著者
磯崎 行雄 丸山 茂徳 中間 隆晃 山本 伸次 柳井 修一
出版者
公益社団法人 東京地学協会
雑誌
地学雑誌 (ISSN:0022135X)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.120, no.1, pp.65-99, 2011-02-25 (Released:2011-05-20)
参考文献数
80
被引用文献数
32 47

The ca. 700 million year-long geotectonic history of the Japanese Islands comprises three distinct intervals; i.e., (1) the age of a passive continental margin off the South China continental margin (ca. 700-520 Ma), (2) the age of an active margin characterized by an arc-trench system (ca. 520-20 Ma), and (3) the age of an island arc off East Asia (20 Ma to the present). These three intervals are chronologically separated by two major boundaries with significant tectonic episodes; i.e., the ca. 520 Ma tectonic inversion from a passive to an active margin by the initiation of subduction from the Pacific side, and the ca. 20 Ma tectonic isolation of the modern island arc system from the Asian margin by the back-arc basin (Japan Sea) opening. Here, the evolutionary history of the Japanese Islands is revised significantly on the basis of new lines of information that derived from a new dating technique of detrital zircon in sandstone. Particularly noteworthy is the recognition of the Early Paleozoic to Middle Mesozoic arc batholiths that were exposed extensively in the past but not at all at present because the pre-Cretaceous granites merely occur as kilometer-size blocks in the modern Japanese Islands. As to these older granites, the remarkable disagreement between the current distribution and the predominance of their clastic grains in younger sandstones suggests the effectiveness of past tectonic erosion processes in the fore-arc domains. The newly documented historical change in sandstone provenance suggests that proto-Japan has experienced not only accretionary growth but also large-scale tectonic erosion in multiple stages. During the ca. 500 million-year history of the Japanese Islands, a large amount of juvenile arc (continental) crust was formed several times, however, most has already disappeared from the Earth's surface. In short, the orogenic growth of Japan, even in a long-lasting active continental margin setting, is explained as the intermittent repetition of ocean-ward continental growth and continent-ward contraction of an active arc-trench system. In contrast to these arc batholiths, the terrigenous flux from the neighboring two major continental blocks (South and North China) was less significant than previously imagined, except for the Jurassic to Early Cretaceous time when the collisional suture between North and South China blocks was selectively eroded to produce abundant terrigenous clastics. It is also significant that the eastern extension of this collisional suture was recognized in Japan as a chain of fragmentary remnants of the Triassic medium-pressure metamorphic belt. On the basis of these new lines of information, the South China-related origin of the main part of Japan is confirmed, whereas the Hida and Oki belts along the Japan Sea are identified as detached fragments of North China block. Summarizing all of these results, a series of revised paleogeographic maps of Japan from the Late Neoproterozoic to the Miocene is illustrated.
著者
磯崎 行雄 丸山 茂徳 青木 一勝 中間 隆晃 宮下 敦 大藤 茂
出版者
公益社団法人 東京地学協会
雑誌
地学雑誌 (ISSN:0022135X)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.119, no.6, pp.999-1053, 2010-12-25 (Released:2011-03-17)
参考文献数
145
被引用文献数
26 74

