A Methodology for Assessing the Favourability of Geopressured-Geothermal Systems in Sedimentary Basin Plays: A Case Study in Abruzzo (Italy)

Figure 3

(a) Simplified geological-structural map of the study area with the main lithological units and tectonic structures. All information was derived from geological maps on a 1:100.000 [92] and 1:50.000 [93] scale and from [68]. Tectonic structures were mainly derived from CNR [76]. Key: (1) continental deposits (Quaternary), (2) marly and clayey deposits of the Mutignano Fm and equivalent units (Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene), (3) arenaceous and pelitic deposits of the Laga (A) and Cellino Fms and equivalent deposits (Late Messinian–Early Pliocene), (4) slope-to-basin and basinal carbonatic deposits (Late Triassic–Miocene), (5) platform carbonatic deposits (Late Triassic–Miocene), (6) undifferentiated deposits pertaining to the allochthonous Molise Nappe (Upper Cretaceous–Upper Miocene), (7) main thrusts ((a) outcropping, (b) inferred or buried), (8) normal faults ((a) outcropping, (b) inferred or buried), (9) boundary of the allochthonous Molise Nappe, CoS = coastal anticline, (10) direction of the minimum horizontal stress (SHmin) referring to a selection of A and B quality borehole breakout data as reported in [94], and (11) P-axes from a compilation of focal mechanisms taken from the RCMT and TDMT catalogues [95] plus other focal solutions deduced from specific papers (e.g., [96]) for the Italian earthquakes with occurring between 1968 and May 2016. BCS = Bellante-Cellino structure. The black dotted box includes the sector investigated for favourability assessment. (b) Interpretative geological section (trace in (a)) showing the main thrusts deforming the carbonatic and foredeep deposits of the outer Abruzzo region. The outcropping successions and their thickness were constrained with information from geological cartography [92, 93]. The thicknesses of the Mezo-Cenozoic carbonatic deposits in the Adriatic foreland were extracted from [78], while most of the data concerning the depth of the base of Pliocene deposits come from the present study (see Subsection 5.1). Key: (1) Late Triassic dolostone and evaporites, (2) Jurassic-Cretaceous to Middle Miocene undifferentiated carbonates, (3) Late Miocene (upper Messinian) foredeep deposits (Laga Fm), (4) Lower-Pliocene foredeep deposits, (5) Upper Pliocene foredeep and Quaternary marine deposits, (6) thrusts ((a) outcropping, (b) buried), (7) hypothesized faults ((a) reverse, (b) normal). BP = base of the Pliocene foredeep deposits (see Subsection 5.1).

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