Tectonics and sedimentation around Kashinosaki Knoll: A subducting basement high in the eastern Nankai Trough

Abstract   When seamounts and other topographic highs on an oceanic plate are subducted, they cause significant deformation of the overriding plate and may act as asperities deeper in the seismogenic zone. Kashinosaki Knoll (KK) is an isolated basement high of volcanic origin on the subducting Philippine Sea Plate that will soon be subducted at the eastern Nankai Trough. Seismic reflection imaging reveals a thick accumulation of sediments (∼1200 m) over and around the knoll. The lower portion of the sedimentary section has a package of high-amplitude, continuous reflections, interpreted as turbidites, that lap onto steep basement slopes but are parallel to the gentler basement slopes. Total sediment thickness on the western and northern slopes is approximately 40–50% more than on the summit and southeastern slopes of KK. These characteristics imply that the basal sedimentary section northwest of KK was deposited by infrequent high-energy turbidity currents, whereas the area southeast of KK was dominated by hemipelagic sedimentation over asymmetric basement relief. From the sediment structure and magnetic anomalies, we estimate that the knoll likely formed near the spreading center of the Shikoku Basin in the early Miocene. Its origin differs from that of nearby Zenisu Ridge, which is a piece of the Shikoku Basin crust uplifted along a thrust fault related to the collision of the Izu–Bonin arc and Honshu. KK has been carried into the margin of the Nankai Trough, and its high topography is deflecting Quaternary trench turbidites to the south. When KK collides with the accretionary prism in about 1 My, the associated variations in sediment type and thickness around the knoll will likely result in complex local variations in prism deformation.     

Millennium‐scale recurrent uplift inferred from beach deposits bordering the eastern Nankai Trough,Omaezaki area,central Japan

A flight of Holocene marine terraces on the southwestern coast of Cape Omaezaki of central Japan provides evidence of recurrent millennium‐scale uplift events. We reconstructed the uplift history of these terraces by using facies analysis of drill core and geoslicer samples, environmental analysis of trace fossils, and ¹⁴C age determinations. Coastal uplift can be identified by the displacement of beach deposits such as foreshore deposits, which represent the intertidal swash zone of a wave‐dominated sandy coast. Three levels of former beach deposits facing the Nankai Trough were identified near the coast in the Omaezaki area. The highest of these, dated at about 3020–2880 BC, records a maximum of 2.2–2.7 m of emergence. The middle beach surface, of minimum age 370–190 BC, shows 1.6–2.8 m of emergence. The lowest beach surface, which is older than 1300–1370 AD, records 0.4–1.6 m of emergence. Our analysis of vertical crustal deformation data during the Holocene in this region suggests that rapid and strong uplift was restricted to the southwestern coast of the Omaezaki area and was probably caused by high‐angle thrusting on subsidiary faults branching from the underlying plate boundary megathrust.     

日本南海海槽发生罕遇地震情况下我国华东沿海的海啸危险性研究

基于日本南海海槽地震活动性和历史海啸事件记载的分析,本文对日本南海海槽发生M_W9.1罕遇地震情况下的海啸进行了数值模拟研究.结果表明:该地震可引发初始波幅约10 m的海啸,6个小时后传至浙江沿海,近岸各处波幅为1—2 m;8个小时后靠近上海海岸线,最大波幅约2 m,受地形影响局地爬高至近3 m;11个小时后抵达苏北黄海沿岸,预计波幅普遍在1 m左右.海啸的上岸高度与海岸附近的海深和海岸线的形态密切相关.我国近岸海域地形变化复杂,海湾众多,对海啸波有放大作用,该模拟结果可能比实际传播到近岸时偏小,因此综合评估日本海啸影响我国华东地区的规模m可达1—2级左右.一旦日本南海发生罕遇地震对我国的影响不容忽视,尤其遇上风暴潮与天文大潮叠加,则可能会造成一定程度的海啸灾害.     

