Deformation history during chain building deduced by outcrop structural analysis: The case of the Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt (Central Mediterranean)

•We analyzed small-scale structures in a few key areas of the Sicilian chain.•The overprinting relationship between the structures shown their relative timing.•The timing of small-scale structures can be related with the chain deformation history.

The Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt is located in the central Mediterranean area, and it represents the south-eastern arcuate segment of the Apennine-Maghrebide orogen. The tectonic evolution of the Sicilian belt is documented after outcrop analysis of small-scale structural features carried out throughout the region. Results are consistent with the following four main deformation stages having affected the study area, from the oldest to the youngest: (i) multilayer weakening; (ii) folding-and-thrusting, (iii) extension, and (iv) renewed thrusting. The first deformation stage included three different substages (layer-parallel shortening, bed-parallel simple shear and fold nucleation), the second one by both thrusting and fold amplification and tightening. The third deformation stage involved re-activation of the pre-existing mechanical discontinuities and formation of low-to-high angle normal faults. Out-of-sequence thrusting postdated the aforementioned extensional stage, and formed the latest orogenic deformation stage that affected the Sicilian belt.