Lopingian (Late Permian) foraminiferal faunal succession of a Paleo-Tethyan mid-oceanic carbonate buildup: Shifodong Formation in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China

This paper deals with a Lopingian (Late Permian) foraminiferal faunal succession of the Shifodong Formation in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China, which has been geologically interpreted as one of the closed remnants in East Asia of the Paleo‐Tethys Ocean. The Shifodong Formation is the uppermost stratigraphic unit in thick Carboniferous–Permian carbonates of the belt. These carbonates rest upon bases consisting of oceanic island basalt and are widely accepted as having a Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic (seamount‐ or oceanic plateau‐top) origin. Sixteen taxa of fusuline foraminifers and 37 taxa of smaller (non‐fusuline) foraminifers are recognized from the type section of the Shifodong Formation located in the Gengma area of the northern part of the Changning–Menglian Belt. Based on their stratigraphic distribution, three fusuline zones can be established in this section: they are, in ascending order, the Codonofusiella cf. C. kwangsiana Zone, Palaeofusulina minima Zone, and Palaeofusulina sinensis Zone. These three biozones are respectively referable to the Wuchiapingian, early Changhsingian, and late Changhsingian, of which the Wuchiapingian is first recognized in this study in the Changning–Menglian mid‐oceanic carbonates. The present study clearly demonstrates that the foraminiferal fauna in a Paleo‐Tethyan pelagic shallow‐marine environment still maintained high faunal diversity throughout the almost entire Lopingian, although the very latest Permian fauna in the upper part of the Palaeofusulina sinensis Zone of the Shifodong section records a sudden decrease in both faunal diversity and abundance. Moreover, the Shifodong faunas are comparable in diversity with those observed in circum‐Tethyan shelves such as South China. The present Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic foraminiferal faunas are definitely more diversified than coeval mid‐oceanic Panthalassan faunas, which are typically represented by those from the Kamura Limestone in a Jurassic accretionary complex of Southwest Japan. It is suggestive that the Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic buildups presumably supplied a peculiarly hospitable habitat for foraminiferal faunal development in a pelagic paleo‐equatorial condition.     

Preliminary report on Lower Jurassic radiolaria of Gondwana origin from the Kawhia coast, New Zealand

Abstract Well-preserved radiolarians from the Newcastle Group in southwest Kawhia, New Zealand, constitute the first record of Lower Jurassic radiolarians from in situ deposits in high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere on the margin of Gondwana. The radiolarians were extracted from carbonate nodules from five horizons in the Rewarewa Formation and the lower part of the Arawhero Formation, in the Murihiku Terrane. The radiolarian-bearing sequence, which lies within the upper part of the type section of the local Aratauran Stage, is roughly datable as Hettangian-Sinemurian from rare ammonite occurrences. The radiolarian assemblages consist, on average, of 80–90% spumellarians and 10–20% nassellarians. Spumellarians include species of the following genera: Archaeotriastrum, Crucella, Emiluvia (?) Homeoparo-riaella, Orbictilifomaa, Pantanellium, Paronaella (?), Pseudocrucella, PseIIdoheliodiscus, Spon-gostaurus and Spongotrochus. Nassellarians are composed of species of Ragotum, Bipedis, Droltus, Jams (?) Perispyridium (?) Raoultius, Riedelius, Saitoum and Thetis. From data of Lower Jurassic radiolarian faunas of Europe, North America and Japan, the New Zealand fauna shows stronger affinity with those of the European Tethys such as Turkey (e.g. De Wever 1982) and the Northern Alps (Kozur & Mostler 1990) than with faunas from other areas of the circum-Pacific. This connection between the European Tethyan and New Zealand faunas is not well explained by presently accepted continental reconstructions (Smith et al. 1994) for the Early Jurassic.     

Devonian shallow marine ostracods from central Japan

Thirteen ostracod species including two new species, Clavofabellina fukujiensis n. sp. and Bythocypris wangi n. sp., are reported from the Middle Shale Member of the Fukuji Formation, Devonian of central Japan. The ostracods demonstrate species‐links with South China, indicating that the Hida‐Gaien Terrane of central Japan shared biogeographical affinities with the shallow marine faunas of the South China paleocontinent during the Early Devonian.     

