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The Po Valley (Northern Italy) is a composite foreland–foredeep basin caught in between the Southern Alps and Northern Apennine mountain belts. By integrating the 3D structural model of the region with the public earthquake dataset, the seismo-tectonics of the basin is shown at different scales of observation. The three-dimensional geo-volume is used to review the seismicity around the region and validate the structure–earthquake association for such a complex tectonic framework. Despite the overall uncertainty due to the original data distribution-quality as well as the crustal scale model dimension, the direct correlation between structures and seismicity a) confirms the Po Valley region as an active tectonic system and b) allows the whole structural architecture to be revised by a unique three-dimensional perspective and approach. This study also indicates that 3D methodology is a powerful tool for better understanding of highly complex seismo-tectonic situations at both regional and local scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A 3D structural model of the Po Valley basin (Northern Italy) was built by integrating the dataset available from the public domain (DEM, wells, isobath-maps, cross-sections, outcrop-trends). The model shows the complex foredeep-foreland architecture across the basin, from the Moho level to the topography while illustrating the top Basement, top Triassic, top Mesozoic and base-Pliocene surface-grid structures. The results, by model slicing and isopach-map reconstruction, suggest that the deep Moho architecture and the original tectonics of the ancient Adria-Po Valley passive continental margin are key factors in controlling the current structures type, orientation and distribution, at any of the shallowest levels across the basin. In particular, the analysis of the final 3D Mesozoic geometries against the pre and post-Alpine trends confirms the structural interference between the mutually perpendicular Triassic–Jurassic extensional structures and the Tertiary compressional ones, this being evident from the regional to the oil-field scale. Despite the model uncertainty, mainly related to its dimension versus the original non-homogeneous dataset quality and distribution, the final geo-volume offers, for the first time in the region, a continuous three-dimensional visualization of the Po Valley tectonic architecture. It provides, simultaneously, a powerful tool for the reviewing of the basin structures and the potential support to future applications for both industry and academia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]