In regions characterized by high seismic hazard, historical masonry buildings are periodically shaked and damaged by strong earthquakes. Their conservation represents one of the major challenges for scientific research and society, especially when resilient heritages have high artistic and cultural values. After destructive instrumental and historical earthquakes, such historic constructions were subjected to restorations and changes of their original configuration.The evaluation of masonry mechanical for the analysis of static and dynamic behaviour of historic structures is conventionally done using invasive methods. However, also the application of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques (e.g. geomatic and geophysical ones) is progressively growing, to reduce the amount of invasive interventions. GPR is one of the non-invasive techniques providing high-resolution images, also used for masonry wall diagnostics.We carried out a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey at the Castellina Museum in Norcia, an historical bounding located in the city centre, damaged by the long-lasting seismic sequence occurred in 2016-2017 (mainshock Mw=6.5). We aimed to obtain non-destructive information on the internal structure of a masonry wall located at the ground floor, being the facade of a formerly existing (later incorporated) edifice, named Palazzo del Podestà. Based on the results of preliminary Sonic tests (ST) surveys, investigating the homogeneity degree of the masonry, possible voids, cracks and degraded areas, we collected several Common Offset GPR profiles, using 1 GHz and 1.5 GHz antennas. The results clearly show the backside of the walls, as well as their heterogenous internal structure. GPR mapping also show a very variable signature across different wall sectors, showing a significant amplitude decay of the main reflections due to an increase of the electrical conductivity, possibly linked to moisture changes or degraded sectors. Further geophysical investigations and chemical analysis will be achieved to shed light on these hypotheses and to assess the state of conservation of the masonry, for a proper design of subsequent remediation interventions.This project is founded by the Università degli Studi di Perugia (Finanziamento di Progetti di Ricerca di Ateneo Anno 2021, P.I. Prof.ssa Carla Falluomini, WP 2-4). The authors thanks the Municipality of Norcia for their kind support and collaboration).

This research combines non-invasive technologies with engineering analysis to assess the internal structure and elasticity of historical masonry walls of the Castellina Museum in Norcia (Italy), recently damaged by 2016 earthquake. The study focuses on using sonic tests (ST) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) to investigate the texture and uniformity of the masonry, aiming to identify cracks, voids, and damaged zones. ST uses elastic waves propagation measuring speed through the wall at various points, thus deriving a map of the mechanical properties’ variation. GPR uses electromagnetic waves reflections to image the internal structure of the wall and detect anomalies. The results of this integrated approach allowed to examine the degradation of the masonry analysed.

We present a Probabilistic Fault Displacement Hazard Analysis (PFDHA) for a strategic dam located in the Upper Tiber Valley (Northern Apennines of Italy) claimed to be sited on a supposed capable fault (Montedoglio fault). We verify the seismic capability of the Montedoglio fault through detailed geological and geophysical analyses. We find no evidence for considering the Montedoglio fault as an active and capable structure, the fault being constituted by a system of discontinuous parallel faults, apparently inactive since more than 56 +/- 3 ka, and likely unable to nucleate strong surface rupturing earthquakes. Since the dam lies on the hanging wall of the closest major active fault of the area (Anghiari normal fault, similar to 1.5 km away), we investigate the likelihood of having distributed faulting at the dam's site in case of a strong surface-rupturing earthquake occurring on the Anghiari fault. We apply a probabilistic approach to obtain hazard curves of exceedance of vertical displacement at the dam's site for different rupture scenarios. We show that the mean hazard curve is always below an annual frequency of exceedance of 1 x 10(-5), corresponding to displacement values below 1 cm over 100,000 years of return period. The study highlights several weaknesses and uncertainties in using PFDHA with state-of-the-art models, suggesting the need for improvements to enhance their applicability in earthquake engineering geology practice.

In March 2021, a compressional earthquake sequence (mainshock Mw 5.2) occurred in the Central Adriatic Sea, offshore Croatia. The struck area is characterized by a complex tectonic settings due to due interaction between tectonic and halokinetic structures. Former studies in this region, mostly based on geophysical and seismological data, do not provide a comprehensive description of the geological complexities of the area, caused by the presence of different types of active structures. Following the interpretation and depth conversion of a set of seismic reflection profiles, we present a kinematic restoration to obtain the shortening rates for the last 6 Myr. We highlight the presence of three main types of active structures: i) shallow thrusts and related folds deforming the seafloor, ii) deep thrusts promoting large-scale deformation, iii) halokinetic structures deforming, at least, the Messinian. We highlight how the structural setting of the area is more complex than previously interpreted, with a possible decoupling of shallow and deep structures and an interaction between tectonic and halokinetic structures. This work opens new perspectives about the role of halokinetic processes in active seismogenic areas.