Radiolaria‐dated Lower Permian clastic‐rock sequence in the Fukuji area of the Hida‐gaien terrane,central Japan,and its inter‐terrane correlation across Southwest Japan

The stratigraphy and radiolarian age of the Mizuyagadani Formation in the Fukuji area of the Hida‐gaien terrane, central Japan, represent those of Lower Permian clastic‐rock sequences of the Paleozoic non‐accretionary‐wedge terranes of Southwest Japan that formed in island arc–forearc/back‐arc basin settings. The Mizuyagadani Formation consists of calcareous clastic rocks, felsic tuff, tuffaceous sandstone, tuffaceous mudstone, sandstone, mudstone, conglomerate, and lenticular limestone. Two distinctive radiolarian faunas that are newly reported from the Lower Member correspond to the zonal faunas of the Pseudoalbaillella u‐forma morphotype I assemblage zone to the Pseudoalbaillella lomentaria range zone (Asselian to Sakmarian) and the Albaillella sinuata range zone (Kungurian). In spite of a previous interpretation that the Mizuyagadani Formation is of late Middle Permian age, it consists of Asselian to Kungurian tuffaceous clastic strata in its lower part and is conformably overlain by the Middle Permian Sorayama Formation. An inter‐terrane correlation of the Mizuyagadani Formation with Lower Permian tuffaceous clastic strata in the Kurosegawa terrane and the Nagato tectonic zone of Southwest Japan indicates the presence of an extensive Early Permian magmatic arc(s) that involved almost all of the Paleozoic non‐accretionary‐wedge terranes in Japan. These new biostratigraphic data provide the key to understanding the original relationships among highly disrupted Paleozoic terranes in Japan and northeast Asia.     

Japan's earliest ostracods

Mesozoic, Cenozoic and especially Holocene ostracod faunas have been documented from Japan. Not surprisingly, considering the plate tectonic factors at play, very few ostracod faunas are known from its early Paleozoic successions. Our pilot studies have recovered new ostracod assemblages from early Paleozoic terranes of Japan. Acid preparation of carbonates has yielded low diversity, poorly preserved yet significant palaeocopid and podocopid ostracod faunas from Wenlock/Ludlow Series Silurian rocks at Gionyama in the Kurosegawa Terrane, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, and Hitoegane in the Hida‐Gaien Terrane, Gifu Prefecture, Honshu. The ostracod faunas include new eurychilinoid (Pauproles supparata gen. et sp. nov.), hollinoid (Hollinella orienta sp. nov.) and beyrichioid (Clintiella antifrigga sp. nov.) palaeocopid taxa. Conodonts recovered from the same sample as the ostracods from Gionyama confirm a mid‐Silurian age for the part of the Gionyama Formation in question. The ostracod faunas recovered from Gionyama and Hitoegane are the first confirmed, well‐documented record of the group from the Silurian of Japan and are therefore the earliest known ostracods from that country (a previous record of purported Ordovician ostracods from Japan is incorrect). The ostracod taxa display links with the paleocontinents of particularly Laurentia and Baltica and demonstrate a pan‐tropical signature; it appears that climate control was stronger than geographical control in shaping this pattern of ostracod distribution. The material recovered includes adult dimorphic (assumed sexual) pairs of three palaeocopid species, which represent Japan's oldest (423–433 million years) known ‘couples’.     

Mesozoic terranes of the northwest Pacific continental margin (Russia): Radiolarian ages and sedimentary environments

