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Relationships between seep-carbonates, mud volcanism and basin geometry in the Late Miocene of the northern Apennines of Italy: the Montardone mélange

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Abstract

The Montardone mélange (Mm) is a chaotic, block-in-matrix unit outcropping in the Montebaranzone syncline in the northern Apennines. The Mm occurs in the uppermost part of the Termina Fm, the Middle–Late Miocene interval of a succession deposited in a wedge-top slope basin (Epiligurian succession). The Mm is closely associated with bodies of authigenic carbonates, characterized by negative values of δ13C (from −18.22 to −39.05 ‰ PDB) and chemosynthetic benthic fauna (lucinid and vesicomyid bivalves). In this paper, we propose that the Mm is a mud volcano originated by the post-depositional reactivation and rising of a stratigraphically lower mud-rich mass transport body (Canossa–Val Tiepido sedimentary mélange or olistostrome) triggered by fluid overpressure. We base our conclusion on (1) the Mm pierces the entire Termina Fm and older Epiligurian units and represents the direct continuation of the underlying Canossa–Val Tiepido mélange; (2) the geometry and facies distribution of the Montebaranzone sandstone body, which are compatible with a confined basin controlled by the rising of the Mm; (3) the systematic presence of large-scale (lateral extension 300–400 m) seep-carbonates associated with the mélange, suggesting a persistent gas-enriched fluid vent from the ascending overpressured mud; (4) blocks and clasts sourced from the Mm, hosted by the authigenic carbonates, conveyed by ascending mud and gas-enriched fluids. The Mm represents one of the few fossil examples of reactivation of a basin-scale sedimentary mélange (olistostrome); a three-stage model showing mechanisms of Mm raising is proposed.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the anonymous reviewers for the accurate and constructive comments and suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript. The 3D reconstruction of the geological surfaces in depth of Fig. 4 has been realized with the software Move 2011, the licenses of which have been released under the Academic Software Initiative by Midland Valley Exploration Ltd, which is kindly acknowledged, to the Laboratorio di Geologia Strutturale of the Università di Bologna (Academic Agreement 1424, 2010–2011).

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Della Terra, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Largo S Eufemia 19, 41100, Modena, Italy

    Stefano Conti & Daniela Fontana

  2. Regione Emilia-Romagna, Rimini, Italy

    Claudio Corrado Lucente

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze Della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Gian Andrea Pini

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  1. Stefano Conti
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Conti, S., Fontana, D., Lucente, C.C. et al. Relationships between seep-carbonates, mud volcanism and basin geometry in the Late Miocene of the northern Apennines of Italy: the Montardone mélange. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 103, 281–295 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-013-0928-y

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