Low-temperature thermochronometric data from the Japanese Islands and preliminary report on (U–Th)/He ages across NE Japan Arc

Abstract:

A paradox of the deformation pattern in the NE Japan Arc is that the short-term (<10² years) deformation observed by geodetic techniques and the long-term (>10⁴ years) deformation estimated from geomorphic and geologic evidence are different in both rate and/or direction. It has been proposed that elastic deformation released by a megathrust earthquake along the Japanese Trench, could resolve this paradox. However, co-seismic and post-seismic deformation associated with the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake (Mw9.0) has not compensated for the misfit. To understand the physical properties of the crust and mechanism of strain accumulation and release in the NE Japan Arc, more careful and detailed comparisons of deformation using various timescales and methods may provide a fundamental clue. For estimating long-term vertical deformation rates of NE Japan Arc, we performed 1) a compilation of previous low-temperature thermochronometric data in the Japanese Islands and 2) apatite and zircon (U–Th)/He (AHe and ZHe) thermochronometric analyses on the late Cretaceous and Paleogene granitoids across the NE Japan Arc. Both the previous fission-track (FT) and newly obtained AHe ages indicate an obvious contrast in cooling/denudation histories between the fore-arc and back-arc sides of the NE Japan Arc. FT ages of 100–46 Ma and AHe ages of 59–50 Ma in the Abukuma Mountains in the fore-arc side indicate relatively slow cooling/denudation and a stable tectonic setting during the Cenozoic. On the other hand, younger apatite FT ages of 6.1 and 4.6 Ma and AHe ages of 11–1.5 Ma in the Ou Backbone range, Iide-Asahi Mountains, and Echigo Mountains in the back-arc side may reflect rapid cooling/denudation since the latest Miocene or late Pliocene. ZHe ages in the back-arc side range between 54–11 Ma, which is generally consistent with their coexisting AHe ages considering the difference in their closure temperatures.