Abstract Geological mapping using detailed tectonic and complex radiolarian analysis revealed significant northward displacement of a number of Russian Far and Northeast Asia terranes. It was recorded that some terranes possibly crossed the equator. Terranes of north-east Russia were composed of different allochthonous formations, ranging in age from Middle Triassic to Maestrichtian-Paleocene and accumulated from the margin to oceanic basins. The Middle to Upper Triassic interval included two formations: (i) volcanogenic, consisting of typical volcanic rocks of the island arcs (up to 800 m thick); and (ii) a chert-limestone-terrigenous one composed of marginal sandstone, siltstone, limestone and tuffic chert (about 400 m). Lower Jurassic allochthonous formations are represented by chert-terrigenous (about 300 m) and jasper-alkaline-basaltic (WPB-type) seamount deposits (about 100 m). Middle Jurassic to Hauterivian allochthonous terranes from the northern part of the Koryak-Kamchatka region include five formations: jasper (bedding jaspers with condensed limestone lenses with Buchias, 80 m), jasper-basalt (with MORB, 100-150 m), ferrotitanic basalt (WPB with lenses of jasper mainly composed of genus Parvicingula, about 75%, 150 m), terrigenous-volcanic (with MORB, IAT, CA basalts and olistostrome, 600 m), tuffic-jasper-basalt (MORB and deposits of arc-trench system, about 500 m) with the same age according to radiolarian data. Aptian? Albian-Maestrichtian ones are predominantly terrigenous-tuffaceous-siliceous. Moreover, the Early and Middle Jurassic faunas of the northwest Pacific margin contain many boreal elements similar to those of New Zealand (Southern Hemisphere), Japan, ODP Site 801. The Late Jurassic faunas of the Koryak and Kamchatka region are mainly North Tethyan and seldom Central Tethyan and are very closely related to those of the Americas. The Tithonian to Early Cretaceous radiolarian are predominantly Central Tethyan and Equatorial in contrast to Boreal Late Cretaceous. The combining in the same region at 60°N Pacific margin of the formations accumulated in different tectonic paleoenvironments and paleoclimatic provinces, is good evidence for the possible significant northward displacement of some terranes in the northwestern Pacific.     

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of Torinosu‐type limestone in the western Paleo‐Pacific and its implication to paleoceanography in the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous was revealed from Torinosu‐type limestone, which was deposited in a shallow‐marine setting in the western Paleo‐Pacific, in Japan. Two sections were examined; the Nakanosawa section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age (Fukushima Prefecture, Northeast Japan), and the Furuichi section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Berriasian age (Ehime Prefecture, Southwest Japan). The age‐model was established using Sr isotope ratio and fossil occurrence. The limestone samples have a low Mn/Sr ratio (mostly <0.5) and lack a distinct correlation between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O, indicating a low degree of diagenetic alteration. Our composite δ¹³C profile from the two limestone sections shows three stratigraphic correlation points that can be correlated with the profiles of relevant ages from the Alpine Tethyan region: a large‐amplitude fluctuation (the lower upper Kimmeridgian, ～152 Ma), a positive anomaly (above the Kimmeridgian/Tithonian boundary, ～150 Ma), and a negative anomaly (the upper lower Tithonian, ～148 Ma). In addition, we found that δ¹³C values of the Torinosu‐type limestone are ～1‰ lower than the Tethyan values in the late Kimmeridgian. This inter‐regional difference in δ¹³C values is likely to have resulted from a higher productivity and/or an organic burial in the Tethyan region. The difference gradually reduces and disappears in the late Tithonian, where the Tethyan and our δ¹³C records show similar stable values of 1.5–2.0‰. This isotopic homogenization is probably due to changes in the continental distribution and the global ocean circulation, which propagated the ¹³C‐depleted signature from the larger Paleo‐Pacific to the smaller Tethys Ocean during this time.     

Latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous radiolarian fauna from the Xialu chert in the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone, southern Tibet: Comparison with coeval western Pacific radiolarian faunas and paleoceanographic implications

Abstract The Xialu chert radiolarian fauna is latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous in age (Pseudodictyomitra carpatica zone) and contains many taxa in common with coeval northern hemisphere middle‐latitude (temperate) radiolarian faunas represented by the Torinosu fauna in southwest Japan. Common elements include Eucyrtidiellum pyramis (Aita), Protunuma japonicus Matsuoka & Yao, Sethocapsa pseudouterculus Aita, Sethocapsa (?) subcrassitestata Aita, Archaeodictyomitra minoensis (Mizutani), Stichocapsa praepulchella Hori and Xitus gifuensis (Mizutani). The Xialu fauna is less similar to low‐latitude (tropical) assemblages represented by the Mariana fauna. For this reason, the Xialu fauna is regarded as representative of a southern hemisphere middle‐latitude (temperate) fauna. A mirror‐image bi‐temperate provincialism to the equator in radiolarian faunas is reconstructed for the Ceno‐Tethys and Pacific Ocean in latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous time.     

