著者
沢田 輝 磯﨑 行雄 丸山 茂徳
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.127, no.5, pp.705-721, 2018-10-25 (Released:2018-11-14)
参考文献数
116
被引用文献数
2 3

The extensive occurrence of a felsic continental crust is one of the unique features of the Earth. The growth history of the continental crust has been a key issue in understanding the origin and evolution of the Earth. In particular, recent geological studies indicate that subduction of the continental crust into the mantle has been greater than previously imagined. The current understanding of the growth of continents and the differentiation of the crust and the mantle of the Earth is reviewed based on a detrital zircon geochronology. One of the most important achievements arises from the analysis of the age structure of individual continents and secular changes over time. The new detrital zircon geochronology suggests that the sizes of the continents have changed over time, which has been an important factor in the growth of the continents. Large continents, such as the modern examples, can preserve older crusts in their interiors, which are separated from active continental margins. Conversely, in the early Earth, continents were probably formed by the amalgamation of small fragments of crust, such as oceanic island arcs. It is speculated that the smallness of the continents was the most significant cause of the poor preservation of Hadean and Archean crusts, despite putative expected active crustal production. Consequently, the recycling of the continental crust occurred in great magnitudes during the early Earth's history. The large-scale subduction of felsic crust represents one of the most important aspects in studies of the early Earth.
著者
古村 孝志 竹内 宏之
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.116, no.3-4, pp.431-450, 2007-08-25 (Released:2009-11-12)
参考文献数
48
被引用文献数
5 6

The Tokyo metropolitan area is known to have been struck by large earthquakes due to the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Pacific Plate beneath the North American plate. Recent damaging earthquakes that occurred beneath Tokyo include the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake, the 1894 Meiji Tokyo earthquake, and the 1923 Kanto earthquake. Whereas the Kanto earthquake is known to have occurred at the top of the subducting Philippine Sea Plate, the other events are considered to have occurred in Tokyo bay, but their source depths are unknown. Many researchers have attempted to determine the source mechanisms of these earthquakes through analyses of patterns of seismic intensity distribution in the Kanto area, but the intensity pattern at the center of Tokyo would be considerably affected by the site amplification effect of the shallow, localized structure rather than be related directly to the source itself. In the present paper, we summarize the characteristics of strong ground motions and damage caused by the earthquakes. We then compare the pattern of intensities on local and regional scales with those of recent earthquakes occurring in Tokyo and corresponding computer simulations using heterogeneous crust and upper-mantle structure models below Tokyo to find referable source models for the Ansei Edo and Meiji Tokyo earthquakes.
著者
小泉 格 坂本 竜彦
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.3, pp.489-509, 2010-06-25 (Released:2010-08-30)
参考文献数
113
被引用文献数
7 8

Annual sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) (°C) were derived from a regression analysis between the ratio of warm- and cold-water diatoms (Td' ratio) in 123 surface sediment samples around the Japanese Islands and measured mean annual SSTs (°C) at the core sites. The cross spectra between the atmospheric residual 14C (‰), and annual SSTs (°C) of cores DGC-6 (Japan Sea) and MD01-2421 (off Kashima), respectively, consist of five dominant periods: 6000, 2400, 1600, 950, and 700 years. The amplitude of fluctuations of annual SSTs (°C) in the millennial time scale during the Holocene after the Younger Dryas is within 6-10°C. Periodic variations of annual SSTs (°C) can be correlated within error to abrupt climatic events reported from different paleoclimatic proxy records in many regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The cooling time of annual SSTs (°C) also corresponds to the triple events of high 14C values in the atmospheric residual 14C records, as well as the Bond events in the North Atlantic.
著者
松本 良 青山 千春
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.129, no.1, pp.141-146, 2020-02-25 (Released:2020-03-17)
参考文献数
5
被引用文献数
3 5

