The Torinosu Limestone represents carbonate platform deposits in a foreland basin, the sedimentary setting of which is highly different from those of well-known Late Jurassic reefs in the western Tethys that developed on shelf areas of continental margins and intra-Tethyan platforms. Sedimentological and paleontological analyses were conducted on a 55.5 m-thick Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous (Tithonian–Berriasian) carbonate sequence (Torinosu Limestone) at the Eastern Hitotsubuchi Quarry, Kochi Prefecture, Southwest Japan. The carbonate sequence is composed of two sections that are separated by a subaerial exposure surface. Two and three depositional units have been defined in the lower and upper sections, respectively, based on changes in lithology and the biotic composition of the carbonates; they are numbered from 1 to 5, in ascending order. Calcified demosponges (stromatoporoids and a chaetetid Chaetetopsis crinita) are abundant in three units (2, 3, and 5), in which microencrusters (mostly Lithocodium aggregatum and Bacinella irregularis) and microbialites are also common to abundant. Although most of them are para-allochthonous, in-situ branching stromatoporoids are found on and above the subaerial exposure surface (unit 3). Corals are less common, poorly diverse, and primarily represented by the family Microsolenidae. Siliciclastic grains occur in all units, but they are particularly common in units 1 and 4. The co-occurrence of the Lithocodium–Bacinella association, which is typical of oligotrophic or moderately mesotrophic shallow-water environments, with microsolenids, which are indicative of high nutrient levels and/or low-light intensity due to high turbidity, suggests repeated changes in nutrient levels associated with terrigenous input. Based on lithology, biotic composition, and succession, we infer that sea-level changes and related terrigenous input controlled the sedimentary environment of the studied carbonate sequence.

A petrographic study of sandstones from the Miocene Mizunami Group in Central Japan has been performed on core samples from a single borehole, in order to evaluate the provenance of the sedimentary rock. Evaluation of the provenance is based on bulk mineral, heavy mineral and plagioclase contents and on whole rock chemical compositions. The sandstones studied are divisible into three types; the first type is characterized by the occurrence of biotite and plagioclase ranging from albite to oligoclase, the second type is characterized by the dominance of amphibole and labradorite with pyroxene (clinopyroxene > orthopyroxene), and the third type is characterized by the dominance of pyroxene (orthopyroxene > clinopyroxene) and andesine with lesser labradorite, bytownite and anorthite. The first type is interpreted to be derived from the basement granite, whereas the others were derived mostly from volcanic ash, judging from their mineral compositions. The volcanic activity that supplied the volcanic ash to the Mizunami Basin occurred in two phases, distinguishable by variations in their mineralogical and geochemical compositions, an indication of change in character of the volcanic activity. This petrographic study of the sandstones in the Mizunami Group suggests that unrecognized volcanic activity occurred around the Mizunami Basin, even though potential provenance of the volcanic ash has not yet been identified.

Fault slip rate is one of the most important subjects in active tectonics research, which reveals the activity and seismic potential of a fault. Due to the improvement of dating precision with the development of dating methods, Holocene geological markers, even the young markers of thousands or hundreds of years old, are widely used in fault slip rate calculation. Usually, uncertainties from a single event and erosion of the accumulated offsets are involved in fault slip rate determination. Two types of uncertainties are related to a single event; the first is the time elapsed since the latest (the most recent) event; the second is the period since the formation of the geological marker to the occurrence of the first event. High-slip-rate faults are more sensitive to these uncertainties than low-slip-rate faults. In this study, we studied quantitatively the effects of a single event on fault slip rate following the three classic earthquake models: the characteristic earthquake, uniform slip and variable slip models. We suggest that the erosion of the accumulated offset–lateral erosion on a strike-slip fault, should also be considered in fault slip estimation. Therefore, we propose a differential method to obtain a reliable fault slip rate. In the differential method, the slip rate is the ratio of offset differentials and corresponding age differentials between the older and younger terraces along strike-slip faults. This kind of differential method could avoid the uncertainties from the first and latest events, as well as that from the lateral erosion. By applying the differential method, we got the revised slip rates of ∼5–10 mm/year on the Altyn Tagh and Kunlun faults. These low slip rates could fit previous geodetic and geological fault slip rates and shortening rates as well as the millennial recurrence intervals of strong earthquakes along the major segments of these faults.

