Brittle deformation effects on the geothermal area framework, in Southern Tuscany, by multiscale lineament domain analysis

Remote Sensing is a proven tool to study the Earth's surface and allows to analyze the wide portion of the surfaces by using different platforms/sensors (e.g. optical and active remote sensing, lidar), giving the possibility of multidisciplinary and multiscale approaches. In the proposed study, remote sensing analysis provides the possibility to understand the relationship between tectonic structures, lithology, and geothermal manifestations, and to test these techniques to monitor geothermal areas. This study allowed us to better understand the structural framework of a geothermal area, located in Southern Tuscany, highlighting the role of brittle deformation to produce an enhanced pathway for fluid migrations and upwelling.

The studied area is the “Parco Naturalistico delle Biancane” (PNB) in the Grosseto province and belongs to the Cenozoic Tyrrhenian-Apennine orogenic system. The tectonic framework includes a fault and thrust belt setting derived from the collision between the Corsica-Sardinia Block and Adriatic Plate during late Oligocene-Miocene times. This process determined the pile-up of several tectonic units which are, from the top: (1) Ligurian Units consisting of ophiolitic rocks and pelagic sediments (Jurassic - Oligocen); (2) Cretaceous-Oligocene terrigenous deposits; (3) The Mesozoic Tuscan Nappe. Successively, the belt was affected by a regional, mainly extensional tectonics, then a magmatic intrusion affected this thinned Tyrrhenian belt to form the Tuscan Magmatic Province. In Recent time, the region underwent a general, yet differentiated uplift, and the major geothermal areas locate to the relative higher zone. This provides the Southern Tuscany to be the main Italian geothermal area.

In this study, we analyzed the area from several points of view. The lineament domain analysis was performed in a multiscale approach: from 90 meters to 5 meters of pixel size, including 30 m and 10 m. This multiscale analysis allowed the identification of a number of lineament clusters related to the different tectonic phases which affected the PNB area. The found lineament distribution (in terms of azimuth and length) reflects the geodynamics effects on the surface, their clustering was related to the various crustal stress trajectories both at the regional and local scales.