Fractal properties of a Neogene fault system in north-western Sicily (Italy)

A Neogene transcurrent fault system aecting the Apenninic-Maghrebian thrust belt, located in northwestern Sicily, has been investigated using fractal analysis. The present-day structural setting of the sector between the Palermo and Madonie Mountains is the result of the superim- position, in space and time, of two distinct deformational events, a Miocene southeast-verging thrusting followed by Messinian to Pliocene strike-slip faulting, which cuts obliquely through the compressive fronts. The spatial distribution properties of the fault array were investigated by means of a fractal analysis. Fractal dimension was computed by adopting the correlation integral method. Fractal ranges have been evidenced between 350 and 3000 m. The fractal di- mension obtained for the whole array is D = 1:66. The scaling spatial distribution property of the fault array has been analyzed by calculating the fractal dimension with a moving window.