A multidisciplinary approach including archaeological, geophysical, and geological/geomorphological surveys provided pieces of evidence that allowed us to identify the Sibari fault zone (SFZ) in Northern Calabria (Italy). The SFZ runs in a - NE -SW direction for a length of -18 km from the Ionian coastline to Terranova da Sibari and has an oblique normal -dextral kinematics. The envelope of the SFZ is derived from several direct and indirect evidence resulting in subparallel and locally en -echelon fault traces over a maximum 500 m -wide band, running at different elevations across hills and flat lands. The SFZ was active since at least the Middle -Upper Pleistocene, producing faulting of alluvial deposits, marine terraces, drainage incisions, and the archaeological structures of Sybaris. Given the fault length and assuming a seismogenic behavior, the SFZ is a primary earthquake source possibly producing moderate to large earthquakes (M >= 6). We calculated the average slip rates along the SFZ based on the ages and on the accumulated displacements of offset streams and marine terraces. The estimates are of 0.05-0.18 mm/yr and 0.41-0.70 mm/yr for vertical and dextral slip, respectively. Based on both the measured (min. 30 cm) and the expected value (av. 40 cm) of lateral slip per event, we infer an average recurrence for surface faulting events on the SFZ of about 700-1000 yrs. The most recent surface faulting earthquake occurred on the fault is dated 1300-1100 yrs. ago, highlighting that the elapsed time approaches the estimated average recurrence. Considering these findings, the newly recognized SFZ should be included among the faults that contain a potential seismic hazard in this poorly known portion of the Ionian sector of northern Calabria.

This study is aimed to define a velocity and density database for the main litho-structural units of the Val d’Agri area of the Southern Apennines (Italy). Here we analyze fifteen digital borehole data comprising sonic log, check shot and density log data with dedicated graphic and statistical tools. We compare velocities acquired with two techniques: check-shots and sonic logging, discussing factors influencing them and their variations with a depth trend. In general, we observe that the comparison between the check shots and the sonic logs velocities gives consistent results. The detailed analysis of well logs and velocity distribution histograms, allow us to distinguish the following eight litho-structural units and their representative velocities and densities: Liguride tertiary flysches; Apennine Carbonate Platform, Lagonegro - Clastics, Lagonegro -Carbonates; Irpinia 1; Irpinia 2 and 3; Volturino foredeep turbidites; Apulian Carbonate Platform. The density values were calculated through the velocity density relationship using the Gardner equation, and subsequently compared with the measured density values. The comparison shows good correlations with the adopted Gardner coefficient of a = 0.30 and an exponent m = 0.25 for carbonatic succession, while a Gardner coefficient of a = 0.25 and an exponent m = 0.28 for clastic lithologies.The obtained results represent a key input for the future velocity and gravity modellings and for the time to-depth conversion of seismic reflection profiles, describing the vertical and lateral lithological heterogeneities between carbonate platforms, deep-sea basinal units and clastic/turbidite successions in the complex tectonic settings of the Southern Apennines.The approach applied in this work, based on a shared analytical and graphical analysis of borehole data, can be readily extended to other case studies worldwide, being the analyzed formations lithologically comparable to many other fold-and-thrust belt rocks.

Starting from observed variations of the length of day in the past 2.5 billion years, we calculate the corresponding gravity variation and evaluate the possible effects that such variation would have induced on the lithosphere and on mantle convection. The lithospheric stress induced by the observed gravity increase at the equator in 500 Ma is of the same order as the one associated with a convective cell. We model a gravity increase that would result in 1.3 × 10−2 µGal or 1.3 × 10−10 m s−2 over 10 years, a value that is not far from the detection thresholds of modern gravimeters. Gravity increase also affects mantle dynamics by improving convection efficiency. Our models demonstrate that gravity variations contribute to this phenomenon through faster and wider mixing. The results support a view where a convective system being subject to gravity changes responds through non-linear adjustments of its effective mixing at all scales. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how gravitational fluctuations may shape the behavior of Earth’s dynamic systems over geological timescales.

