Transtensional deformation at the junction between the Okinawa trough back-arc basin and the SW Japan island arc

Abstract

Abstract The Okinawa trough is a back-arc basin currently forming above the subducting Philippine Sea plate by crustal stretching of the Eurasia lithosphere. Existing geophysical investigations have revealed that the northern part of the Okinawa trough consists of a series of en echelon left-stepping grabens or half-grabens, some of which were formed in Miocene times and are presently inactive. In the Kyushu island, three major zones of extensional deformation are recognized. They are characterized by 20–40 km long sediment-filled basins lying on the hanging-wall side of N60°- to N80°-trending, north- or NW-dipping normal faults. These basins display an en echelon left-stepping arrangement. The ages of faulted rocks, the ages of graben-filling sediments and radiometric ages newly obtained on pseudotachylites associated with normal faulting indicate that extension started at 13 Ma at the southern end of Kyushu and migrated northwards in the middle part of Kyushu (Beppu Bay), where it is still active today. The continentward-dipping, listric geometry inferred in depth for the fault systems is consistent with that of faults imaged by existing seismic profiles obtained off-shore in the Okinawa trough and across the Beppu Bay. The spatial association between Miocene or younger normal faults and pre-Miocene regional low-angle thrust faults suggests the possibility of a reactivation of some of the thrust faults as low-angle detachment faults merging in depth into a mid-crustal partial attachment zone.