The strike-slip model: A synthesis on the origin and tectonic evolution of the Japanese Islands

Abstract

The tectonic development of the Japanese Islands are summarized in this article based on the strike-slip model. Pre-Neogene rocks of the Japanese Islands are divided into the following four terranes: (1)the South Kitakami Terrane (Early Ordovician to Late Devonian accretionary complex), (2) the Akiyoshi Terane (Middle to Late Permian accretionary complex), (3) the Mino Terrane (Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous accretionary complex) and (4) the Shimanto Terrane (Late Cretaceous to Neogene accretionary complex). These terranes are arranged in a NE-SW direction, subparallel to the extension of the Japanese Islands, and younging towards the southeast, from the Japan Sea side to the Pacific side. Besides the four terranes, some nappes, (5) the Hida-Abukuma Nappe, consisting of the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic metamorphic rocks derived from the Qinling-Dabie Suture Zone, thrust over the terranes towards the east. The geotectonic framework of the Japanese Islands occurred through long-term subduction on the eastern North China margin since Early Ordovician. The terranes and nappes were moved and rearraneged by the Late Permian to Late Jurassic dextral strike-slip faulting, the Latest Jurassic to Earliest Cretaceous eastward thrusting, and the Early Cretaceous to Palaeogene (mainly Albian) sinistral strike-slip faulting. The total sinistral displacement during the Early Cretaceous to Palaeogene time is estimated to be 1500-2000 km. Finally, the rifting of the Proto-Japan from the Asian continent caused closkwise rotation of Southwest Japan and counterclockwise rotation of Northeast Japan in Early Neogene (Miocene). Furthermore, the collision of the Chishima (Kuril) Arc and the Izu-Ogasawara Arc caused the westward thrusting of central to eastern Hokkaido, and the deformation of the central part of the Honshu Arc, respectively.