Fagliazione superficiale olocenica e paleoliquefazione nel sito di Monte Netto, Brescia : implicazioni sismotettoniche

In the framework of a regional project aimed at the assessment of seismic hazard in Lombardia based on geological criteria, the first evidence for Holocene coseismic surface faulting unequivocally associated with a Quaternary compressional structure of the Po Plain Foredeep has been identified in a quarry located at Monte Netto, few km S of Brescia. Paleoliquefaction features have been also observed at the same site. The availability of a seismic reflection profile (courtesy of ENI E&P) running exactly beneath the Monte Netto anticline allows in fact to understand in detail the structural relations between the geometry of the causative backthrust at depth and the surficial ruptures observed in the quarry. The implication that capable faulting might characterize the active tectonics of the Southern Alps in Lombardia calls for a thorough re-evaluation of the seismotectonic models for this region, and a systematic application of paleoseismological analyses.