*MA Bowen1, Sachi Wakasa2, Tatsuya Ishiyama1, Tomoo Echigo3
(1.Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 2.Institute of Regional Innovation, Hirosaki University, 3.Kankyo Chishitsu Co., Ltd)
Northeast (NE) Japan is one of the most active convergence zones in the world where deformed marine terraces are well developed and potentially record long-term permanent deformation data of the overriding plate above subducting Pacific plate in 105 to 106 yrs timescales. Whereas ages of marine terraces along the NE Japan coasts are well defined based on tephrochronology (c.f., Miyauchi, 1988; Koike and Machida (eds), 2001), those lacking robust evidence for chronology complicate correlations of marine terraces and determination of long-term uplift rates. In this study, we carried out terrestrial in-situ cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al dating to estimate exposure ages of strath surfaces of middle marine terraces and to determine uplift rates in the study region. We collected five samples at Fuka’ura and Murakami areas from middle marine terraces distributed along the coast of Japan Sea. These survey areas are suitable for 10Be and 26Al dating because marine terraces are erosional surfaces commonly underlain by quartz-rich basement rocks. Before sample collection, we identified and mapped middle marine terraces using topographic maps (at a scale of 1:2,5000), stereopairs interpretations, and a 1 to 2 m grid Digital Elevation Model (DEM). At Iwagasaki site in Murakimi, we collected two samples of saprolites within weathered late Cretaceous granitic rocks from a 40-cm deep small pit excavated on the terrace surface. At Yukiaizaki site in Fuka’ura, we also collected three samples from outcrops on the middle marine terrace surfaces comprised by Miocene quartz-rich rhyolite. After several chemical processes including purification and physical processes, we will carry out 10Be/9Be and 26Al/27Al Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) for the samples using tandem accelerators. 10Be and 26Al concentrations in quartz calculated from the measured 10Be/9Be and 26Al/27Al ratios will be used for estimating exposure ages whereby considering site effects of the sample sites. Our goal is to estimate exposure ages of the marine terraces based on 10Be and 26Al dating and long-term uplift rates of these rocky coasts which could lead to understanding of permanent strains accommodated by underlying active thrusts in response to plate subduction processes.
References:
Miyauchi, T., 1988, Correlation and chronology of the late Pleistocene marine terraces in northern northeast Japan. Geographical Review of Japan, Ser. A, 61A, 404-422.
K. Koike, H. Machida (Eds.), Atlas of Quaternary Marine Terraces in the Japanese Islands, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo (2001), p. 105(in Japanese)