3D modelling and visualization of geological structures in fold-and-thrust belts: an example from the Sabina area, Central Apennines

In the Sabina area, Central Apennines of Italy, faults and folds mainly accommodated high rates of crustal strain and shortening, during the Alpine orogeny from Middle-Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene (Parotto & Praturlon, 1975; Cipollari & Cosentino, 1992). To improve our understanding of how faults and folds developed in the most internal portion of the outcropping sedimentary fold-and-thrust belt, where structures are highly non-cylindrical, and to test the reliability of 2D models to predict 3D subsurface structure, we are acquiring a 3D dataset for the quadrangle n. 366150 named “Vicovaro”, provided by the CARG project - the remaking of the Italian geological map. This 3D study is based on field geological data from the mapping of the “Vicovaro” quadrangle of the “Palombara Sabina” geological map, an area a few km northeast of Rome. From these data we constructed a set of parallel geological sections that resulted in this 3D visualization of subsurface structures. The 3D model has been reconciled into a coherent geological interpretation.Analyzing the resulting 3D model allowed us checking each section for consistency with respect to the other. Frequently, we were forced to reinterpret sections that we could have considered correct when thinking in 2 dimensions.