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Abstract

In clayey-sandy regions, deformed geomorphological features, such as river channels and terraces, may represent valuable indicators of ongo-ing tectonic activity. In this perspective, geomorphometric indexes have been developed, among which the SL and ksn indexes seem to be the most efficient to detect tectonically-induced stream anomalies. In the present study, we used these indexes to investigate the possible activity of the east-ernmost fold-and-thrust system of the Apennine orogen, mostly buried under a thick sequence of post- orogenic, clayey-sandy marine deposits, in a sector of Abruzzi located between the Maiella piedmont and the Adri-atic coast. Whereas most authors consider these structures tectonically inactive, several others argue that they still undergo compression. In par-ticular, we used the SL and ksn indexes to identify surface deformations possibly induced by the ongoing activity of the buried structures. More-over, based on geological-geomorphological field survey, supported by remote sensing and spatial data handling (TINITALY Digital Elevation Model, and the MATLAB® and QGis software products), we surveyed the tread profiles of river terraces in selected valley sectors. The inves-tigation results agree in confirming the ongoing activity of the buried structures as well as the noteworthy effectiveness of the methods applied.