Pliocene-Quaternary burial/exhumation paths of the Central Apennines (Italy): implications for the definition of the deep structure of the belt

Apatite Fission Track and Vitrinite Reflectance analysis performed in the Central Apennines (Italy) has allowed us to recognize a heating/cooling event related to Pliocene-Quaternary burial/exhumation process. The exhumation, occurred between 5 and 1 Ma, is related to the unroofing of the carbonate units below the Liguride Units, within the Apennine duplex system. This exhumation process is in agreement with a thick-skinned tectonic style, mainly accommodated by a frontal lithospheric thrust. It realizes a vertical component of displacement of ca 10 km of the Moho and of the top of the carbonate succession, and a shortening value of ca 30 km during Pliocene-Quaternary time. In the footwall of this thrust, a Pliocene-Quaternary foredeep basin has been developed, whereas in its hangingwall, AFTA and VR analysis allowed us to constrain an exhumation value of ca 3000 m.