Mercury’s peculiar orbit around the Sun (3:2 spin–orbit resonance) and lack of atmosphere result in one the widest temperature ranges experienced at the surface of a planetary body in the solar system. Temperature variations affect the physical and, therefore, spectral properties of minerals to varying degrees; thus, it is crucial to study them in the context of the upcoming arrival of the BepiColombo spacecraft in Mercury orbit in the fall of 2025. In this work, we heated and cooled analog materials (plagioclase and volcanic glasses) at temperatures representative of the hermean surface. With our experimental setup, we could measure near-infrared (1.0–3.5 μm) and thermal infrared (2.0–14.3 μm) reflectance spectra of our analogs at various temperatures during a heating (25–400 ∘C) or cooling cycle (−125–25 ∘C), allowing us to follow the evolution of the spectral properties of minerals. We also collected reflectance spectra in the visible domain (0.47–14.3 μm) before and after heating. In the visible spectra, we identified irreversible changes in the spectral slope (reddening) and the reflectance (darkening or brightening) that are possibly associated with oxidation, whereas the temperature had reversible effects (e.g., band shifts of from ten to a hundred nanometers towards greater wavelengths) on the infrared spectral features of our samples. These reversible changes are likely caused by the crystal lattice dilatation during heating. Finally, we took advantage of the water and ice present on/in our samples to study the different components of the absorption band at 3.0 μm when varying temperatures, which may be useful as a complement to future observations of the north pole of Mercury. The wavelength ranges covered by our measurements are of interest for the SIMBIO-SYS and MERTIS instruments, which will map the mineralogy of Mercury’s surface from spring 2026, and for which we selected useful spectral parameters that are proxies of surface temperature variations.

Fault displacement can be a source of hazard for critical infrastructures located in the nearby of a capable fault. This issue is usually addressed with zonation and avoidance strategies, but sometime the facilities have not this option. An alternative approach to assess likelihood of exceeding a certain level of displacement for pre-existing infrastructures is the Probabilistic Fault Displacement Hazard Analysis. Different empirical approaches have been proposed since the early 2000s to assess the probability of occurrence and the probability of exceedance of certain values of displacement, for both Primary and Distributed faulting, starting from the fault parameters. We propose the methodological approach used to gain the needed parameters and the results of the PFDHA applied to the Anghiari Fault, a poorly constrained NE-dipping segmented normal fault located in the Upper Tiber Valley (Italy) and belonging to the well-known Altotiberina low-angle normal fault system.In order to constrain the fault geometry and to select sites suitable for paleoseismologic trenching we performed geological survey, morphotectonic analysis and geophysical investigations. To assess the capability of the fault and its rate of activity we carried out a paleoseimic campaign, investigating several segments of the Anghiari fault. To obtain a multiscale evaluation of the fault slip rate, we collected samples to date paleosurfaces displaced by the fault with the cosmogenic nuclides methodology. At the end we performed the PFDHA obtaining curves and maps of hazard for both primary and distributed faulting, managing the uncertainties through various rupture scenario involving different fault segment.

The NE‐dipping Anghiari normal fault, bounding to the west the Sansepolcro basin in the Upper Tiber Valley (northern Apennines), is thought to be a synthetic splay of the Altotiberina low‐angle normal fault (LANF), an active ENE‐dipping extensional detachment whose seismogenic behavior is debated. In order to assess the Anghiari fault capability to break the surface during strong earthquakes and be the source of historical earthquakes, we acquired high resolution topographic data, performed field survey and geophysical investigations (Seismic reflection, Ground Penetrating Radar, Electrical Resistivity Tomography) and dug three paleoseismological trenches across different fault sections of the Anghiari fault. The acquired data reveal for the first time the Late Pleistocene to historical activity of the Anghiari fault, constraining the age of seven paleo‐earthquakes over the last 25 ka, the youngest of which is comparable with one of the poorly constrained historical earthquakes of the Sansepolcro basin. The yielded slip rate is >0.2 mm/yr averaged over the last 25 ka and the recurrence interval is about 2,500–3,200 years. An analysis of the anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility performed in one of the paleoseismological trenches revealed an extensional stress field, continuously acting during the sedimentation of the entire trenched stratigraphy. Our results confirm the ability of the Anghiari fault to generate surface faulting earthquakes. In addition, if the Anghiari fault does sole at depth into the Altotiberina low‐angle normal fault, this LANF could also be seismogenic and generate M > 6.

