Arc–arc collision in the Izu collision zone, central Japan, deduced from the Ashigara Basin and adjacent Tanzawa Mountains

The Pleistocene Ashigara Basin and adjacent Tanzawa Mountains, Izu collision zone, central Japan, are examined to better understand the development of an arc–arc orogeny, where the Izu–Bonin – Mariana (IBM) arc collides with the Honshu Arc. Three tectonic phases were identified based on the geohistory of the Ashigara Basin and the denudation history of the Tanzawa Mountains. In phase I, the IBM arc collided with the Honshu Arc along the Kannawa Fault. The Ashigara Basin formed as a trench basin, filled mainly by thin-bedded turbidites derived from the Tanzawa Mountains together with pyroclastics. The Ashigara Basin subsided at a rate of 1.7 mm/year, and the denudation rate of the Tanzawa Mountains was 1.1 mm/year. The onset of Ashigara Basin Formation is likely to be older than 2.2 Ma, interpreted as the onset of collision along the Kannawa Fault. Significant tectonic disruption due to the arc–arc collision took place in phase II, ranging from 1.1 to 0.7 Ma in age. The Ashigara Basin subsided abruptly (4.6 mm/year) and the accumulation rate increased to approximately 10 times that of phase I. Simultaneously, the Tanzawa Mountains were abruptly uplifted. A tremendous volume of coarse-grained detritus was provided from the Tanzawa Mountains and deposited in the Ashigara Basin as a slope-type fan delta. In phase III, 0.7–0.5 Ma, the entire Ashigara Basin was uplifted at a rate of 3.6 mm/year. This uplift was most likely caused by isostatic rebound resulting from stacking of IBM arc crust along the Kannawa Fault which is not active as the decollement fault by this time. The evolution of the Ashigara Basin and adjacent Tanzawa Mountains shows a series of the development of the arc–arc collision; from the subduction of the IBM arc beneath the Honshu Arc to the accretion of IBM arc crust onto Honshu. Arc–arc collision is not the collision between the hard crusts (massif) like a continent–continent collision, but crustal stacking of the subducting IBM arc beneath the Honshu Arc intercalated with very thick trench fill deposits.