An initial estimate of the amount of methane carried by a single methane plume was calculated to be 4 × 109 g (4,000 ton CH4) to 2 × 109 g (2,000 ton CH4) per year (Aoyama and Matsumoto, 2009), based on quantitative echo sounder measurements of the methane plume and bubble capture and release experiments. The estimate generated considerable interest because it suggested the potential importance of plumes as natural gas resources. However, a critical mistake in the calculations was found in converting mole amounts to weight of methane. Revised and corrected estimates of annual methane transported by a single plume are between 2.63 × 106 g (2.63 ton CH4) to 1.60 × 106 g (1.60 ton CH4), which are only 0.07% to 0.08% of the original estimates. For comparison, the revised amount of methane discharged from an individual methane seep is estimated based on direct measurements of gas bubbles from seep sites at Joetsu Knoll and Umitaka Spur, Joetsu basin. A total of 200 ml to 1,150 ml of bubbles were captured within 642 to 481 seconds. Total gas flux depends on the composition of the bubbles. Assuming pure gas, the annual discharge is estimated to be 0.71 ton to 4.84 ton CH4. If the bubbles consist of pure hydrate, the seepage is slightly higher at 1.15 ton to 8.83 ton CH4 per year.
著者
柳井 修一 青木 一勝 赤堀 良光
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.1079-1124, 2010-12-25 (Released:2011-03-17)
参考文献数
121
被引用文献数
25 64

Median Tectonic Line (MTL) and Fossa Magna (Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line) had long been considered to be the most critical fault boundaries controlling development of the Japanese Islands since Naumann (1885) and Kobayashi (1941). After the appearance of plate tectonics, several new interpretations emerged, e.g., sub-surface Benioff plane for the MTL. In this paper, we propose that those tectonic lines, major faults, and Tanakura Tectonic Line (TTL) were formed through a process at micro-plate boundaries during the opening of the Japan Sea in the Miocene. MTL could have been formed along the consuming boundary between the PHS plate and Japan Sea microplate, which has shifted southward to the Nankai trough, accompanying large-scale tectonic erosion. Fossa Magna was formed as a gigantic transform fault with a transtension component in the Medial-Japan Sea when opening was initiated. The eastern and western boundaries of the Japan Sea must be a strike-slip fault, corresponding to TTL to the east, and a newly proposed strike-slip fault called the West Kyushu Tectonic Line, respectively. Fossa Magna, a medial region defined by two NS-trending Miocene parallel faults in central Honshu, defined by Nauman (1885) could be interpreted to be the largest transform fault in the Medial-Japan Sea to offset the spreading axis when the Japan Sea opened. It should be emphasized that large-scale tectonic erosion occurred in front of consuming plate boundaries facing the PHS and PAC plates oceanward during the opening of the Japan Sea. The volume of tectonic erosion is calculated to be 17,581,500 km3, which is equivalent to 2/3 of the present-day Japan arc crust, which is sufficient to reach the depth of the megalith between the upper and lower mantle boundary, even with 10 km thickness of materials eroded and transported along the Benioff zone. Although MTL, Fossa Magna, and TTL are remarkable in the geology of Japan, these young faults never affected the orogeneses of Japan back to 520 Ma, which grew the continental crust of Japan. We propose that microplate boundary processes decreased the volume of the Japan crust.
著者
高橋 雅紀
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.115, no.1, pp.116-123, 2006-02-25 (Released:2009-11-12)
参考文献数
13
被引用文献数
21 56

