Submerged reefal deposits near a present‐day northern limit of coral reef formation in the northern Ryukyu Island Arc,northwestern Pacific Ocean     

HIROKI MATSUDA  KOHSAKU ARAI  HIDEAKI MACHIYAMA  YASUFUMI IRYU  YOSHIHIRO TSUJI 《Island Arc》2011,20(3):411-425

High‐resolution single‐channel seismic reflection surveys were carried out in the northern Ryukyu Island Arc during an NT05‐14 cruise of the R/V Natsushima. The survey area is located northeast of Amami Oshima and southwest of Kikai Shima immediately south of the current northern limit of coral reef formation in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The main purpose of the surveys was to ascertain whether coral reefs formed during glacial periods and, if so, to determine their three‐dimensional distribution. We collected 784 km of high‐resolution single‐channel seismic data during the cruise. The acoustic basement is clearly observed under the Amami Spur, off Amami Oshima. The seismic profiles show two anticlines, each with an axis trending northeast to southwest. Thin Quaternary stratified sediment overlies the acoustic basement in the northwestern and southeastern slope areas, as well as between the anticlinal axes. The stratified sediment can be divided into several sedimentary units. The mound‐shaped reflections are found within the stratified sedimentary units in the central to eastern parts of the spur. Because the mound‐shaped reflections are characterized by strong reflections and chaotic internal structures in profiles, they are considered biogenic ‘reefs’ or banks consisting of coarse‐grained bioclasts. They overlie the acoustic basement or stratified sediment and reach 15 m in thickness and 400 m in width. In contrast, irregularly shaped topographic highs were detected at the shelf edge southwest off Kikai Shima, which are likely to be remnants of coral reefs formed during the last glacial period. Our seismic data indicate probable coral reef formation at low stands during glacial stages, such as the Last Glacial Maximum, even in the northern Central Ryukyus. The occurrence of drowned reefs may indicate that their growth rate was not sufficient to keep up with a rapid rise in sealevel after a glacial period.  相似文献   

Tyatya Volcano, southwestern Kuril arc: Recent eruptive activity inferred from widespread tephra   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

MITSUHIRO  NAKAGAWA  YOSHIHIRO  ISHIZUKA †  TAKASHI  KUDO  MITSUHIRO  YOSHIMOTO ‡  WATARU  HIROSE  YOSHIO  ISHIZAKI  NOBUO  GOUCHI  YOSHIO  KATSUI  ALEXANDER W.  SOLOVYOW  GENRIKH S.  STEINBERG  ARSLAN I.  ABDURAKHMANOV 《Island Arc》2002,11(4):236-254

Abstract Tyatya Volcano, situated in Kunashir Island at the southwestern end of Kuril Islands, is a large composite stratovolcano and one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril arc. The volcanic edifice can be divided into the old and the young ones, which are composed of rocks of distinct magma types, low‐ and medium‐K series, respectively. The young volcano has a summit caldera with a central cone. Recent eruptions have occurred at the central cone and at the flank vents of the young volcano. We found several distal ash layers at the volcano and identified their ages and sources, that is, tephras of ad 1856, ad 1739, ad 1694 and ca 1 Ka derived from three volcanoes of Hokkaido, Japan, and caad 969 from Baitoushan Volcano of China/North Korea. These could provide good time markers to reveal the eruptive history of the central cone, which had continued intermittently with Strombolian eruptions and lava flow effusions since before 1 Ka. Relatively explosive eruptions have occurred three times at the cone during the past 1000 years. We revealed that, topographically, the youngest lava flows from the cone are covered not by the tephra of ad 1739 but by that of ad 1856. This evidence, together with a report of dense smoke rising from the summit in ad 1812, suggests that the latest major eruption with lava effusion from the central cone occurred in this year. In 1973, after a long period of dormancy, short‐lived phreatomagmatic eruptions began to occur from fissure vents at the northern flank of the young volcano. This was followed by large eruptions of Strombolian to sub‐Plinian types occurring from several craters at the southern flank. The 1973 activity is evaluated as Volcanic Explosivity Index = 4 (approximately 0.2 km³), the largest eruption during the 20th century in the southwestern Kuril arc. The rocks of the central cone are strongly porphyritic basalt and basaltic andesite, whereas the 1973 scoria is aphyric basalt, suggesting that magma feeding systems are definitely different between the summit and flank eruptions.  相似文献