Forecast model for great earthquakes at the Nankai Trough subduction zone

An earthquake instability model is formulated for recurring great earthquakes at the Nankai Trough subduction zone in southwest Japan. The model is quasistatic, two-dimensional, and has a displacement and velocity dependent constitutive law applied at the fault plane. A constant rate of fault slip at depth represents forcing due to relative motion of the Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates. The model simulates fault slip and stress for all parts of repeated earthquake cycles, including post-, inter-, pre- and coseismic stages. Calculated ground uplift is in agreement with most of the main features of elevation changes observed before and after the M=8.1 1946 Nankaido earthquake. In model simulations, accelerating fault slip has two time-scales. The first time-scale is several years long and is interpreted as an intermediate-term precursor. The second time-scale is a few days long and is interpreted as a short-term precursor. Accelerating fault slip on both time-scales causes anomalous elevation changes of the ground surface over the fault plane of 100 mm or less within 50 km of the fault trace.     

Variations in sediment thickness and type along the northern Philippine Sea Plate at the Nankai Trough

Abstract   We documented regional and local variations in basement relief, sediment thickness, and sediment type in the Shikoku Basin, northern Philippine Sea Plate, which is subducting at the Nankai Trough. Seismic reflection data, tied with ocean drilling program drill cores, reveal that variations in the incoming sediment sequences are correlated with basement topography. We mapped the three-dimensional seismic facies distribution and measured representative seismic sequences and units. Trench-parallel seismic profiles show three regional provinces in the Shikoku Basin that are distinguished by the magnitude of basement relief and sediment thickness: Western (<200–400 m basement relief, >600 m sediment thickness), Central (>1500 m relief, ∼2000 m sediments), and Eastern (<600 m relief, ∼1200 m sediments) provinces. The total thickness of sediment in basement lows is as much as six times greater than that over basement highs. Turbidite sedimentation in the Shikoku Basin reflects basement control on deposition, leading to the local presence or absence of turbidite units deposited during the middle Oligocene to the middle Miocene. During the first phase of sedimentation, most basement lows were filled with turbidites, resulting in smooth seafloor morphology that does not reflect basement relief. A second phase of turbidite deposition in the Eastern Province was accompanied by significant amounts of hemipelagic sediments interbedded with turbidite layers compared to the other provinces because of its close proximity to the Izu–Bonin Island Arc. Both regional and local variations in basement topography and sediment thickness/type have caused lateral heterogeneities on the underthrusting plate that will, in turn, influence lateral fluid flow along the Nankai accretionary prism.     

Overview of Holocene Tsunami Deposits along the Nankai,Suruga, and Sagami Troughs,Southwest Japan

Tsunami deposits provide a basis for reconstructing Holocene histories of great earthquakes and tsunamis on the Pacific Coast of southwest Japan. The deposits have been found in the past 15 years at lakes, lagoons, outcrops, and archaeological excavations. The inferred tsunami histories span 3000 years for the Nankai and Suruga Troughs and nearly 10,000 years for the Sagami Trough. The inferred histories contain recurrence intervals of variable length. The shortest of these —100–200 years for the Nankai Trough, 150–300 years for the Sagami Trough — resemble those known from written history of the past 1000–1500 years. Longer intervals inferred from the tsunami deposits probably reflect variability in rupture mode, incompleteness of geologic records, and insufficient research. The region's tsunami history could be clarified by improving the geologic distinction between tsunami and storm, dating the inferred tsunamis more accurately and precisely, and using the deposits to help quantify the source areas and sizes of the parent earthquakes.     

