Sicilian Lithostratigraphic Units

This chapter includes the description of the Sicilian lithostratigraphic units (Fig. 2.1). They are grouped in a generally chronological order and the complete list of the worksheets is shown in the Table of contents. In each chronologic group the worksheets of the described formations are organized in alphabetic order. The Permo-Triassic units are the oldest deposits outcropping in Sicily that originated during the early stages of the Southern Tethyan continental rifting. The Meso-Cenozoic carbonate units represent the sedimentary sequences of the various stratigraphic successions differentiated in the field along the Sicilian outcrops. The deposits of the Sicilide Complex (Tethyan units) and the Tertiary clastics (Numidian flysch) are grouped separately. The Miocene and the Plio-Pleistocene units represent the sedimentary cover of the wedge-top basins formed during the construction of the Sicilian FTB. The Quaternary continental and marine deposits are classified as Unconformity-Bounded Stratigraphic Units (UBSUs).