Datasets for the Manuscript Reconciling fault slip-rates over multiple timescales: insights from the Northern Matese Fault System (Southern Italy)

This repository contains datasets in support of the manuscript: Reconciling fault slip-rates over multiple timescales: insights from the Northern Matese Fault System (Southern Italy). The datasets included are: Field structural measurements of fault planes, including longitude and latitude of outcrops, measured strike and dip of fault planes, and trend and plunge of slip vectors when available. Chemical analysis of the tephra sample collected in the paleoseismological trench (T10). Geodetic velocities measured for the devo geodetic benchmarks considered in this manuscript. Manuscript abstract: Fault slip-rates are key parameters for characterizing regional deformation patterns and assessing fault-based seismic hazard. However, slip-rates commonly vary across timescales and depend on the spatial resolution and temporal scale of the applied method. Reconciling these discrepancies is essential to understand how faults accommodate deformation through time. Here, we apply a multidisciplinary, multi-timescale approach to the Northern Matese Fault System (Southern Apennines, Italy) to quantify slip-rate variability and improve the reliability of slip-rate constraints. We combine geological mapping, postglacial fault scarp analysis, geophysical imaging, paleoseismological trenching and geodetic data to constrain fault throw-rates from geological to geodetic timescales. Our findings show that throw-rates are broadly consistent across these timescales, suggesting a persistent long-term fault activity. This consistency suggests that the Northern Matese Fault System accommodates deformation at a stable average rate over its lifetime. Our approach shows that integrating slip-rate estimates derived from different methods and timescales provides a more comprehensive framework for interpreting fault evolution. This approach also clarifies how multiscale slip-rate estimates can be reliably incorporated into fault-based seismic hazard assessment and used to interpret continental deformation and strain partitioning, particularly when activity rates are extrapolated beyond the spatial or temporal scales directly sampled.