Ambiguous biogeographical patterns mask a more complete understanding of the Ordovician to Devonian evolution of Japan

Fossil assemblages of the Ordovician to Devonian successions of Japan suggest complex temporal, environmental and geographical controls on their biogeographical signature. Thus, limited similarity at the species‐level between the trilobite, brachiopod and ostracod faunas of the South Kitakami, Hida‐Gaien and Kurosegawa terranes in part reflects the sporadic stratigraphic distribution of shelly fauna within these terranes. As a result, and with the exception of corals and pan‐tropical radiolarians, species‐level similarities are greater with other regions of East Asia and Australia than amongst the Japanese terranes. The Silurian faunas of the South Kitakami Terrane have affinities with North America, Europe, Central Asia and Australia, but there is no overriding signature to support proximity either to South China or Gondwana. Notably, brachiopod and trilobite faunas of the Middle Devonian suggest strong connections with North China. Trilobite, coral and ostracod faunas of the Hida‐Gaien Terrane show affinity, including at species level, with Siluro‐Devonian faunas from westerly‐situated palaeocontinents, especially those of Central Asian and European affinity, suggesting a continuation of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, or of its associated lithofacies. Greater diversity of groups such as ostracods and trilobites in this terrane may signal closer links with continental shelf faunas of East Asia. The dominant biogeographical signature of the Kurosegawa Terrane is from corals and trilobites, suggesting links with the Siluro‐Devonian of Central Asia, Australia and South China. The variable biogeographic signal of the Japanese faunas may reflect the lifestyles of organisms with different physiologies and larval dispersal mechanisms, as well as the relative incompleteness of the Japanese fossil record. The present state of knowledge of the faunas cautions against placing Japan in relative proximity to the North or South China plates, or of presenting the Japanese terranes as a unified island arc to the north of the South China Plate during the Early Palaeozoic.     

Upper Silurian–Middle Devonian radiolarian zones of the Yokokurayama and Konomori areas in the Kurosegawa Belt, Southwest Japan

Five radiolarian zones, from the Upper Silurian to Middle Devonian, are discriminated from the tuffaceous successions of the Joryu and Nakahata Formations of the Yokokurayama Group of the Yokokurayama area and the Konomori area in the Kurosegawa Belt, Southwest Japan. The definition of the zones is based on the first appearance biohorizon of the characteristic species. The zones are the Pseudospongoprunum sagittatum, Futobari solidus, Trilonche (?) sp. A, Glanta fragilis and Protoholoeciscus hindea zones, in ascending order. The preliminary age assignments for the zones are discussed on the basis of the comparison with other previous documented faunas. The age determination of the formations suggests the presence of unconformities and the episodic sedimentation of the tuffaceous strata in the Yokokurayama Group.     

Late Paleozoic brachiopod faunas of the South Kitakami Belt, northeast Japan, and their paleobiogeographic and tectonic implications

Abstract    Late Paleozoic (Middle Devonian, Early Carboniferous and Middle Permian) brachiopod faunas of the South Kitakami Belt, northeast Japan, are closely related paleobiogeographically to those of the Xinjiang–Inner Mongolia–Jilin region, northwest–northeast China. This relationship suggests that the South Kitakami Belt was part of the trench or continental shelf bordering the northern and eastern margins of North China (Sino-Korea) during the Middle Devonian to Middle Permian times. Among the three models on the origin and tectonic development of the South Kitakami Belt, the strike–slip model is most consistent, but both the microcontinent model and the nappe model have considerable inconsistencies with the above paleobiogeographic and paleogeographic evidence.     

High-resolution terrestrial carbon isotope and planktic foraminiferal records of the Upper Cenomanian to the Lower Campanian in the Northwest Pacific

Making Upper Cretaceous biostratigraphic correlations between the Northwest Pacific and Tethyan–Atlantic sections have been difficult because of rare frequencies of age-diagnostic macro- and microfossils in the sequences in the Northwest Pacific region. In order to correlate these sections precisely, an integrated planktic foraminiferal and bulk wood carbon-isotope stratigraphy from the upper Cenomanian to the lower Campanian succession (the middle–upper part of the Yezo Group) of Hokkaido, northern Japan is established with an average resolution of 50 k.y. The δ¹³C curves from bulk wood of the Yezo Group and from bulk carbonate of English Chalk show remarkably similar patterns of isotopic fluctuation, allowing the correlation of 22 carbon isotopic events between these sections. This high-resolution correlation greatly improves the previous micro- and macrofossil biostratigraphic schemes in the Northwest Pacific region, and reveals that global events, such as the oxygen depletion at the OAE 2 horizon, the constant decrease in pCO₂ during the Late Cretaceous, and the eustatic sea-level falls in the late middle Turonian, Santonian/Campanian Boundary and early Campanian, are recorded in the Upper Cretaceous sequence of the Northwest Pacific.     

