Arriga, GiorgioGiorgioArrigaMarchegiano, MartaMartaMarchegianoPeral, MarionMarionPeralHu, Hsun-MingHsun-MingHuCosentino, DomenicoDomenicoCosentinoCHUAN-CHOU SHENDalton, HaydenHaydenDaltonBrilli, MauroMauroBrilliAldega, LucaLucaAldegaClaeys, PhilippePhilippeClaeysRossetti, FedericoFedericoRossetti2025-12-042025-12-042024https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85212878290?origin=resultslisthttps://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/734312Understanding the long-term tectono-stratigraphic evolution of active extensional faulting is crucial for unraveling the mode through which continental rifting propagates in space and time. The Pliocene-Quaternary L’Aquila Intermontane Basin (AIB) in central Apennines offers a natural laboratory for studying a propagating continental rift. Seismicity is related to NW-SE-striking normal faults that have been accommodating crustal stretching since the Late Pliocene. Through a multidisciplinary approach integrating field, mineralogical, geochemical (C-O stable and clumped isotopes) and geochronological (40Ar/39Ar, U-Th) analyses, this study focuses on the structural connection between the Mount Pettino Fault (MPF) and the Paganica Fault, two active, left-stepped basin boundary faults of the AIB. A two-stage tectono-stratigraphic evolution is proposed during transition from localized to delocalized deformation and fault linkage. Stage-1 (pre-Middle Pleistocene) corresponds to nucleation and growth of the MPF, characterized by a ∼5 m thick exhumed fault core, consisting of an isotopically closed cataclasite (T (∆47) ∼33–50°C). Stage-2 corresponds to the development of a distributed zone of NW-SE and E-W extensional faulting in the overlay zone with the Paganica Fault, which is interpreted as a transfer zone linking the basin boundary faults, with maximum long-term slip rates comparable to those of the connected faults. Structurally controlled circulation of meteoric fluids promoted carbonate veining and travertine formation (T (∆47) ∼8°C). U-Th carbonate dating of Stage-2 mineralizations constrains the tectonic activity in the transfer zone at least at ∼182–331 ka. Implications on the tectono-stratigraphic evolution and on the seismotectonic scenario of the AIB are discussed, providing geodynamic inference at regional scale.Ar-Ar geochronologyC-O isotopes systematicsfault linkagestructural geologytectonics and sedimentationU-Th carbonate geochronology[SDGs]SDG13journal article10.1029/2024TC008548