This study provides a lithospheric-scale model along the Ionian Subduction zone in Southern Italy, contributing to the seismotectonic investigation of a region which is affected by relevant historical seismicity. The study employs gravity forward modelling to build the geo-structural model along a composite, NW-SE trending transect extending from the Ionian to the Tyrrhenian Sea, including the Aeolian arc and the Calabro-Peloritan onshore. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we propose new interpretations of three 2D deep-seismic reflection profiles across the study area. Such interpretative profiles are used as constraints to model the observed Bouguer gravity anomalies providing upper and lower crust geometries. Whilst a tomographic model provides constraints for the lithospheric and asthenospheric modelling. The entire workflow is constrained by literature data about Moho geometry, deep seismicity and tomographic images that are integrated to determine the subducting slab geometry. The proposed model of the entire subducting system reasonably fits the observed gravity field and is coherent with the first-order geological and geophysical constraints. The modelling results in updated Tyrrhenian and Ionian Moho depth, subducting slab geometry and location, and densities of the main units, providing valuable input about the composition and geometry of the Calabrian arc structures.

Since 1963, the International Heat Flow Commission has been fostering the compilation of the Global Heat Flow Database to provide reliable heat-flow data. Over time, techniques and methodologies evolved, calling for a reorganization of the database structure and for a reassessment of stored heat-flow data. Here, we provide the results of a collaborative, community-driven approach to set-up a new, quality-approved global heat-flow database. We present background information on how heat-flow is determined and how this important thermal parameter could be systematically evaluated. The latter requires appropriate documentation of metadata to allow the application of a consistent evaluation scheme. The knowledge of basic data (name and coordinates of the site, depth range of temperature measurements, etc.), details on temperature and thermal-conductivity data and possible perturbing effects need to be given. The proposed heat-flow quality evaluation scheme can discriminate between different quality aspects affecting heat flow: numerical uncertainties, methodological uncertainties, and environmental effects. The resulting quality codes allow the evaluation of every stored heat-flow data entry. If mandatory basic data are missing, the entry is marked accordingly. In cases where more than one heat-flow determination is presented for one specific site, and all of them are considered for the site, the poorest evaluation score is inherited to the site level. The required data and the proposed scheme are presented in this paper. Due to the requirements of the newly developed evaluation scheme, the database structure as presented in 2021 has been updated and is available in the appendix of this paper. The new quality scheme will allow a comprehensible evaluation of the stored heat-flow data for the first time.

Supported by evidence of deep crustal sources for the observed magnetic anomalies in Central Italy and by outcropping gabbros in the Croatian archipelago, we model the observed gravity and magnetic anomalies in the Central Adriatic Sea and surroundings. We suggest that the major magnetic anomalies in the area are related to a wide underplating and propose that this volume represents the first stage of the back-arc Adria continental breakup in Early Permian times. During the Palaeotethys-Adria collision, underplating has controlled topography and palaeogeographic domains resulting in the observed asymmetrical sedimentary evolution since the Triassic across the Adria microplate. Finally, we propose that the Palaeotethys-Adria boundary in the Early Permian was similar to the current Pacific-Okhotsk plate boundary.

The Italian Apennines is a slowly deforming area, despite not properly being an intraplate region. This is particularly true for the Northern Apennines, where<= 2mm/yr of extension is accommodated by low-slip rate normal faults, often organized in parallel systems partitioning the regional deformation. As a result, large earthquakes on individual faults are separated by long (>~1ka) recurrence intervals. This makes earthquake geology a fundamental tool for characterizing the seismic hazard. The Anghiari fault is a 11 km-long segmented NE-dipping normal fault bounding the western side of the Upper Tiber Valley (Northern Apennines, Italy), and belonging to the well-known Altotiberina low-angle normal fault system. Here, we provide unprecedented evidence of the Holocene activity of the Anghiari fault through geological, geophysical and palaeoseismological investigations. The fault is composed of at least two nearly parallel splays. One splay runs at the base of the Pleistocene Anghiari ridge, downfaulting the late Quaternary alluvial deposits of the Tiber Valley against Middle Pleistocene continental deposits. The other splay is located within the Middle Pleistocene units of the Anghiari ridge. We focus on the latter. Detailed geomorphological analysis, geological mapping and near-surface geophysics, enabled us to select two sites for palaeoseismological trenching. Radiocarbon dating of faulted sediments provides constraints for late Holocene and historical surface faulting events significantly contributing to the estimation of the seismic hazard in the region.