Dewatering and extensional deformation of the Shikoku Basin hemipelagic sediments in the Nankai Trough

The Shikoku Basin hemipelagic sequence, which underlies the Nankai Trough wedge, S.W. Japan, thins by 50% between the outer edge of the trench wedge and DSDP Site 582, 14 km arcward. A sedimentation model, which incorporates changes in sedimentation rates with time and with distance from the trench wedge toe, indicates that 57% of the total thinning occurs as a result of temporally varying sedimentation rates and a time transgressive facies boundary between the trench wedge turbidites and the underlying hemipelagites. Burial-induced consolidation beneath the wedgeshaped turbiditic overburden, accounts for the remaining 43% of arcward thinning within the hemipelagic unit. Rapid dewatering, modeled as one-dimensional consolidation suggests that the excess pore water pressures are quite low during this progressive dewatering. Thus, high pore water pressures should not be assumed to occur universally in convergent margin settings. Normal faults and vein structures in the hemipelagites suggest near-horizontal extension in addition to vertical consolidation. The estimates of excess pore water pressures together with fault geometries and horizontal extensional strains, determined from the geometry of the subducting oceanic plate, can be used to constrain the stress conditions at failure. The expulsion of hot water from the rapidly dewatering sediments in the Nankai Trough may help to explain anomalously high heat flow in the central part of the trough.     

Rejuvenated extension of the Philippine Sea plate and its effect on subduction dynamics in the Nankai Trough

The Nankai Trough, Japan, is a subduction zone characterized by the recurrence of disastrous earthquakes and tsunamis. Slow earthquakes and associated tremor also occur intermittently and locally in the Nankai Trough and the causal relationship between slow earthquakes and large earthquakes is important to understanding subduction zone dynamics. The Nankai Trough off Muroto, Shikoku Island, near the southeast margin of the rupture segment of the 1946 Nankai earthquake, is one of three regions where slow earthquakes and tremor cluster in the Nankai Trough. On the Philippine Sea plate, the rifting of the central domain of the Shikoku Basin was aborted at ~15 Ma and underthrust the Nankai forearc off Muroto. Here, the Tosa-Bae seamount and other high-relief features, which are northern extension of the Kinan Seamount chain, have collided with and indented the forearc wedge. In this study, we analyzed seismic reflection profiles around the deformation front of accretionary wedge and stratigraphically correlated them to drilling sites off Muroto. Our results show that the previously aborted horst-and-graben structures, which were formed around the spreading center of the Shikoku Basin at ~15 Ma, were rejuvenated locally at ~6 Ma and more regionally at ~3.3 Ma and have remained active since. The reactivated normal faulting has enhanced seafloor roughness and appears to affect the locations of slow earthquakes and tremors. Rejuvenated normal faulting is not limited to areas near the Nankai Trough, and extends more than 200 km into the Shikoku Basin to the south. This extension might be due to extensional forces applied to the Philippine Sea plate, which appear to be driven by slab-pull in the Ryukyu and Philippine trenches along the western margin of the Philippine Sea plate.     

Structure of the Nankai accretionary prism as revealed from IZANAGI sidescan imagery and multichannel seismic reflection profiling

Abstract The Nankai accretionary prism, off southwest Japan represents one of the best developed clastic prisms in the world. A combination of swath mapping including Sea Beam and 'IZANAGI' sidescan sonar and closely spaced seismic reflection data was used to investigate the relationship between the progressive landward change in surface morphology and the internal structural evolution of the prism. The prism surface is divided into three zones sub-parallel to the trough axis on the basis of the IZANAGI backscattering image. The frontal part of the prism is characterized by several continuous lineaments that are approximately perpendicular to the plate convergence direction. These lineaments correspond to anticlinal ridges caused by active imbricate thrusting. Landward, these anticlinal ridges become progressively masked by fine-grained hemipelagic slope sediments that are constantly supplied to the entire prism slope. However, these overlying sediments show little deformation. This implies a change in deformation style from frontal thrusting with fault-bend folds to internal refolding of thrust sheets. In the middle to upper prism slope, the IZANAGI image shows numerous landslide features and large fault scarps, suggesting that exposed sediments are lithified enough to fail in brittle mode compared with the wet sediment deformation at the prism toe. Prism evolution is strongly affected by the decollement depth which may be indirectly controlled by oceanic basement relief; a topographic embayment coincides with a regional minimum of sediment offscraping where a basement high has been subducted. The small tapered prism observed in the embayment may be due to lateral supply of overpressured pore fluids from the adjacent prism. Strain caused by the differential rate of prism growth across the basement relief forms faults trending at high angles to the trough axis.     

