabrian mainland. The analysis of the evolution of the post-rift depositional systems along the various sectors of the Gioia Basin margin has been carried out through the combined interpretation of multibeam bathymetry and seismic reflection data. Two seismic units have been identified and their component geomorphological elements ascertained through the analysis of seismic facies distribution. In general, the depositional architecture of the margin, the sedimentary environments and facies and related geomorphological elements that are active in the shaping of the margin appear to be mainly controlled by the physiography of the basin itself and by the geology of the hinterland that results from the structural evolution of the adjacent land areas. An evolution from a generalized slope bypass setting to a prograding offlapping slope architecture is recognized and explained as due to the transition from an out-of-grade to a graded profile progressing from the early post-rift stage to the later margin growth stage. Along the Sicilian margin, a constructional apron, mainly consisting of channel levee deposits, makes up much of the studied sedimentary package and reflects a high sediment supply related to the large size of river catchments on land. In contrast, the northeastern Sicilian basin sector is a destructional margin that flanks a region where small river drainage systems result in a low sediment supply to the basin and a continued high uplift rate promotes slope instability; as a consequence, the basin infill is here almost completely made up of mass-wasting deposits. In the Calabrian margin, a first phase of low sediment supply probably coinciding with the filling of the further inland Gioia Tauro half-graben was followed by the establishment of the Gioia–Mesima channel–canyon system that, furnishing an effective sediment flux to the margin, allows the formation of an intraslope depositional body consisting of channelized turbidite lobes.

Abstract The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Project provides freely available data on European seas. The main purpose of EMODnet is to overcome the fragmentation and dishomogeneity of the available data, providing access to a harmonized and interoperable database. The EMODnet Geology Lot includes information at multiple scales on the seabed and its substrate ( http://www.emodnet-geology.eu/ ). The dataset on ‘Geological events and probabilities’ collects information on landslides, earthquakes, volcanic structures, active tectonics, tsunamis and fluid emissions. The Geological Survey of Italy, which coordinates the collation of ‘Geological events and probabilities’ data, provided guidelines to compile layers complemented by comprehensive and detailed patterns of attributes for each feature in order to characterize each type of geological event. Occurrences of events are often associated with each other, particularly in tectonically active areas. Geological events affect both submerged and coastal environments. Data gathered by EMODnet Geology provide a good basis for further studies, contributing to the outlining of different tectonic settings and providing support to the use of marine resources, as well as to the management of marine-coastal areas particularly regarding the identification and assessment of geological and environmental hazards.

Abstract Floodplain lakes are small depressions on river flood plains.Among the many factors that can contribute to the formation of these features, the most important include: (1)differential lowering of the floodplain surface in comparison with the fluvial belt due to major compaction of flood plain deposits (e.g., muddy or organic deposits), sedimentationrate within the fluvial belt, and local fault control;(2) cut of the meander belt (oxbow lakes), abandonment of fluvial branches, or splay deposition; (3) water table variations due to changes in climate and topography; and (4)permeability of the floodplain deposits (Leopold eta1., 1964; Nanson and Croke, 1992; Willis and Behrensmeyer,1994). This paper deals with early Pleistocene flood plain lake deposits within an alluvial plain lithostratigraphicunit designated as the S. Maria di Ciciliano Formation(SMCF) (Basilici, 1992) (Figure 1A).During the early(?)-middle Pliocene, extension altectonic activity linked to the opening of the Tyrrhenian Sea (La vecchia, 1988; Martini and Sagri, 1993)formed the large Tiberino Basin, located in central Italy (Umbria) about 130 km south of Firenze. This riftbasin reached a length of 125 km and a maximum width of 20 km; in plan view it has an "overturned Y" shape and is oriented north-northwest-south-southeast(Figure lA). In the southeastern branch of the Tiberino Basin, the infill deposits consist of four lithostrati graphic units (Figure 1B) (Basilici, 1992). TheFosso Bianco Formation (FBF) (middle-late Pliocene)is made up principally of marly clays and interpretedas a deep lacustrine system (Basilici, 1997). The Ponte Naja Formation (PNF) (late Pliocene) is composed of sandy clayey silts with rare lenses of