An updated reconstruction of basaltic crust emplacement in Tyrrhenian sea, Italy.

Basaltic crust is present in the oceans and marginal seas. Oceanic accretion from inception to ending may be usefully recognized in small basin setting like the Tyrrhenian. Alternating episodes of strong and moderate extensional tectonics characterized the small Tyrrhenian opening. Hyperextension (drifting) of late-Miocene and latemost Pliocene age was followed by Pliocene and Late Quaternary moderate extension (rifting). Early hyperextension (~7.5-6.3 Ma) acted in the submerged margin of Hercynian Sardinia. Sardinia offshore, E-directed low-angle faults were accompanied by MORB-like volcanism of non linear shape in the shallow Vavilov plain - inherited segment of alpine-age orogen. Late hyperextension (~1.9-1.7 Ma) acted along the central N-S lineament of Vavilov plain, former metamorphic core complex. At the lineament northern side, E-dipping detachment faulting exposed serpentinized peridotite. At the other side, Vavilov volcano was faulted and its east flank tilted westwards. At the same time, volcanism with affinity to transitional MORB induced opening of Marsili basin. The drift episodes were characterized by absence or scarcity of volcanic activity on the conjugated emerged margins. The rift episodes (respectively ~5-1.9 Ma, and ~1/0.8 Ma-Recent) saw growth of major north-south trending volcanoes in bathyal area as intense volcanic activity developed on the continental margins.