The highest part of the Nera River basin (Central Italy) hosts significant water resources for drinking, hydroelectric, and aquaculture purposes. The river is fed by fractured large carbonate aquifers interconnected by Jurassic and Quaternary normal faults in an area characterized by high seismicity. The 30 October 2016, seismic sequence in Central Italy produced an abrupt increase in river discharge, which lasted for several months. The analysis of the recession curves well documented the processes occurring within the basal aquifer feeding the Nera River. In detail, a straight line has described the river discharge during the two years after the 2016 seismic sequence, indicating that a turbulent flow characterized the emptying process of the hydrogeological system. A permeability enhancement of the aquifer feeding the Nera River-due to cleaning of fractures and the co-seismic fracturing in the recharge area-coupled with an increase in groundwater flow velocity can explain this process. The most recent recession curves (2019 and 2020 periods) fit very well with the pre-seismic ones, indicating that after two years from the mainshock, the recession process recovered to the same pre-earthquake conditions (laminar flow). This behavior makes the hydrogeological system less vulnerable to prolonged droughts, the frequency and length of which are increasingly affecting the Apennine area of Central Italy.

Fault displacement is a localized source of hazard for infrastructure located near active and capable faults, such as critical buildings and distributed facilities. This issue can be overcome through zoning and avoidance strategies, but facilities may sometimes not benefit from this option. In the last 20 years, several authors have developed a probabilistic approach to analyse this hazard, known as probabilistic fault displacement hazard analysis (PFDHA), for both principal fault and distributed rupturing. In this work, we apply the approach proposed by Youngs et alii (2003) to the Anghiari-Citta di Castello fault, a NE-dipping normal fault located in the northern Apennines of Italy, which shows evidence of Quaternary activity. We explore two different rupturing scenarios to obtain displacement hazard curves and maps for different probabilities of exceedance in 200 years at different distances along and from the principal fault trace for both the principal and distributed rupturing. The expected displacement values for the principal fault rupturing are up to 130 cm for a return period of 10,000 years (2% in 200 years), and the distributed rupturing hazard is 3-4% of the principal fault rupturing hazard. It is null in the footwall of the fault and slightly variable in its hanging wall as a function of distance from the fault trace and fault tip. The variability of the distributed rupturing hazard within the first hundreds of metres from the principal fault can assist to define mitigation strategies for existing facilities located in proximity of the fault.

In the present study, we perform a gravity modelling at crustal scale along the trace of the CROP-04 (on-shore) and M-6B (off-shore) deep seismic reflection profiles, crossing the Southern Apennines and the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). Along the 321 km-long modelled profile, we investigate the crustal-scale sources for the observed gravity anomalies through a simplified model of the crust and upper mantle across both onshore and offshore areas. After a compelling review of the published Moho geometries in the area, that were retrieved from either active or passive seismic methods, we test them in the observed gravity field through forward modelling of the Bouguer gravity anomalies. The comparison between the different Moho interpretations highlights the major contributors to the observed Bouguer gravity at the crustal scale, defining a set of starting values of these parameters for our final model. The proposed model locates the westward flexure of the Adriatic Moho, mimicking the subduction of the Adriatic lithosphere beneath the Peri-Tyrrhenian block and locates the step between the western (Tyrrhenian) and the eastern (Adriatic) Moho beneath the Apennines range providing a valuable geometrical and compositional model at the crustal scale. The model depicts a typical oceanic-to-continental crust transition in the Tyrrhenian domain and represents a solid starting base for further detailed modelling across the area.

The application of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) prospecting to the search of fossil structures, particularly using advanced techniques like Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modelling and GPR attribute analysis, is currently poorly exploited in paleontology. Here, we promote the use of such a GPR workflow at Bargiano (Umbria, central Italy), a unique paleontological site known for the discovery of cetacean skeletons, dolomitized sperm-whale cololites (Ambergrisichnu salleronae), and layered fossil assemblages. The study site is characterized by a very uneven topography shaping highly conductive clayey deposits, representing not exactly ideal conditions for GPR surveying. After generating models encompassing a real topography and variable electrical properties of media, we simulated buried fossil structures at variable depth with different size and geometry, using different operative frequencies. After obtaining information on the characteristics of reflections, investigation depth, and detectability, we provide a comparison with experimental data, also used to compute instantaneous amplitude and phase attributes. Upon depicting a peculiar GPR signature for our targets, we discuss the results in light of ground-truthing performed through trenching. Our workflow allowed us to restrict the excavation areas, extending the surface information in depth in a non-invasive way, and optimizing the field operations, necessary for the preservation of the study site.

