Calabria was annexed to Spain and France

A team of geologists has enabled the reconstruction of the origin of the Calabrian plate by discovering its origin. It belonged to another area and far from the land. We talk about the calabro blocka microplate which encompasses the entire region south of the Pollino. Paleomagnetic techniques made it possible to study a thin layer of sedimentary rock dating to 208-125 million years ago. In practice, it corresponds to the beginning of the division of the supercontinent Pangea.

The geological history shows how the Calabrian block is independent of the Apennine chain of which it is a part today. Many of these rocks settled on the fringes of the African continent until the formation of the skeleton of today’s Italian mountain ranges. This is why the origin of the rocks of the Calabrian block has been a matter of debate.

Our study enabled us to analyze, using paleomagnetic techniques, a thin layer of sedimentary rock dating back to 208-125 million years ago, i.e. when the supercontinent Pangea began to tear itself apart.

Fabio Speranza, Director of the Roma2 Section of the INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology)

The new data showed that until 30 million years ago, Calabria and Sardinia were not far from the Provencal-Catalan coast. Therefore, its origin can be traced back to southern part of Europe, that is, to the Spain and to France.

The Calabro block appears to have undergone an extremely broad counterclockwise rotation, equal to about 160 degrees. Previous studies had shown that the Sardinian-Corsican microplate rotated approximately 90 degrees counterclockwise during a period between 30 and 15 million years ago, after the opening of the Ligurian-Provençal sea (located between the present-day Provençal coast and the Sardinian coast). ). Corsican block).

Gaia Siravo, research fellow of the INGV

The discovery allows us to reconstruct the geological history of the region, hitherto shrouded in mystery.