OSL chronology of Quaternary terraced deposits outcropping between Mt. Etna volcano and the Catania Plain (Sicily, southern Italy) Gloria M. Ristuccia a,b,⇑ , Agata Di Stefano a , Anna M. Gueli b , Carmelo Monaco a , Giuseppe Stella b,c , Sebastiano O. Troja b a Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, sezione di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Catania, Corso Italia 57, 95129 Catania, Italy b PH3DRA Laboratories, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Catania & INFN Sezione di Catania, via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy c Departamento de Ciências da Terra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal article info Article history: Available online 26 March 2013 Keywords: Eastern Sicily Luminescence dating Single grain Tectonics Pleistocene terraces Uplift rate abstract In this paper we tested the applicability of the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) technique through Single-Aliquot Regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol, on single grain quartz extracted from alluvial–coastal sediments. Five samples were collected from deposits belonging to a flight of seven orders of coastal–alluvial terraces outcropping in the area between Mt. Etna volcano and the Catania Plain (Sicily, southern Italy), at the front of the Sicilian fold and thrust system. After various performance tests, we obtained OSL ages ranging between 240 ± 12 and 80 ± 4 ka, consistent with the normal evolutionary model of a terraced sequence, moving from the highest to the lowest elevation. Obtained data allowed us to determine a mean uplift rate of 1.2 mm/year during the last 240 ka, mostly related to regional uplift processes coupled with sea-level changes. Moreover, terraces belonging to the two highest orders are folded, forming a large anticline. According to our results, the frontal thrust of the Sicilian chain was active between 236 and 197 ka ago, even though seismological and geodetic data suggest current activity to the back. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Quaternary marine terraces are generally the result of the inter- action between tectonic uplift and cyclic sea-level changes (Lajoie, 1986; Carobene and Dai Pra, 1991; Westaway, 1993; Catalano and Cinque, 1995; Armijo et al., 1996; Bosi et al., 1996; Bianca et al., 1999). Eustatic sea-level changes have acquired more relevance after the so-called ‘‘Middle Pleistocene Transition’’, which marks the passage to lower-frequency higher-amplitude fluctuations, if compared to the Pliocene–Early Pleistocene ones. The Oxygen Iso- tope Time-scale is a good approximation of the eustatic fluctua- tions through time, expressed by the global eustatic curve. This latter (e.g. Waelbroeck et al., 2002 and references therein) shows a cyclic trend characterized by peaks corresponding to distinct marine stands, represented by the Marine Isotope Stages (MISs). Generally, it is widely assumed that the inner edges of the terraced surfaces represent ancient palaeoshorelines that have recorded eustatic high-stands during cycles of sea-level changes (Bloom et al., 1974; Lajoie, 1986; Bosi et al., 1996; Caputo, 2007). These important morphological features are presently exposed in regions affected by significant and continuous tectonic uplift of the coastal areas. Geometry and distribution of terraces, in relation to the age of their formation, provide useful information concerning regional and local tectonic processes coupled with sea-level changes. The Ionian coastal sector of central-eastern Sicily (southern Italy) is affected by tectonic uplift, with long-term rates in the or- der of 0.5–1.0 mm/year (Bianca et al., 1999; Di Stefano and Branca, 2002; Monaco et al., 2002), due to its peculiar geodynamic setting. In this area, distinct orders of fluvial–coastal terraces have been surveyed at elevations ranging from 330 to 25 m above sea level (a.s.l.) (Monaco, 1997; Monaco et al., 2002; Catalano et al., 2004). Moreover, Monaco (1997) and Monaco et al. (2002) attempted an indirect dating of distinct terraces through the chronological iden- tification of volcanic clasts included in conglomeratic levels. The authors related their petrologic features to specific volcanic stages, whose age was previously obtained by Gillot et al. (1994) by using potassium–argon dating method. In this paper, the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) technique (Aitken, 1998) is applied in order to more precisely reconstruct the chronology of Quaternary terraced deposits out- cropping between Mt. Etna volcano and the Catania Plain. More- over, Single-Aliquot Regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol (Murray and Wintle, 2003) on single grain quartz extracted from the 1474-7065/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2013.03.002 ⇑ Corresponding author at: Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, sezione di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Catania, Corso Italia 57, 95129 Catania, Italy. Tel.: +39 0957195708. E-mail address: gloria.ristuccia@ct.infn.it (G.M. Ristuccia). Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 63 (2013) 36–46 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Physics and Chemistry of the Earth journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pce