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Erosional Subduction Zone in the Northern Japan Trench: Review of Submersible Dive Reports

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Book cover Accretionary Prisms and Convergent Margin Tectonics in the Northwest Pacific Basin

Part of the book series: Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences ((MASE,volume 8))

Abstract

Submersible studies of the oceanward and landward slopes of the northern Japan trench are reviewed, and the typical erosional features of this subduction zone are discussed. On the oceanward slope, normal faults with tension cracks have created horst and graben structures, forming a series of steps. On the landward slope, brecciated Miocene sedimentary rocks with calcite veins and cement are exposed on the thrust-controlled slope surfaces, and landsliding of the rocks and sediments of the lower landward slope fills the grabens of the oceanward slope. As a result of this erosion, the trench has advanced, moved landward, at a speed of 5–6 km/m.y. since the middle Miocene.

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Acknowledgments

I deeply thank Professor Kazuo Kobayashi, who led the many successful cruises. Rock descriptions, age determinations, and isotope measurements for the landward slope by Drs. Takeshi Kuwano, Itaru Koizumi, and Tadamichi Oba, respectively, are greatly appreciated. Captains, crew, and operation teams of SHINKAI 6500 of JAMSTEC are gratefully acknowledged. An early version of this manuscript was critically reviewed and revised by Professors Mark Cloos, Satoru Kojima, and Ryo Anma, to whom I am grateful.

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  1. The University of Tsukuba, 1-127-2-C-740 Yokodai, Tsukubamirai, 300-2358, Japan (home)

    Yujiro Ogawa

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  1. Yujiro Ogawa
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Correspondence to Yujiro Ogawa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Obari, Century Tsukuba-Miraidaira C-740, Yokodai 1-127-2, Tsukubamirai-shi, 300-2358, Japan

    Yujiro Ogawa

  2. Graduate School of Life &, Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ten-nodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Ryo Anma

  3. Dept. Geology, Miami University, Shideler Hall 114, Oxford, 45056, Ohio, USA

    Yildirim Dilek

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Ogawa, Y. (2011). Erosional Subduction Zone in the Northern Japan Trench: Review of Submersible Dive Reports. In: Ogawa, Y., Anma, R., Dilek, Y. (eds) Accretionary Prisms and Convergent Margin Tectonics in the Northwest Pacific Basin. Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8885-7_2

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