Composition and depositional architecture of late Quaternary sediments in the deep-water northern Ionian Basin, southern Italy

The Calabrian continental margin lies at the SE tip of thearcuate Apennine–Maghrebide accretionary system (e.g.SARTORI, 2003). The structural setting of this area is the resultof an interplay between the south-eastward migration of theCalabria–Peloritani Arc since the late Miocene and the rapiduplift of onshore and shallow shelf areas since the middlePleistocene. The Calabria–Peloritani Arc migra-tion resulted ina strong dissection along several NW-trending regional shearzones,characterized by left lateral movement in the central andnorthern parts and right-lateral movement in the south (KNOTT& TURCO, 1991).The sedimentary fill of basins is related to several factorsconcerning relationships between source areas and sedimentarybasins.This study provides insight into the petrology of modernmarine sediments, based upon the coupling of both climaticand physio-graphic controls. Furthermore, the chemical andmineralogical varia-tions provide additional constraints on thebehavior of the element distribution during the continentalweathering. Knowledge of such coupling is important for theinterpretation of analogous clastic deposits in the geologicalrecord.