Petrology and dispersal pattern in the Marnoso-arenacea Formation (Miocene, Northern Apennines)

Abstract Paleocurrent, gross composition, rock-fragment data, and heavy mineral data from the Miocene Marnoso-arenacea Formation of the Northern Apennines suggest six source areas. Five are primarily extrabasinal (Alpine I and II; Apenninic I, II, and III) and one is intrabasinal. The identification of characteristic multicycle materials reinforces the idea that migration of foredeeps within a plate-tectonic framework occurred in the Apennines. Integration of petrofacies, paleocurrent, and sedimentary-facies-analysis data in the study of the Marnoso-arenacea depositional system has proved a very powerful method for understanding the complexity of a deep-sea fan system.--Journal abstract.