Tectonic controls on large-scale fluid circulation in the Apennines (Italy)

A SW-NE crustal cross-section across the central Apennines shows that the eastward advancement of extensional down-faulting superposed onto the contractional edifice since the late Miocene has spatially juxtaposed tectonic domains distinguished by crustal structure, contemporary deformation styles, and fluid circulation. Structural data coupled with the geochemistry of rock-fluid interaction allow the distinction, from NE to SW, of three major domains that show the transition from an entirely closed system in the foredeep basin, still undergoing active compression and thrusting, to a crust-lithosphere open hydrologic system in the strongly extended Tyrrhenian region. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.