The Euler pole position of the Philippine Sea Plate (PHP) relative to the stable Eurasian Plate (EUP) between 15 and 3 Ma can be estimated at around 150°E, 36°N, on the basis of the geological constraint that the intersection of the Izu-Ogasawara Arc with Southwest (SW) Japan has not moved from South Fossa Magna since 15 Ma. The timing of the migration of the Euler Pole to its present location (154°E, 47°N) should have occurred at 3 Ma because the fore-arc basin in SW Japan was once interrupted by the Kurotaki Unconformity at 3 Ma.PHP moves northwestward and subducts beneath SW Japan at a convergent rate of 4 cm/yr. The Izu-Ogasawara Trench (IT) also moves at the same rate as the westward component (ca. 3 cm/yr.) of the PHP motion. Both the trench-trench-trench (TTT) triple junction and the Japan Trench (JT) should migrate westward, because the thick, cold, and sturdy Pacific Plate (PAP) has never been cut by the transform fault at the TTT junction. Northeast (NE) Japan would also move westward because tectonic erosion along JT would not be sufficient for westward migration of the JT. Thus, the present PHP movement causes the westward migration of IT, TTT junction, JT and then NE Japan. This westward motion of NE Japan against the sturdy oceanic lithosphere of the Japan Sea has caused an E-W contraction of NE Japan since northward motion of PHP changed to NW at 3 Ma.It is expected that rifting of the thin, heated lithosphere of the Izu-Ogasawara Arc would reach break-up before the thick, cold lithosphere of the PAP would be torn by the right-lateral transform fault at the TTT junction. Once rifting reaches break-up, the northwestward movement of the PHP would be compensated by back-arc spreading, and this motion would not propagate to the IT, the JT nor NE Japan. Therefore, the present E-W contraction in Japan would cease in the geologically near future when back-arc rifting along the Izu-Ogasawara arc reaches break-up.McKenzie and Morgan (1969) discussed how the TTT triple junction was unstable except under a few uncommon geometrical and kinematic conditions. However, the PHP actually selected this particular Euler pole position at 15 Ma, and the TTT triple junction had been stable for more than 10 m.y. Although the present TTT junction is in an unstable condition, it would become stable again through back-arc basin spreading of the PHP in the geologically near future. Thus, the TTT triple junction offshore central Japan, which controls tectonics of Japan, would be in a stable state in nature.
著者
古村 孝志
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.123, no.4, pp.434-450, 2014-08-25 (Released:2014-09-01)
参考文献数
28
被引用文献数
2 9

In the Kanto basin, long-period (T = 6-8s) ground motions develop during large (M > 7) earthquakes due to the resonance of surface waves with thick (> 3000m) sedimentary layers covering rigid bedrock. Such long-period ground motions can cause significant damage to modern large-scale, long natural-period structures such as skyscrapers, oil storage tanks, and long bridges. Therefore, it is important that residents of modern Tokyo metropolitan area cities be forewarned about the potential for such disasters. In the present paper, the development of large and long-duration, long-period ground motions in central Tokyo is investigated by analyzing waveform data from recent large earthquakes obtained from dense seismic networks extending over the Kanto basin. It is demonstrated that the interaction of surface waves with the three-dimensional sedimentary structure beneath the Kanto region causes peculiar and directional dependencies related to the amplification strength of the long-period ground motions. For example, the long-period ground motions resulting from earthquakes occurring in northern Japan cannot develop efficiently in central Tokyo. This might be one reason for the relatively weak long-period ground motions observed in central Tokyo during the 2011 Off Tohoku M 9.0 earthquake compared to those of other M 7-8 class events, such as the 1944 Tonankai (M 7.9) and the 2003 Off Tokachi (M 8.0) earthquakes. The results of computer simulations using detailed subsurface structures and source-slip models for an anticipated Nankai Trough M 8.7 earthquake indicates that the strength of long-period ground motions in central Tokyo can be expected to be at least double than those observed during the 2011 Off Tohoku earthquake.
著者
島田 浩二
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.3, pp.451-465, 2010-06-25 (Released:2010-08-30)
参考文献数
24
被引用文献数
1 1