Deformable backstop as seaward end of coseismic slip in the Nankai Trough seismogenic zone

Wide-angle seismic surveys performed in the last decade have clarified the 3-D crustal structure along the Nankai Trough. The geometry and velocity structure of the southwestern Japan subduction zone are now well constrained. Comparing these observations with the rupture distribution of historic great thrust earthquakes, it appears that the coseismic rupture occurred along plate boundaries deeper than the wedge/backstop boundary (the boundary between the Neogene-Quaternary accretionary wedge and the crust forming the backstop). From the view of spatial relationship, both rupture distributions of the last two large events and the crust forming the backstop are considerably retreated from the trough axis in the west and east off the Kii Peninsula. In both areas, seamount or ridge subduction is apparent in seismic results, geomorphological data and geomagnetic data. The landward indentation of the deformable backstop, which corresponds to the crustal block of old accreted sediments, may be formed by seamount subduction according to published results of sandbox modeling. In particular, the subducted seamount may be a structural factor affecting the recession of the crustal block forming the backstop.     

The origin of strata within the inner accretionary prism of Nankai Trough: Evidence from clay mineral assemblages along the NanTroSEIZE transect

One of the more prominent architectural elements of the Nankai subduction margin, offshore southwest Japan, is an out‐of‐sequence thrust fault (megasplay) that separates the inner accretionary prism from the outer prism. The inner prism (hanging wall of the megasplay) is dominated by mudstone, which is enigmatic when the sedimentary facies is compared to coeval deposits in the Shikoku Basin (i.e. inputs from the subducting Philippine Sea plate) and to coarser‐grained turbidite sequences from the Quaternary trench wedge. Clay mineral assemblages amplify the mismatches of sedimentary facies. Mudstones from the inner prism are uniformly depleted in smectite, with average bulk values of 23–24 wt%, whereas the Shikoku Basin deposits show progressive decreases in proportions of smectite over time, from averages of 46–48 wt% at 10 Ma to 17–21 wt% at 1 Ma. Plate‐boundary reconstructions for the Philippine Sea region provide one solution to the conundrum. Between 15 Ma and 10 Ma, the Pacific plate subducted near the NanTroSEIZE transect, and a trench‐trench‐trench triple junction migrated to the northeast. Accretion during that period involved sediments that had been deposited on the Pacific plate. Motion of the Philippine Sea plate changed from 10 Ma to 6 Ma, resulting in sinistral slip along the proto‐Nankai Trough. Sediments accreted during that period probably had been deposited near the triple junction, with a hybrid detrital provenance. Renewed subduction of the Philippine Sea plate at 6 Ma led to reorganization of watersheds near the Izu–Honshu collision zone and gradual incision of large submarine canyons on both sides of the colliding Izu arc. Accreted Pliocene mudstones share more of an affinity to the triple junction paleoenvironment than they do to Shikoku Basin. These differences between subducting Shikoku Basin strata and accreted Pacific plate sediments have important implications for interpretations of frictional properties, structural architecture, and diagenetic fluid production.     