Paleomagnetic constraints on Miocene rotation in the central Japan Arc

We present new Middle Miocene paleomagnetic data for the central Japan Arc, and discuss their implications for Miocene rotation. To obtain a refined paleodirection, we made magnetic measurements on basaltic to andesitic lavas and intrusive rocks from 12 sites in the Tsugu volcanic rocks (ca 15 Ma) in the northern part of the Shitara area, Japan. Significant secondary magnetizations in samples with strong magnetic intensities are interpreted as lightning‐induced components. Mean directions carried by magnetite and/or titanomagnetite were determined for all sites. An overall mean direction with a northerly declination was obtained from dual‐polarity site means for nine sites. This direction is indistinguishable from the mean direction for coeval parallel dikes in the northern part of the Shitara area, and also indistinguishable from the Miocene reference direction derived from the paleopole for the North China Block in the Asian continent. These comparisons suggest little or no rotation or latitudinal motion in the study area with respect to the North China Block since 15 Ma. We obtained a refined early Middle Miocene paleodirection (D = 9.7°, I = 52.5°, α₉₅ = 4.8°; 30 sites) and paleopole (82.0°N, 230.8°E, A₉₅ = 5.6°) for Shitara by combining data from the Tsugu volcanic rocks and a coeval dike swarm. An anomalous direction found at three sites could be a record of an extraordinary field during a geomagnetic polarity transition or excursion. Paleomagnetic data from Shitara suggest that: (i) the western wing of the Kanto Syntaxis, a prominent cuspate geologic structure in central Honshu, underwent a counterclockwise rotation with respect to the main part of the southwestern Japan Arc between ca 17.5 Ma and 15 Ma; (ii) collision between the Japan and Izu–Bonin (Ogasawara) Arcs began prior to 15 Ma; and (iii) clockwise rotation of the entire southwestern part of the Japan Arc had ceased by 15 Ma.     

Seasonal variations of stable isotope in precipitation and moisture transport at Yushu,eastern Tibetan Plateau

Precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau, shows strong fluctuation and lack of clear seasonality. The seasonal pattern of precipitation stable isotope at Yushu is apparently different from either that of the southwest monsoon region to the south or that of the inland region to the north. This different seasonal pattern probably reflects the shift of different moisture sources. In this paper, we present the spatial comparison of the seasonal patterns of precipitation δ 18O, and calculate the moisture transport flux by using the NCAR/NCEP reanalysis data. This allows us to discuss the relation between moisture transport flux and precipitation δ 18O. This study shows that both the southwest monsoon from south and inland air mass transport from north affected the seasonal precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Southwest monsoon brings the main part of the moisture, but southwest transport flux is weaker than in the southern part of the Tibetan Plateau. However, contribution of the inland moisture from north or local evaporation moisture is enhanced. The combined effect is the strong fluctuation of summer precipitation δ 18O at Yushu and comparatively poor seasonality.     

Geologic age of the lower Josoji Formation,Shimane Peninsula,Southwest Honshu,Japan: Implications for an abrupt change to deep-water during the earlier opening stage of the Japan Sea

The lower part of the Josoji Formation, Shimane Peninsula, contains clues for figuring out changes in deep-water characteristics during the opening of the Japan Sea. The foraminiferal assemblage includes early to middle Miocene biostratigraphic index taxa such as planktonic foraminiferal Globorotalia zealandica and Globorotaloides suteri. The occurrence of these two species, together with the absence of praeorbulinids, suggests that the lower part of the Josoji Formation is assigned to the top of planktonic foraminiferal Zone N7/M4 (16.39 Ma). The benthic foraminiferal assemblage, which is characterized by Cyclammina cancellata and Martinottiella communis, clearly suggests that the lower Josoji Formation was deposited at bathyal depths, and that it developed in association with the abrupt appearance of deep-sea calcareous forms. Such bathyal taxa are the main constituents of the Spirosigmoilinella compressa–Globobulimina auriculata Zone of the Josoji Formation and also of the Gyrodina–Gyroidinoides Zone at Ocean Drilling Program Site 797 in the Japan Sea. The base of these benthic foraminiferal zones can be correlated with the base of the nannofossil Sphenolithus heteromorphus Base Zone (= CNM6/CN3); thus, its estimated age is 17.65 Ma. This biostratigraphic information suggests that the lower Josoji Formation was deposited from shortly before 17.65–16.39 Ma in upper limit age. Evidence that fresh to brackish and shallow-water basins formed in the rifting interval of 20–18 Ma in the Japan Sea borderland suggests that the abrupt appearance of deep-sea calcareous foraminifera occurred about 1 my earlier in this area than in other sedimentary basins and suggests that a significant paleoceanographic change occurred in the proto-Japan Sea at 17.65 Ma.     