The rate of recent sea ice reduction in the Arctic Ocean exceeds that of global warming. The pattern of sea ice reduction accompanies discontinuous changes. This implies that the Arctic climate system is not only influenced by global warming, but also involves significant positive feedback mechanisms that accelerate the reduction of sea ice. Changes of sea ice area in the Arctic Ocean do not show uniform reductions in both space and time. In the present study, we investigate sea ice reduction in distinct regions and time frames, taking into consideration preconditions for the occurrence of tipping points. The initiation of a positive feedback system is found in strengthening ocean and ice circulations since the late 1990s. The activation of both sea ice and ocean circulation caused ocean warming. This contributed to less formation and growth of sea ice in the Pacific Sector. Consequently, ice reduction actually occurred due to an imbalance between ice melt and formation. The sustaining of strong circulations was a precondition leading to a huge anomalous sea ice reduction in 2007 with a zonal asymmetric distribution. The resultant zonal asymmetry establishes a new atmospheric pattern (dipole pattern) associated with southerly winds in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean. Now, the Arctic climate is governed by a strong coupling system linking ocean, ice, and atmosphere. Multi-disciplinary studies are now required to understand the catastrophic Arctic changes and the fate of the Arctic and global climate.
著者
稲崎 富士 太田 陽子 丸山 茂徳
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.123, no.4, pp.401-433, 2014-08-25 (Released:2014-09-01)
参考文献数
52
被引用文献数
4 8

River improvement works in the Kanto Plain have long history of over 400 years. Rice-paddy development in the Kanto Plain was significantly delayed compared to that in other plains including the Osaka Plain and the Nobi Plain. This was because of the difficulty in constructing an irrigation and drainage network, and protecting rice paddies from inundation. Therefore, the Tokugawa government started river improvement works in the Kanto Plain just after Tokugawa settled in Edo in 1590, and the works continue now. The flow of the Tone River into Tokyo Bay was originally blocked by uplands, but was finally rerouted to Choshi, 90 km east to the original mouth. The Ara River was also rerouted to the south. The purpose of rerouting was not only to reduce the risk of flooding in Edo city, but also to develop a waterway network for rice paddies to expand in the central Plain. Moreover, rerouting and connecting the Tone River with the Edo River enhanced the inland waterway transportation network of the Kanto Plain. Accordingly, a number of riverside towns, or Kashi, grew as nodes of the network. Small sailing ships and flatboats were the major conveyors of products. During the Meiji era, which followed the Edo period, canals were constructed and steamboats were introduced to replace sailing ships, at a time when water transportation was peaking. The inland waterway soon began to be replaced by present-day economic transportation systems such as rail and road. The central Kanto Plain was featured consistently by a subsiding basin through the Quaternary. Although the entire Plain was uplifted, Tokyo Bay, at the center of the Kanto Plain, sank over 1000 m. In contrast, the outer margin of the plain was uplifted 50 to 1000 m. Choshi, at the mouth of the present Tone River, is in the uplifted area. In contrast, the lower reaches of the River are at the northern extent of the subsiding basin. This is the reason why back swamp lakes or an estuary such as Kasumiga-ura and the ancient Katori-no-umi were formed in the area. Such crustal movements in the Kanto Plain continued throughout the Quaternary. Hydration and dehydration of two plates lying beneath this region were the driving force. Hydration of mantle peridotite underneath the Kanto Plain due to dehydration of the underlying Philippine Sea Plate (PHS plate), subducting from south to north 30-60 km deep (2 cm/year), causes volumetric expansion particularly at the marginal zone of the overlying plate (North American (NA) Plate). Serpentinized peridotite, produced above the Pacific Plate (PAC plate), which subducts from east to west under the PHS and NA plates, expands like popcorn and results in uplifting of the Boso Peninsular (non-volcanic outer arc) . In contrast, the sinking of the Tokyo Bay area is explained by the overlapping of the fore arc basin towards the PHS and PAC plates. From the viewpoint of tectonics, the sinking belt including Tokyo Bay is in a physical field where a sedimentary basin formed under tensile stress in the NE-SW direction. Small mantle convection caused by serpentinization of the uppermost mantle beneath the fore arc is the key to understanding the tectonic setting of the Kanto Plain.
著者
石村 大輔 加藤 茂弘 岡田 篤正 竹村 恵二
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.5, pp.775-793, 2010-10-25 (Released:2011-01-21)
参考文献数
46
被引用文献数
3 4