With the aim of unveiling evidence of Late Quaternary faulting, a series of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles were acquired across the southern portion of the Fosso della Valle–Campotenese normal fault (VCT), located at the Campotenese continental basin (Mt. Pollino region) in the southern Apennines active extensional belt (Italy). A set of 49 GPR profiles, traced nearly perpendicular to this normal fault, was acquired using 300 and 500 MHz antennas and carefully processed through a customized workflow. The data interpretation allowed us to reconstruct a pseudo-3D model depicting the boundary between the Mesozoic bedrock and the sedimentary fill of the basin, which were in close proximity to the fault. Once the GPR signature of faulting was reviewed and defined, we interpret near-surface alluvial and colluvial sediments dislocated by a set of conjugate (W- and E-dipping) discontinuities that penetrate inside the underlying Triassic dolostones. Close to the contact between the continental deposits and the bedrock, some buried scarps which offset wedge-shaped deposits are interpreted as coseismic ruptures, subsequently sealed by later deposits. Our pseudo-3D GPR dataset represented a good trade-off between a dense 3D-GPR volume and conventional 2D data, which normally requires a higher degree of subjectivity during the interpretation. We have thus reconstructed a reliable subsurface fault pattern, discriminating master faults and a series of secondary splays. This contribution better characterizes active Quaternary faults in an area which falls within the Pollino seismic gap and is considered prone to severe surface faulting. Our results encourage further research at the study site, whilst we also recommend our workflow for similar regions characterized by high seismic hazard and scarcity of near-surface geophysical data.

Abstract In the present study, starting from original measurement stations, we created the Bouguer anomaly map of Southern Italy with a reduction density of 2670 kg m-3. We perform a regional gravity modelling at crustal scale along the trace of the CROP-04 (on-shore) and MB6 (off-shore) deep seismic reflection profiles crossing the Southern Apennines and the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Along the 320 km-long modelled profile, we investigate crustal-scale sources for the observed gravity anomalies. After a compelling review of the published Moho geometries in the area, that were retrieved from either active or passive seismic methods, we test them in the observed gravity field through forward modeling of the Bouguer gravity anomalies. The comparison between the different Moho interpretations shows that the steepness of the subducting slab, the position of the step between the western (Tyrrhenian) and the eastern (Adriatic) Moho and Moho depth represent the main features influencing the observed Bouguer anomalies at crustal scale. Finally, we provide a best-fitting model across both onshore and offshore areas. In the proposed best-fitting model, the wide wavelength and strong regional Bouguer anomalies correlate with the geometry of the Moho discontinuity and deep tectonic structures. On the other hand, the small-amplitude oscillations of the gravity anomalies were attributed to the low-density values of the Pliocene-Quaternary deposits both on- (e.g. the Bradanic trough) and off-shore (e.g. recent deposits in the Tyrrhenian sea bottom). Gravity minima correspond to the crustal doubling underneath the Southern Apennines where the Tyrrhenian Moho (~27 km depth) overlies the deeper Adriatic Moho (~50 km depth). The positive trend of the observed anomaly toward NE is related to the shallowing of the Adriatic Moho to depths of ~28 km in the Adriatic. Similarly, towards SW, the observed anomaly follows a positive trend towards the maxima located in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea. We model this trend as representative of crustal thinning and shallowing to values of ~12 km depth of the Tyrrhenian Moho. We also model a crustal transition from geometries and density values typical of a continental crust in the Adriatic domain towards a more oceanic structure and composition in the Tyrrhenian domain. This crustal model locates the westward flexure of the Adriatic Moho, mimicking the subduction of the Adriatic lithosphere beneath the Peri-Tyrrhenian block and locates step between the western (Tyrrhenian) and the eastern (Adriatic) Moho beneath the Apennines range. The resulted gravity forward model provide contributions to the tectonic settings understanding of the area by providing a robust crustal model ranging from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Apulian foreland. Finally, we believe that the proposed model can serve as a starting point for future studies investigating the upper crustal geometries in the area and addressing open questions about its relations with seismicity distribution.