• accretionary wedges
• analogue modeling
• Northern Apennine

This graduate thesis will show the results of an experimental study concerning analogue modelling of accretionary wedges. A set of analogue experiments were performed in the laboratory Géosciences Montpellier under the supervision of prof. Jacques Malavieille.

This research project is divided into two phases: in the first phase, a new experimental device and a new erosion procedure were tested; in the second phase, the case study of the Northern Apennine have been investigated with an experimental approach.

The new experimental device is similar to the classic sandbox of Malavieille [1984] but some new features have been introduced:
* the sandbox is longer, allowing more shortening;
* the geometry of the base plate is more realistic, featuring a subduction plane.

Erosion was performed proportionally to the surface rise: the areas of the prism where the relief grows faster are submitted to a more intense erosion. This simple methodology allows not to impose a slope angle to the erosion surface.

Experiments performed in the first phase are compared to older analogical and numerical studies already published in literature, in order to better outline the effects of the new experimental device.

Experiments performed in the second phase are compared to the Northern Apennine, on a transect through the Apuan Alps. The initial setup of those experiments features a discontinuous microbeads layer as the structural heritage of the subducting plate. The kinematics of the models is influenced by this discontinuous décollement,providing complex geometries and exhumation patterns.