Episodic subsidence events at the east coast of Lake Mikata, Fukui Prefecture, suggesting fault activity in the Mikata fault zone, are recognized from two drilling cores, MK09 core (60-m long) and NEXCO core (100-m long). Detailed lithology including widespread tephra horizons is described for the MK09 core, with 18 AMS-14C dates. The radiocarbon ages and tephrochronology of the core sediments indicate the continuous sedimentary history of Lake Mikata back to about 130 ka. We recognize eight depositional units ranging in thickness from 5 to 10 m in the MK09 core, each of which shows a clear coarsening-upward sequence from clay to gravel beds. These units are also recognized in the NEXCO core drilled 50 m from the MK09 core site by the correlation of tephras and lithofacies. Analysis of sedimentary features suggests that each unit and its boundary reflect a rapid rise of lake level and subsequent progradation of alluvial fans. The mean sedimentary interval of individual units is equivalent to about 10.6 kyr, which is meaningfully shorter than astronomical cycles of climate change (∼20, 41 and ∼100 kyrs). Thus, we interpret these cyclic units to be the results of recurrent co-seismic subsidence due to Mikata fault zone activity. According to this interpretation, we could identify at least seven subsidence events besides the 1662 Kanbun Earthquake. The mean recurrence interval of these events is estimated to be about 7.7 kyr.
著者
荒井 章司 阿部 なつ江
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.117, no.1, pp.110-123, 2008-02-25 (Released:2010-02-10)
参考文献数
56
被引用文献数
9 7

This article reviews interpretations of the geological and petrological nature of the Moho, which is defined as a discontinuity in terms of Vp, with a view to preparing for the Mohole on the ocean floor in IODP. We strongly propose discarding non-seismic terms for the Moho, such as “petrologic Moho”. The nature of the Moho has been controversial for a long time; an isochemical phase transition boundary between gabbro (crust) and eclogite (mantle) was favored for the Moho by some researchers, while a chemical boundary between mafic rocks (crust) and peridotite rocks (upper mantle) is now favored by a majority of researchers. Boundaries between completely or partially serpentinized peridotite and fresh peridotite may be applicable as the Moho at some parts of the ocean floors of a slow-spreading ridge origin. Antigorite serpentinite can be expected to be observed at the lowermost crust if the Moho is the serpentinization front at the stability limit of serpentine. The Moho beneath the Japan arcs can be estimated using mafic-ultramafic xenoliths in Cenozoic volcanics. Peridotitic rocks scarcely mix with feldspathic rocks, indicating that the Moho at that location is the boundary between feldspathic rocks (mostly mafic granulites; crust) and spinel pyroxenites (mantle). Possible fossil Mohos are observed in well-preserved ophiolites, such as the Oman ophiolite. Two types of Moho are distinct in the Oman ophiolite; gabbro-in-dunite Moho, where a gabbro band network in dunite changes upward to the layered gabbro within a few to several tens of meters, and dunite-in-gabbro Moho, where late-intrusive dunites intruded into gabbros. The former is of a primary origin at a fast-spreading ridge, and the latter is of a secondary origin at a subduction-zone setting in the obduction of the oceanic lithosphere as an ophiolite. The gabbro/peridotite (dunite) boundary as the primary Moho forms in embryo as a wall of melt conduit at fast-spreading ridges as well as at the segment center of slow-spreading ridges. The oceanic primary Moho is modified to various degrees by magmatism, metamorphism and tectonism in subsequent arc and continental environments. The gabbro-in-dunite Moho formation in the Oman ophiolite is an embryo of this modification. We expect in-situ sampling across the primary oceanic Moho formed at a fast-spreading ridge through the Mohole of IODP. Ultra-deep drilling at gabbro/peridotite complexes exposed on the ocean floor is indispensable for our understanding of the suboceanic upper mantle. Studies on appropriate ophiolites and deep-seated xenoliths from oceanic areas should complement the Mohole and other ultra-deep drillings to grasp the whole picture of the oceanic upper mantle.
著者
佐野 貴司 テハダ マリア ルイサ 中西 正男 羽生 毅 三浦 誠一 末次 大輔 利根川 貴志 石川 晃 清水 健二 淸水 祥伽
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.130, no.4, pp.559-584, 2021-08-25 (Released:2021-09-23)
参考文献数
163
被引用文献数
2 4

Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), such as the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) in the western equatorial Pacific, provide information on mantle processes and composition, and their formation may have global environmental consequences. The OJP is the largest oceanic plateau and is probably the most voluminous igneous edifice on Earth. Despite its importance, the size, volume, and formation rate of the OJP are not yet well constrained. The maximum extent of OJP-related volcanism may be even greater than currently estimated, because volcanological studies indicate that long lava flows (or sills) from the OJP may have reached the adjacent Nauru, East Mariana, and possibly Pigafetta basins. Moreover, the similarity in age and some geochemistry of lavas from the Ontong Java, Hikurangi, and Manihiki plateaus suggests that they once may have been part of a single LIP (Ontong Java Nui, OJN). If true, the massive volcanism may have covered > 1% of the Earth's surface. The lack of detailed knowledge of the size, age, and composition of the OJP has given rise to various models, such as a surfacing mantle plume head, bolide impact, and fusible mantle melting, but no model satisfies all observational data and no consensus has been reached on its origin. The OJP is divided into the High Plateau to the west and the Eastern Salient to the east. The basaltic basement of the OJP was cored at seven sites during Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP Site 289) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP Sites 289, 803, 807, 1183, 1185, 1186, and 1187) expeditions, but all sites are exclusively located on the High Plateau. In order to examine the true extent of the OJP (i.e., whether the flows in the Nauru, East Mariana, and Pigafetta basins, as well as the Manihiki and Hikurangi plateaus are parts of the OJN), we propose drilling in the Eastern Salient and adjacent basins to recover basement samples. We also propose drilling through the sedimentary section on the Magellan Rise, a small plateau that formed > 20 Myr before the proposed OJN emplacement. Because of its greater age, the sedimentary sequence on the Magellan Rise may preserve ash layers or other chemical tracers that cover the entire eruptive history of OJN. The sediment layers from the Magellan Rise are also useful for evaluating environmental effects of OJN emplacement, including older and younger perturbations related to other LIPs.
著者
中田 高 島崎 邦彦 鈴木 康弘 佃 栄吉
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.107, no.4, pp.512-528, 1998-08-25 (Released:2010-12-22)
参考文献数
28
被引用文献数
15 14

This paper proposes a method to identify the directivity of rupture propagation based on the branching features of active fault traces.Direction of ruptre propagation is closely related to strong ground motions and resulting earthquake damage. Therefore, predicting rupture directivity is crucial in predicting strong motions to mitigate earthquake damage. However, the directions of fault ruptures were ascertained only after earthquakes from the observed seismological records and not before the earthquakes.We found an interdependent correlation between the branching direction of the surface ruptures and the direction of their propagation as shown in Fig. 1, from an investigation of recent earthquake fault ruptures such as the 1995 Northern Sakhalin earthquake, the 1995 Hyogoken-nambu earthquake, the 1992 Landers earthquake, the 1990 Luzon earthequake, the 1979 Imperial Valley earthequake, and the 1930 Kita-Izu earthequake. The branching of faults during rupture propagation is regarded as an effective energy dissipation process and could result in final rupture termination.Because patterns of surface traces of active faults are the results of repeated earthquake faulting, the branching of active faults leads us to suggest that the direction of rupture propagation is also predictable before the active faults generate earthquakes in the future.Several active faults with well-defined branching such as the active faults of the strike -sliptype in the Kobe-Osaka area, those in California, and the active fault sysytem in the northern Luzon, Philippines are examined. Branching of the reverse faults in the foot -hills of Darjeeling Himalaya is also shown as an example of active faults of the dip -slip type. This test clearly shows that the direction of rupture propagation, and in some cases the epicenter location, can be deduced from the branching features on the basis of our proposed method.
著者
小暮 岳実
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.4, pp.585-598, 2011-08-25 (Released:2011-11-10)
参考文献数
31
被引用文献数
2 4

