Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy

Abstract The basement of the Tokyo metropolitan area consists of the Miocene–Pleistocene forearc basin fills that are well exposed around Tokyo Bay, especially on the Miura and Boso peninsulas. The forearc basin fills on these two peninsulas are called the Miura and Kazusa groups, and they were depo...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Masayuki Utsunomiya, Itoko Tamura, Atsushi Nozaki, Terumasa Nakajima
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2023-05-01
Series:Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-023-00558-y
_version_ 1797817683809402880
author Masayuki Utsunomiya
Itoko Tamura
Atsushi Nozaki
Terumasa Nakajima
author_facet Masayuki Utsunomiya
Itoko Tamura
Atsushi Nozaki
Terumasa Nakajima
author_sort Masayuki Utsunomiya
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The basement of the Tokyo metropolitan area consists of the Miocene–Pleistocene forearc basin fills that are well exposed around Tokyo Bay, especially on the Miura and Boso peninsulas. The forearc basin fills on these two peninsulas are called the Miura and Kazusa groups, and they were deposited during the late Miocene–Pliocene and Pliocene–middle Pleistocene, respectively. Because many biostratigraphic datum planes, paleomagnetic reversal events, and other chronostratigraphic tools are available for these deposits, they provide the “type stratigraphy” of other equivalent sedimentary sequences on the Japanese islands and in the northwest Pacific. However, the use of such stratigraphic markers has not been fully applied to understand the architecture of a basin-wide unconformity between the Miura and Kazusa groups called the Kurotaki unconformity. For our study, we made correlations among the Pliocene vitric tephra beds based on their stratigraphic levels, lithologic characteristics, the chemical compositions of glass shards, and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy. As a result, we were able to correlate tephra beds Ng-Ky25 just above the C3n.3n normal subchronozone (4.7 Ma), IkT16-An157.5 and IkT19-An158.5 near the top of the Mammoth reverse polarity subchronozone (3.21 Ma), and Ahn-Onr (2.6–2.7 Ma) across Tokyo Bay on the Miura and Boso peninsulas. We were able to recognize erosional surfaces and coeval mass-transport deposits immediately below the top of the Mammoth reverse polarity subchronozone, which suggests that submarine landslide(s) may have produced the lack of stratigraphic horizons (4.5–3.2 Ma) in the Miura and eastern Boso regions. Basal pebbly sandstone beds pervasively cover the erosional surfaces, and they show lateral variations into the thick (up to 60 m) mass-transport deposits and overlying turbidite sandstones. The lateral variations in sediment thickness of the post-failure deposits suggest that the basin-wide erosion was associated with the initial growth of a basin-bounding structural high that separates two distinct sub-basins in the forearc basin, which resulted in the subsequent onlapping deposition in the earliest stage of the Kazusa forearc basin. The basin-wide erosion marks the initiation of tectonic reconfigurations that led to segmentation of the forearc basin around the Tokyo Bay region.
first_indexed 2024-03-13T08:57:05Z
format Article
id doaj.art-188ee81a77ba4ee4865f8486579caa8c
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2197-4284
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-13T08:57:05Z
publishDate 2023-05-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
spelling doaj.art-188ee81a77ba4ee4865f8486579caa8c2023-05-28T11:31:00ZengSpringerOpenProgress in Earth and Planetary Science2197-42842023-05-0110112610.1186/s40645-023-00558-yBasin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphyMasayuki Utsunomiya0Itoko Tamura1Atsushi Nozaki2Terumasa NakajimaResearch Institute of Geology and Geoinformation, Geological Survey of Japan, AISTChuo UniversityHiratsuka City MuseumAbstract The basement of the Tokyo metropolitan area consists of the Miocene–Pleistocene forearc basin fills that are well exposed around Tokyo Bay, especially on the Miura and Boso peninsulas. The forearc basin fills on these two peninsulas are called the Miura and Kazusa groups, and they were deposited during the late Miocene–Pliocene and Pliocene–middle Pleistocene, respectively. Because many biostratigraphic datum planes, paleomagnetic reversal events, and other chronostratigraphic tools are available for these deposits, they provide the “type stratigraphy” of other equivalent sedimentary sequences on the Japanese islands and in the northwest Pacific. However, the use of such stratigraphic markers has not been fully applied to understand the architecture of a basin-wide unconformity between the Miura and Kazusa groups called the Kurotaki unconformity. For our study, we made correlations among the Pliocene vitric tephra beds based on their stratigraphic levels, lithologic characteristics, the chemical compositions of glass shards, and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy. As a result, we were able to correlate tephra beds Ng-Ky25 just above the C3n.3n normal subchronozone (4.7 Ma), IkT16-An157.5 and IkT19-An158.5 near the top of the Mammoth reverse polarity subchronozone (3.21 Ma), and Ahn-Onr (2.6–2.7 Ma) across Tokyo Bay on the Miura and Boso peninsulas. We were able to recognize erosional surfaces and coeval mass-transport deposits immediately below the top of the Mammoth reverse polarity subchronozone, which suggests that submarine landslide(s) may have produced the lack of stratigraphic horizons (4.5–3.2 Ma) in the Miura and eastern Boso regions. Basal pebbly sandstone beds pervasively cover the erosional surfaces, and they show lateral variations into the thick (up to 60 m) mass-transport deposits and overlying turbidite sandstones. The lateral variations in sediment thickness of the post-failure deposits suggest that the basin-wide erosion was associated with the initial growth of a basin-bounding structural high that separates two distinct sub-basins in the forearc basin, which resulted in the subsequent onlapping deposition in the earliest stage of the Kazusa forearc basin. The basin-wide erosion marks the initiation of tectonic reconfigurations that led to segmentation of the forearc basin around the Tokyo Bay region.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-023-00558-yForearc basin fillKazusa groupKurotaki unconformitymass-transport depositMiura groupPliocene
spellingShingle Masayuki Utsunomiya
Itoko Tamura
Atsushi Nozaki
Terumasa Nakajima
Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
Forearc basin fill
Kazusa group
Kurotaki unconformity
mass-transport deposit
Miura group
Pliocene
title Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy
title_full Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy
title_fullStr Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy
title_full_unstemmed Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy
title_short Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy
title_sort basin wide erosion and segmentation of the plio pleistocene forearc basin in central japan revealed by tephro and biostratigraphy
topic Forearc basin fill
Kazusa group
Kurotaki unconformity
mass-transport deposit
Miura group
Pliocene
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-023-00558-y
work_keys_str_mv AT masayukiutsunomiya basinwideerosionandsegmentationofthepliopleistoceneforearcbasinincentraljapanrevealedbytephroandbiostratigraphy
AT itokotamura basinwideerosionandsegmentationofthepliopleistoceneforearcbasinincentraljapanrevealedbytephroandbiostratigraphy
AT atsushinozaki basinwideerosionandsegmentationofthepliopleistoceneforearcbasinincentraljapanrevealedbytephroandbiostratigraphy
AT terumasanakajima basinwideerosionandsegmentationofthepliopleistoceneforearcbasinincentraljapanrevealedbytephroandbiostratigraphy