The 24 May 2014 (Mw6.8) earthquake (North Aegean Trough): Spatiotemporal evolution,source and slip model from teleseismic data

We use teleseismic data to calculate the source model of the 24 May 2014 earthquake and regional catalogues to examine the spatial-temporal characteristics of the sequence. The sequence started in Saros Basin but almost simultaneously aftershocks spread along a ∼200 km zone, activating the entire North Aegean Trough. The aftershock sequence was rich in moderate (M < 4) size events, but very deficient in strong events – only two Mw4.9 aftershocks-a characteristic observed in previous sequences in the region. The teleseismic waveforms were best fit by two sub-events, which were lagged by 18 s in time and by a 50 km jump in space, along the same fault line. The centroid depth of the first sub-event is 22 km, at the base of the lower crust, and for the second is 14 km. The resolved total source time function is ∼30 s. The finite-fault slip model is characterized by an asymmetric bilateral rupture propagation, to the west and east of the hypocentre. The major slip is confined downdip from the hypocentre, within the deeper 12–25 km part. This deep slip migrated updip from the hypocentre to form the second slip patch, in the eastward segment. In all our models the maximum dislocation was of the order of 1 m. For our preferred model parametrization, the rupture speed is 3 km/s, and the scalar moment equal to 1.76 × 10¹⁹ Nm (Mw6.8). This earthquake highlighted the fact that strike-slip faulting in the North Aegean Sea, can attain large lengths and activate very wide zones, reaching densely populated regions.     

Hydrothermal sediments associated with a relict back-arc spreading center in the Shikoku Basin, recovered from the Nankai accretionary prism, Japan

The hemipelagic mudrocks of the Nankai accretionary prism, Japan, contain hydrothermal deposits associated with a relict spreading center in the Shikoku Basin. Initial work on core samples from Ocean Drilling Program site 808 found several samples with elevated concentrations of calcium, magnesium, iron and manganese, at depths of between 1060 and 1111 m below sea floor. However, the origin of these sediments was uncertain, due to a lack of data. There was no recorded evidence of whether these elevated concentrations were present throughout this interval of core, or if they were present as discrete layers with the background hemipelagic mudrocks in between. In the present study the core was resampled, and the sediments with anomalous chemical compositions were found to be present in discrete layers. This fact, along with a detailed interpretation of their geochemistry, has allowed them to be identified as hydrothermal sediments, associated with the relict spreading center in the Shikoku Basin. The lower (older) two layers display a chemical composition typical of umbers, while the upper (younger) two layers are metalliferous mudrocks typical of deposits found further from the spreading center.     

An integrated geodynamic model of the Nankai subduction zone and neighboring regions from geophysical inversion and modeling

I investigate large-scale deep crustal structures of the Nankai subduction zone and neighboring region using regional magnetic and gravity anomalies, heat flow measurements, and earthquake hypocenters. It is found that ages, dip angles, and geothermal states of the subducting slab have direct influences on mantle wedge serpentinization. The weakest serpentinization observed in the Nankai forearc region is associated with the youngest downgoing plate of the Shikoku Basin. Conspicuous gravity anomalies identified in the forearc region are coincidental spatially with magnetic anomalies after the reduction to the pole, a mathematical procedure that helps relocate magnetic sources and boundaries, and allows us to more easily interpret magnetic data. It is argued that these patches of magnetic and gravity anomalies are caused by the same sources of anomalous density and magnetization, and are linked directly to preexisting structures such as magnetic anomalies and their boundaries in the subducting oceanic crust. Since the gravity and magnetic anomaly patches are found to be closely related to interplate seismogenic behaviors in the Nankai subduction zone, I suggest that major magnetic boundaries in the Shikoku Basin are likely weak places for slab tears that trigger seismic segmentations along the subduction zone.     

