The Tramutola area in the High Agri Valley represents a key for the Southern Apennines fold and thrust belt. There, natural oil seeps from small carbonate reservoirs located at shallow depths that have been historically known since the 19th century, and hypothermal water was discovered during hydrocarbon exploration. From a geological point of view, the study area, extending for about 11 km², is characterized with the presence of a complete section of the tectonic units of the southern Apennines and a complex structural framework that has not yet been fully clarified. In this work, geological analysis is based on new lithological and structural data, acquired during a detailed geological survey, compared with well logs obtained during exploration for hydrocarbons. Furthermore, a new geophysical investigation down to a 1 km depth (deep electrical resistivity tomography) allowed inference of buried structural and geological characteristics of the studied area. Through combining surface and subsurface data, some preliminary considerations about the structural setting and geofluid presence down to a 1 km depth have been made. Furthermore, geological–structural cross-sections have been constructed with the purpose of depicting the geometries of structures affecting the Apennine nappe pile in the subsurface, possibly favoring early uprising of hydrocarbons as well as circulation of hypothermal fluids and associated gases rising from deeper reservoirs.

Fluvial terraces represent important geomorphological archives for reconstructing the effects of climatic fluctuations, tectonic activity, and base-level changes during Quaternary times. This study investigates the geomorphological and stratigraphic evolution of the Bradano, Basento, and Salandrella River systems within the Bradanic Foredeep of southern Italy, by means of field observations, geomorphological mapping, aerial-photo interpretation, and GIS analyses. Four relative morphostratigrafic orders of Pleistocene fluvial terraces (T₁–T₄) have been identified and correlated across the three drainage basins. No absolute ages are available for these surfaces. The terraced deposits consist of alternating sandy and conglomeratic bodies recording multiple episodes of incision and/or aggradation overlaying erosional surfaces developed on Pre-Quaternary bedrock. Morphometric analyses revealed significant differences in terrace elevation and relative height above the modern channels, among the three investigated basins. The Salandrella basin preserves some of the highest terraced remnants, a pattern compatible with a possible tectonic contribution related to its proximity to the Apennine mountain front. Conversely, the Basento and Bradano basins evidenced a greater influence of lithological conditions, sediment supply, and climate-controlled variations in fluvial dynamics. The results indicate that the evolution of the staircase fluvial terraces reflects the combined influence of glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations, Quaternary climatic oscillations, local geological controls, and a possible contribution from regional tectonic deformation. The regional correlation of terraced surfaces highlights the role of the external forcing in shaping landscape evolution, while local differences emphasize the importance of catchment-scale controls within the Bradanic Foredeep.

The area of the High Agri Valley, located in the central part of the Southern Apennines, has been extensively studied in the past, due to the presence of important economic resources and active faults. In particular, attention was focused on the large-scale faults, affecting the allochthonous tectonic units the area, with a direction nearly parallel to the chain axis. Based on that, the previous authors identified two different fault systems located on the opposite sides of the valley. Less attention, however, has been paid to the transversely oriented faults that make up Transverse Tectonic Lines (TTL). The Agri valley is one of the NW-SE elongated basin formed during the extensional phase that, starting from lower Pliocene, affected the Southern Apennines. In the area important structures recorded the brittle and ductile deformation that involves all the tectonic units that make up the Southern Apennines thrust and fold belt. This latter results from the tectonic collision between the African and European plates in the present-day Mediterranean area. These allowed the allochthonous wedge to migrate with NE vergence on the autochthonous Apulian carbonates.The TTL in the eastern part of the High Agri Valley appear to have similar lengths (segments rarely reach 8 km in length) and are characterized by a NE-SW orientation, nearly parallel to the main thrust vergence direction. There are few transverse fault planes directly visible in the field and most of the faults have been deduced from the displacement of stratigraphic contacts as well as from the observation of satellite images. The maximum vertical displacements in the central part of the major fault segments exceed 1500 m, thus allowing us to consider these structures of considerable importance on the scale of the Southern Apennines.The throw profiles derive from the analysis of cut-off lines of formational tops displaced from selected faults obtained from a static 3D model. This allows us to hypothesize its growth pattern and kinematics. Most of the throw profiles of LLTs have a characteristic bell-shaped geometry with greater displacement in the central part that gradually decreases at the tips. Moreover, the observation of the hanging-wall and footwall curves of the cut-off lines of the formational tops allow to hypothesize the kinematics of the studied faults.The analysis of LTTs and throw profiles in fault developed within highly deformed allochthonous Units can be considered as a new approach that can be proposed for further studies in fold and thrust belts. The transverse faults could be interpreted as linkage structures between segments of faults parallel to the chain axis or be confined by the latter which inhibit their lateral propagation. This could also be important in relation to the seismicity of the Southern Apennines as well as in the compartmentalization of aquifers hosting important water resources in the study area.