Sedimentary facies and biofacies of the Torinosu Limestone in the Torinosu area,Kochi Prefecture,Japan

The Torinosu Limestone represents carbonate platform deposits in a foreland basin, the sedimentary setting of which is highly different from those of well‐known Late Jurassic reefs in the western Tethys that developed on shelf areas of continental margins and intra‐Tethyan platforms. Sedimentological and paleontological analyses were conducted on a 55.5 m‐thick Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous (Tithonian–Berriasian) carbonate sequence (Torinosu Limestone) at the Eastern Hitotsubuchi Quarry, Kochi Prefecture, Southwest Japan. The carbonate sequence is composed of two sections that are separated by a subaerial exposure surface. Two and three depositional units have been defined in the lower and upper sections, respectively, based on changes in lithology and the biotic composition of the carbonates; they are numbered from 1 to 5, in ascending order. Calcified demosponges (stromatoporoids and a chaetetid Chaetetopsis crinita) are abundant in three units (2, 3, and 5), in which microencrusters (mostly Lithocodium aggregatum and Bacinella irregularis) and microbialites are also common to abundant. Although most of them are para‐allochthonous, in‐situ branching stromatoporoids are found on and above the subaerial exposure surface (unit 3). Corals are less common, poorly diverse, and primarily represented by the family Microsolenidae. Siliciclastic grains occur in all units, but they are particularly common in units 1 and 4. The co‐occurrence of the Lithocodium–Bacinella association, which is typical of oligotrophic or moderately mesotrophic shallow‐water environments, with microsolenids, which are indicative of high nutrient levels and/or low‐light intensity due to high turbidity, suggests repeated changes in nutrient levels associated with terrigenous input. Based on lithology, biotic composition, and succession, we infer that sea‐level changes and related terrigenous input controlled the sedimentary environment of the studied carbonate sequence.     

The research on relationship between wavelet transform on vertical deformation and moderate earthquakes in hexi region, Gansu Province

ＴｈｅｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｏｎｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓｈｉｐｂｅｔｗｅｅｎｗａｖｅｌｅｔｔｒａｎｓｆｏｒｍｏｎｖｅｒｔｉｃａｌｄｅｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｍｏｄｅｒａｔｅｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅｓｉｎＨｅｘｉｒｅｇｉｏｎ,ＧａｎｓｕＰｒｏｖｉｎｃｅＹＯＮＧ－ＺＨ...     

Demarcation and Scaling of Long-term Seismogenesis

A space-time envelope of minor seismicity related to major shallow earthquakes is identified from observations of the long-term Precursory Scale Increase () phenomenon, which quantifies the three-stage faulting model of seismogenesis. The envelope, which includes the source area of the major earthquake, is here demarcated for 47 earthquakes from four regions, with tectonic regimes ranging from subduction to continental collision and continental transform. The earthquakes range in magnitude from 5.8 to 8.2, and include the 24 most recent mainshocks of magnitude 6.4 and larger in the San Andreas system of California, the Hellenic Arc region of Greece, and the New Zealand region, together with the six most recent mainshocks of magnitude 7.4 and larger in the Pacific Arc region of Japan. Also included are the destructive earthquakes that occurred at Kobe, Japan (1995, magnitude 7.2), Izmit, Turkey (1999, magnitude 7.4), and W.Tottori, Japan (2000, magnitude 7.3). The space (A _P ) in the space-time envelope is optimised with respect to the scale increase, while the time (T _P ) is the interval between the onset of the scale increase and the occurrence of the earthquake. A strong correlation is found between the envelope A _P T _P and the magnitude of the earthquake; hence the conclusion that the set of precursory earthquakes contained in the envelope is intrinsic to the seismogenic process. Yet A _P and T _P are correlated only weakly with each other, suggesting that A _P is affected by differences in statical conditions, such as geological structure and lithology, and T _P by differences in dynamical conditions, such as plate velocity. Among other scaling relations, predictive regressions are found between, on the one hand, the magnitude level of the precursory seismicity, and on the other hand, both T _P and the major earthquake magnitude. Hence the method, as here applied to retrospective analysis, is potentially adaptable to long-range forecasting of the place, time and magnitude of major earthquakes.     