Simple Spring-mass Model Simulation of Earthquake Cycle along the Nankai Trough in Southwest Japan

— Along the Nankai trough in southwest Japan, due to the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate, great earthquakes have occurred repeatedly. The rupture zone is divided into five segments. Historical documents show the characteristic features of the past several earthquake cycles, such as almost simultaneous rupture occurrence in segments in spite of different convergence rates, the recurrence time of 90 to 150 years, the existence of segment pairing in earthquake ruptures and the different coseismic slip behaviors in respective segments. Based on the rate and state friction law, we simulate these features with a simple block-spring model to investigate the physical mechanisms of earthquake cycle. Considering the actual fault parameters related to the geometry and the kinematics of the convergent plate in five segments, we calculate the model parameters for the corresponding blocks in the simulation. The features of the observed earthquake cycle are successfully reproduced by assigning the other following model parameters; (1) the stick-slip periods are the same (more than 150 years) for non-interacting blocks, (2) the different pairs of frictional parameters a-b and D _c are assigned in each segment, (3) the interactions between segments are large, (4) the convergence rate in the eastern Tokai segment is about half of those in the other segments.     

Great earthquake at 7.3 ka inferred from tsunami deposits in the Sukumo Bay area,Southwestern Japan

Tsunami deposits in Kyushu Island, Southwestern Japan, have been attributed to the 7.3 ka Kikai caldera eruption, but their origin has not been confirmed. We analyzed an 83-cm-thick Holocene event deposit in the SKM core, obtained from incised valley fill in the coastal lowlands near Sukumo Bay, Southwestern Shikoku Island. We confirmed that the event deposit contains K-Ah volcanic ash from the 7.3 ka eruption. The base of the event deposit erodes the underlying inner-bay mud, and the deposit contains material from outside the local terrestrial and marine environment, including angular quartz porphyry from a small inland exposure, oyster shell debris, and a coral fragment. Benthic foraminifers and ostracods in the deposit indicate various habitats, some of which are outside Sukumo Bay. The sand matrix contains low-silica volcanic glass from the late stage of the Kikai caldera eruption. We also documented the same glass in an event deposit in the MIK1 core, from the incised Oyodo River valley in the Miyazaki Plain on Southeastern Kyushu. These two 7.3 ka tsunami deposits join other documented examples that are widely distributed in Southwestern Japan including the Bungo Channel and Beppu Bay in Eastern Kyushu, Tachibana Bay in Western Kyushu, and Zasa Pond on the Kii Peninsula as well as around the caldera itself. The tsunami deposits near the caldera have been divided into older and younger 7.3 ka tsunami deposits, the younger ones matching the set of widespread deposits. We attribute the younger 7.3 ka tsunami deposits to a large tsunami generated by a great interplate earthquake in the Northern part of the Ryukyu Trench and (or) the Western Nankai Trough just after the late stage of the Kikai caldera eruption and the older 7.3 ka tsunami deposits to a small tsunami generated by an interplate earthquake or Kikai caldera eruption.     

川滇菱形块体东边界库仑应力演化及强震发生概率估算

本研究基于分层黏弹介质模型,考虑强震或大地震同震位错、震后黏滞松弛及主断层段震间构造应力加载三方面效应,给出1480年以来,川滇菱形块体东边界鲜水河断裂带、安宁河断裂带、则木河断裂带和小江断裂带共20个断层段由三方面效应引起的累积库仑应力变化随时间的演化,分析强震间相互作用和强震发生的应力累积背景,定性分析各断层段的地震危险性.同时,分别采用现今台网地震目录和川滇菱形块体东边界各断层段强震复发间隔两种资料,定量计算2030年各断层段的强震发生概率;并基于摩擦本构理论,将周边强震引起的库仑应力变化量作为应力扰动,修正强震发生概率的计算结果.各断层段累积库仑应力演化的结果表明,鲜水河断裂带中部八美段、色拉哈段及南部磨西段、安宁河断裂带冕宁-西昌段、小江断裂带北部巧家-东川段和南部建水段的累积库仑应力显著增加.修正的强震发生概率计算结果显示,鲜水河断裂带中部八美-色拉哈-康定一带、安宁河断裂带冕宁-西昌段、小江断裂带南部华宁-建水一带强震发生概率较高,地震危险性值得关注.本研究基于库仑应力演化计算定性分析强震危险性的同时,基于摩擦本构律理论,结合地震引起的应力扰动和强震发生背景,定量计算修正的强震发生概率,为川滇菱形块体东边界强震危险地点及中长期发震紧迫程度判定提供方法和依据.