We present new Middle Miocene paleomagnetic data for the central Japan Arc, and discuss their implications for Miocene rotation. To obtain a refined paleodirection, we made magnetic measurements on basaltic to andesitic lavas and intrusive rocks from 12 sites in the Tsugu volcanic rocks (ca 15 Ma) in the northern part of the Shitara area, Japan. Significant secondary magnetizations in samples with strong magnetic intensities are interpreted as lightning-induced components. Mean directions carried by magnetite and/or titanomagnetite were determined for all sites. An overall mean direction with a northerly declination was obtained from dual-polarity site means for nine sites. This direction is indistinguishable from the mean direction for coeval parallel dikes in the northern part of the Shitara area, and also indistinguishable from the Miocene reference direction derived from the paleopole for the North China Block in the Asian continent. These comparisons suggest little or no rotation or latitudinal motion in the study area with respect to the North China Block since 15 Ma. We obtained a refined early Middle Miocene paleodirection (D = 9.7°, I = 52.5°, α₉₅ = 4.8°; 30 sites) and paleopole (82.0°N, 230.8°E, A₉₅ = 5.6°) for Shitara by combining data from the Tsugu volcanic rocks and a coeval dike swarm. An anomalous direction found at three sites could be a record of an extraordinary field during a geomagnetic polarity transition or excursion. Paleomagnetic data from Shitara suggest that: (i) the western wing of the Kanto Syntaxis, a prominent cuspate geologic structure in central Honshu, underwent a counterclockwise rotation with respect to the main part of the southwestern Japan Arc between ca 17.5 Ma and 15 Ma; (ii) collision between the Japan and Izu–Bonin (Ogasawara) Arcs began prior to 15 Ma; and (iii) clockwise rotation of the entire southwestern part of the Japan Arc had ceased by 15 Ma.

Pyroxenes from the Layered Series (LS), Upper Border Series (UBS), and Marginal Border Series (MBS) of the Skaergaard intrusion were analyzed using electron microprobe and mineral separation techniques to examine geochemical variations. In general, pyroxenes from all three series show similar trends in major elements vs % crystallization: SiO₂, MgO, Al₂O₃, and TiO₂ progressively decrease, FeO and MnO progressively increase, and CaO, Fe₂O₃, and P₂O₅ do not change systematically with differentiation. Pyroxenes in the LS and MBS follow a trend similar to that reported by Wager and Brown. The estimated crystallization temperatures closely follow the general trends of published temperature estimates. Major element variation in Skaergaard pyroxenes shows smooth variations with increasing differentiation, indicating that there was no volumetrically significant injection of new magma into the chamber after the initial emplacement. These results strongly support the idea that the Skaergaard intrusion represents in situ crystallization under a closed system magma chamber.

We describe the mode of occurrence and geochemical characteristics of basalts, in the Khangai–Khentei belt in Mongolia, overlain by Middle Paleozoic radiolarian chert in an extensive accretionary complex. These basalts are greatly enriched in K, Ti, Fe, P, Rb, Ba, Th, and Nb in comparison to the composition of the mid-ocean ridge basalts, indicative of within-plate alkaline type. Ti/Y vs Nb/Y and MnO/TiO₂/P₂O₅ ratios of the basalts also suggest within-plate affinities. Considering the geochemical characteristics as well as the conformable relationship with the overlying radiolarian chert, the alkaline basalts were clearly not continental but formed a pelagic oceanic island. The mode of occurrence and geochemistry of the basalts show that the alkaline basaltic volcanic activity had taken place to form an oceanic island in the Paleozoic pelagic region sufficiently far from continents to allow radiolarian ooze accumulation.

Using the concept of bleaching in optical dating, a new index of sediment sample bleaching percentage (BLP-2) was developed and applied to evaluate sand grain transport from riverine to deep-marine environments. As bleached grains in modern sediments have no optically stimulated luminescence (OSL)/infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signal, bleached and unbleached feldspar grains are distinguished by IRSL intensity. The BLP-2 distribution of present deposits around the Kumano area, on the Pacific coast of central Japan, suggests that sand grains in surface turbidites obtained from the bottom of the Kumano Trough are of flood/storm origin rather than seismogenic origin. The distribution of BLP-2 tentatively suggests sand grain erosion–transport–depositional processes; for example, origin and transport agencies of shelf sand, and influence of coastal erosion on the beach deposit. Although the present BLP analysis is not yet supported by a rigorous statistical test, it is useful to distinguish recent deposition and remobilization of sand grains. Furthermore, if the depositional age and the luminescence age of sand grains are accurately estimated, sand grain transport processes of old (late Quaternary) sediments may be estimated by the methodology similar to that of the present study.