Tanayama Terrace: A Multidisciplinary Study of an Arc-Arc Collision Front

Geologic phenomena on active plate margins show large diversity reflecting complex tectonic processes. Among them, arc-arc collisions bring about the highest level of impact on the long-term environmental changes and the mass balance around the surface of the globe. This book is aiming at unraveling the intriguing tectonic time-line of an arc-arc collision front based on authentic field geology and the latest methods of geophysics. Integrating surface processes described by means of stratigraphy, sedimentology and structural geology, and 3D views of deep interiors of sedimentary basins obtained through gravity anomaly study and numerical modeling, we elucidate the spatiotemporal distribution of tectonic episodes. A case study is presented for a Plio-Pleistocene event sedimentary unit, Tanayama Formation, on an uplifted river terrace facing an intensive collision zone between the southwestern and northeastern Japan arcs in the Quaternary. Our multidisciplinary analysis should be thought-provoking for corporate experts, university staffs, graduate and undergraduate students engaged in geologic survey, and should be especially useful to professionals in the field of active tectonics.

Yasuto Itoh obtained his PhD degree in geology in 1989. Engaged in tectonics on plate margins and is a member of national project for active fault survey. Shigekazu Kusumoto was awarded PhD in geophysics from Kyoto University. Studied tectonophysics using numerical modeling. Toshiaki Uda was awarded MSc in geophysics from the University of Toyama.