Coeval rifting processes affecting both backarc, thrust belt and foreland occurred in offshore western Sicily (Central Mediterranean) as indicated by the analysis of a large seismic data set calibrated with well data, onshore data and dredges in a dedicated GIS software environment. Structural pattern of the investigated area, 3-D geological models and a Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene evolution of extensional sedimentary basins have been reconstructed. In detail, two zones characterized by basins with different directions of extension have been recognized: one trending NE-SW, located south of the Egadi Islands; another trending E-W, positioned north of the Egadi Islands. The first group of basins represents the continuation of those of the Africa foreland basin (Pelagian Block), as the second one characterizes the opening of the backarc (southern Tyrrhenian margin). Both basins affect the collisional chain (Maghrebian thrust belt). An eastward progression of extension, from lower Pliocene to lower Pleistocene, based on different onset of the basin fill, has been documented in the Southern Tyrrhenian margin. The study area represents the meeting place of backarc and foreland rifting that affected the late Miocene thrust belt. The recognized pattern of extensional deformation of the upper plate adds some constraint on the geodynamic evolution of the African and Eurasia plates and supports a model of westward dipping slab in the Central Mediterranean. It is hypothesized that the along-trench variation of the nature of the plates, due to paleo-margin configuration, has a profound impact on the upper crustal deformation during the convergence and thus the meeting place of backarc and foreland rifting could represent the surficial signature of the slab detachment since Pliocene times.

西西里西岸（地中海中部）发生了同时影响后弧，逆冲带和前陆的远古裂谷过程，这是通过在专用的GIS软件环境中对大量地震数据集（包括井数据，岸上数据和挖泥机）进行的分析得出的。重建了研究区的结构模式，3-D地质模型和伸展沉积盆地的上新世-下更新世演化。详细地，人们已经认识到以盆地具有不同延伸方向为特征的两个区域：一个趋势为NE-SW，位于埃加迪群岛以南；另一个为趋势性NE-SW。另一个趋势不断的电子战，位于埃加迪群岛以北。第一组盆地代表了非洲前陆盆地（Pelagian区块）的延续，第二个特征是后方弧（第勒尼安山脉南部）的开放。两个盆地都影响碰撞链（马格里布冲断带）。在第勒尼安南部的边缘地区，已经记录了根据盆地填充的不同开始，从下新世到下更新世的向东扩展。研究区域代表了影响晚中新世逆冲带的后弧和前陆裂谷的交汇处。公认的上板块伸展变形模式对非洲板块和欧亚板块的地球动力学演化增加了一定的限制，并支持了地中海中部向西倾斜板的模型。据推测，由于古边缘构造，板块性质沿沟槽变化，