The geotectonic subdivision and relevant definitions of geotectonic units in the Japanese Islands are revised on the basis of new data, particularly with detrital zircon dating of U-Pb ages and seismic profiling of the deep arc crust across the islands. In addition to the final confirmation of the subhorizontal structures of the Paleozoic to Cenozoic accretionary complexes and their high-P/T metamorphosed equivalents, several new aspects were recognized; i.e., detection of the eastern extension of the collisional suture between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons in the Higo belt with medium-pressure-type metamorphism in SW Japan, and separation of the traditional Sanbagawa belt into two distinct metamorphic belts characterized by mutually different ages of protolith AC-formation and peak metamorphism. The occurrence and consumption of 4 Paleozoic to Mesozoic granite batholiths, as major provenances for the ancient Japanese Islands, are documented by detrital zircon dating of Paleozoic–Mesozoic sandstones. With respect to these new findings, the definitions of unit boundaries were thoroughly revised in terms of chronological spectrum in “ocean plate stratigraphy–metamorphism”. The geological significance of 5 major tectonic lines (faults) of the Pacific-type (or Miyashiro-type) orogen in Japan, i.e., the Nagato–Hida marginal TL, Osayama–Omi TL, Ishigaki–Kuga TL, Paleo–Median TL, and Butsuzo TL, is discussed. The current revision of the geotectonic subdivision and definitions of component units and their mutual boundaries leads to the following conclusions, which challenge the conventional understanding of the orogenic history of the Japanese Islands. (1) Proto-Japan in the Early Paleozoic was located closer to the South China (Yangtze) craton rather than the North China (Sino–Korean) craton. (2) Ever since 520 Ma, subduction of past Pacific ocean floors formed mature arc-trench systems with a full set of granite batholith, fore-arc basin, accretionary complex, and high-P/T metamorphosed equivalents at least 5 times; however, the former 4 sets were almost completely destroyed, with the exception of smaller tectonic blocks that currently occur within serpentinite mélange. (3) Tectonic erosion played a significant role in consuming ancient fore-arc crusts including 4 granite batholiths of the Paleozoic to mid-Mesozoic. (4) Serpentine mélange represents the former Wadati–Benioff plane along which tectonic erosion took place. (5) The Japanese Islands, which basically developed along the Yangtze continental margin, have experienced multiple episodes of oceanward growth and continentward retreat due to alternating subduction-accretion and tectonic erosion. (6) Net production of juvenile crust occurred on a large scale along the Japan margin during the 500 million year-long oceanic subduction regime since the Cambrian; however, intensive tectonic erosion effectively erased the older crusts from the surface and enriched the underlying sub-arc mantle with heat-generating continental material.
著者
大藤 茂 下條 将徳 青木 一勝 中間 隆晃 丸山 茂徳 柳井 修一
出版者
公益社団法人 東京地学協会
雑誌
地学雑誌 (ISSN:0022135X)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.119, no.2, pp.333-346, 2010-04-25 (Released:2010-07-06)
参考文献数
41
被引用文献数
33 44

We measured the 206Pb/238U age distribution of detrital zircons in five psammitic schist samples from the Sanbagawa Belt in east-central Shikoku and the western Kii Peninsula to constrain their depositional age. The age-distribution diagrams for the five psammitic schist samples all show that detrital zircons of 100 to 90 Ma are most abundant and the age of the youngest zircon in each sample is less than 80 Ma. Considering the age of the retrogressive metamorphism of these psammitic schists, ca. 80-60 Ma, the protoliths age of the psammitic schists is constrained to 75-70 Ma, correlative to the age of the sandstone of the Middle Shimanto Belt (Yanai, 1984). A similar age-distribution has already been reported for two psammitic schist samples from the Central Unit of the Sanbagawa Belt in the Kanto Mountains (Tsutsumi et al., 2009). Thus the Sanbagawa Belt is most widely occupied by metamorphic rocks originating from rocks of the Middle Shimanto Belt. We also measured the 206Pb/238U age distribution of detrital zircons in Turonian sandstone from the Northern Shimanto Belt in the central Kii Peninsula. The age-distribution diagram shows that detrital zircons of around 128 Ma are most abundant and the age of the youngest zircon in the sample is about 100 Ma. A similar age-distribution has already been reported from a psammitic schist sample from the Southern Unit of the Sanbagawa Belt in the Kanto Mountains, overlying the Central Unit (Tsutsumi et al., 2009). The protolith age is still younger than the metamorphic age of the eclogites in central Shikoku, ca. 120-110 Ma (Okamoto et al., 2004), which occupy the uppermost portion of the Sanbagawa Belt. Although some previous studies suggested that the Sanbagawa Belt consists of metamorphosed Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous accretionary complex, the present study shows that the belt is largely occupied by metamorphosed Late Cretaceous rocks: the Shimanto Metamorphic Rocks of Aoki et al. (2007). As a result, the Sanbagawa Belt consists of the following three units with different protolith ages: (1) Lower Unit of Shimanto Metamorphic Rocks with protoliths ages of 75-70 Ma and metamorphic ages of 70-60 Ma, (2) Upper Unit of Shimanto Metamorphic Rocks with protoliths ages of 95-85 Ma and metamorphic ages of 85-75 Ma, and (3) Sanbagawa Metamorphic Rocks (s.s.) with protoliths ages of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and metamorphic ages of 120-110 Ma. The protoliths of the Upper and Lower units of the Shimanto Metamorphic Rocks are most likely rocks of the Northern Shimanto and Middle Shimanto belts, respectively.