     

Benthic foraminifera and bottom water evolution in the middle-southern Okinawa Trough during the last 18 ka

Changes of the deep-water circulation and chemicalcompositions in related water masses in the oceanshave played a significant role in the evolution of theglobal climate system[1].Many studies have shownthat the characteristics of the deep-water during theglaciations were distinctly different from that of to-day[2,3].In the northern Pacific,Duplessy et al.[4]foundthat the ventilation of the deep-water(at water depthbetween700―2600m)during the last glaciation wasstronger than that of today,and …     

The eastern and western ends of Nankai Trough: results of Box 5 and Box 7 Kaiko survey

Seabeam mapping and detailed geophysical surveying have been conducted over the Nankai Trough where the fossil Shikoku Ridge is subducted below southwest Japan. The geometry of the oceanic lithosphere bending under the margin as well as the three-dimensional structure of the accretionary prism have thus been determined in detail. Three 350° trending, probably transform faults have been identified in the area of the survey. They do not extend further south and appear to be limited to the last phase of spreading within the Shikoku Basin, probably between 15 and 12 Ma; this last phase of spreading would then have been accompanied by a sharp change in spreading direction from east-west to N 350°. The two eastern transform faults limit a zone of reduced Nankai trench fill of turbidites opposite to the Tosa Bae Embayment. This observation suggests that the Tosa Bae Embayment actually results from this reduced supply of trench fill to the imbricate thrusting process. The accretionary prism can be divided into three different tectonic provinces separated by continuous mappable thrusts, the Lower and Upper Main Thrusts. Surface shortening is limited to the lower accretionary prism south of the Upper Main Thrust (UMT) whereas uplift with possible extension characterizes the prism above the UMT. Deformation, due to the relative plate motion, mostly affects the lower accretionary prism south of the UMT.     

The versatility of petrological modeling: Thermobarometry of high-pressure metabasites from the Renge and Sanbagawa belts and phase evolution during warm subduction at Nankai

Petrological modeling is a powerful technique to address different types of geological problems via phase-equilibria predictions at different pressure–temperature-composition conditions. Here, we show the versatility of this technique by (1) performing thermobarometrical calculations using phase equilibrium diagrams to explore the petrological evolution of high-pressure (HP) metabasites from the Renge and Sanbagawa belts, Japan and (2) forward-modeling the mineral–melt evolution of the subducted fresh and altered oceanic crust along the Nankai subduction zone geotherm at the Kii peninsula, Japan. In the first case, we selected three representative samples from these metamorphic belts: a glaucophane eclogite and a garnet glaucophane schist from the Renge belt (Omi area) and a quartz eclogite from the Sanbagawa belt (Besshi area). We calculated the peak metamorphic conditions at ~2.0–2.3 GPa and ~550–630 °C for the HP metabasites from the Renge belt, whereas for the quartz eclogite, the peak equilibrium conditions were calculated at 2.5–2.8 GPa and ~640–750 °C. According to our models, the quartz eclogite experienced partial melting after peak metamorphism. In terms of the petrological evolution of the subducted uppermost portion of the oceanic crust along the warm Nankai geotherm, our models show that fluid release occurs at ~20–60 km, likely promoting high pore-fluid pressure, and thus, seismicity at these depths; dehydration is controlled by chlorite breakdown. Our petrological models predict partial melting at >60 km, mainly driven by phengite and amphibole breakdown. According to our models, the melt proportion is relatively small, suggesting that slab anatexis is not an efficient mechanism for generating voluminous magmatism at these conditions. Modeled melt compositions correspond to high-SiO₂ adakites; these are similar to compositions found in the Daisen and Sambe volcanoes, in southwest Japan, suggesting that the modeled melts may serve as an analog to explain adakite petrogenesis.