A visage of early Paleozoic Japan: Geotectonic and paleobiogeographical significance of Greater South China

The current state of knowledge on the early Paleozoic evolution of Japan is reviewed. Although early Paleozoic Japan marked the foundation of long‐lasting subduction‐related orogenic growth throughout the Phanerozoic, details of this have not been fully revealed. Nevertheless, U‐Pb dating of zircons both in Paleozoic granitoids and sandstones is revealing several new aspects of early Paleozoic Japan. The timing of the major tectonic change, from a passive continental margin setting (Stage I) to an active one (Stage II), was constrained to the Cambrian by identifying the oldest arc granitoid, high‐P/T blueschist, and terrigenous clastics of arc‐related basins. Ages of recycled zircons in granitoids and sandstones provided critical information on the homeland of Japan, i.e. the continental margin along which proto‐Japan began to grow. The early Paleozoic continental margin that hosted the development of an arc‐trench system in proto‐Japan had cratonic basement composed mostly of Proterozoic crust with a minor Archean component. The predominant occurrence of Neoproterozoic zircons in Paleozoic rocks, as xenocrysts in arc granitoids and also as detrital grains in terrigenous clastics, indicates that the relevant continental block was a part of South China, probably forming a northeastern segment of Greater South China (GSC) together with the Khanka/Jiamsi/Bureya mega‐block in Far East Asia. GSC was probably twice as large as the present conterminous South China on mainland Asia. Paleozoic Japan formed a segment of a mature arc‐trench system along the Pacific side of GSC, where the N–S‐trending Pacific‐rim orogenic belt (Nipponides) developed with an almost perpendicular relationship with the E–W‐trending Central Asian orogenic belt. The faunal characteristics of the Permian marine fauna in Japan, both with the Tethyan and Boreal elements, can be better explained than before in good accordance with the relative position of GSC with respect to the North China block during the late Paleozoic.     

Spathian to Aegean (upper Lower Triassic to lower Middle Triassic) carbon isotope stratigraphy constrained by the conodont biostratigraphy of carbonates on top of a mid-oceanic seamount formed in the Panthalassic Ocean

The Taho Formation in western Shikoku Island, Japan, consists of Triassic carbonates that formed on a seamount in the Panthalassic Ocean. In order to investigate the stratigraphy and paleoceanography of this carbonate succession, we analyzed the biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of a 17.6 m-thick section of the upper Taho Formation at the stratotype area in Tahokamigumi, Seiyo City. This section comprises bioclastic limestone containing Triassic bivalves, ammonoids, and conodonts. We recognized six conodont zones (in ascending order): the Novispathodus pingdingshanensis, Novispathodus brevissimus, Triassospathodus symmetricus, Triassospathodus homeri, Chiosella timorensis, and Magnigondolella cf. alexanderi zones. Thus, the studied carbonate succession is latest Smithian to Aegean in age. A δ¹³C profile of this section shows elevated values during the lowest Spathian followed by a gradual negative excursion, a subsequent positive excursion near the Spathian–Aegean boundary, and relatively constant values during the Aegean. The characteristic series of negative and positive excursions correlates with other δ¹³C records for this period, including the peak of the upper Smithian–lowest Spathian positive excursion (P3), lower to middle Spathian negative excursion (N4), and middle Spathian–lowest Aegean positive excursion (P4). This represents a new high-resolution Spathian–Aegean δ¹³C record of the Panthalassic Ocean, for which ages are constrained by conodont biostratigraphy. The Taho δ¹³C profile exhibits a consistent positive offset of ~2 ‰ as compared with those from other regions (i.e., mostly in the Tethyan Ocean). This can be explained by preferential removal of ¹²C from seawater during photosynthesis and calcification by marine organisms over the platform, and/or the relatively high δ¹³C values of dissolved inorganic carbon in the Panthalassic Ocean due to less influence of ¹²C-enriched terrestrial waters and high marine organic production/burial as compared with the more restricted Tethyan Ocean.