OSL chronology of Quaternary terraced deposits outcropping between Mt. Etna volcano and the Catania Plain (Sicily, southern Italy)

• A description of terraced deposits between Mt. Etna and Catania Plain is given.
• The OSL technique has been successfully applied for dating.
• De distribution confirms that well-bleached sediments are not disturbed since burial.
• Obtained ages are consistent with a normal evolutionary model of terraced sequences.
• The study highlights the presence of tectonic process with differential uplift rates.

In this paper we tested the applicability of the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) technique through Single-Aliquot Regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol, on single grain quartz extracted from alluvial–coastal sediments. Five samples were collected from deposits belonging to a flight of seven orders of coastal–alluvial terraces outcropping in the area between Mt. Etna volcano and the Catania Plain (Sicily, southern Italy), at the front of the Sicilian fold and thrust system. After various performance tests, we obtained OSL ages ranging between 240 ± 12 and 80 ± 4 ka, consistent with the normal evolutionary model of a terraced sequence, moving from the highest to the lowest elevation. Obtained data allowed us to determine a mean uplift rate of 1.2 mm/year during the last 240 ka, mostly related to regional uplift processes coupled with sea-level changes. Moreover, terraces belonging to the two highest orders are folded, forming a large anticline. According to our results, the frontal thrust of the Sicilian chain was active between 236 and 197 ka ago, even though seismological and geodetic data suggest current activity to the back.