Many Rivers are concentrated in the central part of the Kanto Plain, central Japan. The Tone River, the largest river, flowed south-southeast before it was artificially diverted eastward at the end of the 16th century. A large meandering paleochannel in the present Arakawa Lowland, which is situated about 30 km south of the present Tone River's course, is thought to have been formed by the former Tone River. However, the upriver part of this paleochannel is indistinct in the Menuma Lowland lying north of the Arakawa Basin. Detailed aerial photo interpretation and observations of sediment samples obtained with hand augers reveal that a paleochannel with a north-south trend in the eastern Menuma Lowland contains volcaniclastic sediments derived from the Tone River catchment. The age of the buried paleochannel, i.e., the former Tone River, was estimated to be around 1,300 years ago based on many archeological survey reports of ancient tombs and other sites located around the paleochannel. The subsequent eastward natural diversion of the Tone River into the Kazo Lowland seems to have been caused by aggradation due to a rapid supply of volcanic sediments and tectonic subsidence in the Kazo Lowland situated in the central part of the Kanto Tectonic Basin.
著者
益田 晴恵
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.131, no.6, pp.573-584, 2022-12-25 (Released:2023-01-12)
参考文献数
58
被引用文献数
2

The history of hot spring studies and research in Japan is reviewed mainly from the viewpoint of Earth science. Studies on the geochemistry of hot spring waters started with geochemical analyses of hot spring water in the 1830s. The relationships between the issuing mechanisms of hot springs and volcanism, active faults, and earthquakes have been studied since around 1910. These studies reveal sources and recycling paths of waters and dissolved materials in the Earth's crust and the upper mantle in relation to plate tectonics and subsequent volcanism. Microbiological studies on living organisms, such as algae, bacteria, and archaea, living in hot springs, began in the late 1880s, and have contributed to documenting the origins and evolution of life. Combined with mineralogical studies, minor and trace element analyses of hot spring water have contributed to an understanding of the formation mechanisms of ore deposits. Studies on hot spring waters triggered an understanding of the essential role of water in the Earth and its evolution.
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
青山 千春 松本 良
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.118, no.1, pp.156-174, 2009-02-25 (Released:2010-04-05)
参考文献数
28
被引用文献数
9 15

During methane hydrate exploration and research, remote and on-board acoustic surveying and monitoring of methane hydrate can be easily and economically conducted using a quantitative echo sounder. Simultaneously, the structure and the floating-up speed of methane plumes can be obtained from an analysis of acoustic data. We conducted a survey of methane plumes from 2004 through 2008 at a spur situated southwest off the coast of Sado Island (tentatively called Umitaka Spur) and at the Joetsu Knoll. In 2007 and 2008, we performed experiments by releasing methane hydrate bubbles and methane hydrate, and letting them float upward. Consequently, we demonstrated that acoustical reflection from the methane plumes correlates with water temperature and depth, that the floating-up speed is constant but depends on the conditions of methane hydrate, that the discharge of methane hydrate bubbles changes, and that there is a wide scattering of materials below the seafloor where methane plumes are located. Furthermore, the amount of methane hydrate bubbles seeping was estimated by a preliminary calculation. The method will be applied not only to basic research on methane hydrate but also to assessments of the environmental impact of methane hydrate exploitation.