Skip to main content

Volume 57 Supplement 12

Special Issue: Modelling the Earth’s Magnetic Field: the 10th Generation IGRF

Gravity and density variations of the tilted Tottabetsu plutonic complex, Hokkaido, northern Japan: implications for subsurface intrusive structure and pluton development

Abstract

An exposed cross section of the tilted Tottabetsu plutonic complex allows direct evaluation of its original 2-D cross-sectional shape and pretilting vertical density variations in both the pluton and the country rocks, which serves as a strong constraint in gravity modeling that complements information on the ’missing’ pretilting horizontal dimension of this tilted pluton. The pluton is stratified with the uppermost thin granitic unit (≈1-km thick) and the underlying thick gabbro-diorite units (≈9-km thick) that preserve a stratigraphic record of numerous hotter replenishments in the form of alternation of originally horizontal mafic sheets and cumulate layers. Both the pluton and the country rocks show systematic density increase with pretilting crustal depth, but density contrast of the pluton with the country rocks varies between each unit. The 2-D cross-sectional shape and gravity analysis revealed that the pluton had a vertically-elongated shape with vertical side walls before tilting. The vertical side walls, together with the stack of the originally horizontal sheets and cumulate layers, suggests that the pluton grew only vertically by piston mechanism. The very thick, exposed cross section provides unequivocal evidence for development of such a pluton with this unusual shape and mass distribution, which has been inferred elsewhere only by some geophysical studies.

References

  • Ameglio, L. and J. L. Vigneresse, Geophysical imaging of the shape of granitic intrusions at depth: a review, Understanding Granites: Integrating New and Classical Techniques, edited by A. Castro, C. Fernandez and J. L. Vigneresse, Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Pub., 168, 39–54, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachl, C. A., C. F. Miller, J. S. Miller, and J. E. Faulds, Construction of a pluton: evidence from an exposed cross section of the Searchlight pluton, Eldorado Mountains, Nevada, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 113, 1213–1228, 2001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, K., R. B. Trumbull, and T. Vietor, Geophysical images and a crustal model of intrusive structures beneath the Messum ring complex, Namibia, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 216, 65–80, 2003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bott, M. H. P. and D. A. Tantrigoda, Interpretation of the gravity and magnetic anomalies over the Mull Tertiary intrusive complex, NW Scotland, J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 144, 17–28, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bott, M. H. P. and J. Tuson, Deep structure beneath the Tertiary volcanic regions of Skye, Mull and Ardnamurchan, North-west Scotland, Nature (Physical Science), 242, 114–116, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruden, A. R., On the emplacement of tabular granites, J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 155, 852–862, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haeussler, P. J. and S. R. Paterson, Post-emplacement tilting and burial of the Guadalupe Igneous Complex, Sierra Nevada, California, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 105, 1310–1320, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, G., Collision orogeny at arc-arc junctions in the Japanese Islands, Island Arc, 5, 262–275, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Komatsu, M., S. Miyashita, J. Maeda, Y. Osanai, and T. Toyoshima, Disclosing of a deepest section of continental-type crust upthrust as the final event of collision of arcs in Hokkaido, North Japan, Accretion Tectonics in the Circum-Pacific Regions, edited by M. Hashimoto and S. Uyeda, pp. 146–165, Terra Sci. Pub. Co., Tokyo, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. F. and J. S. Miller, Contrasting stratified plutons exposed in tilt blocks, Eldorado Mountains, Colorado River Rift, NV, USA, Lithos, 61, 209–224, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osanai, Y., M. Komatsu, and M. Owada, Metamorphism and granite genesis in the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt, Hokkaido, Japan, J. Metamor. Geol., 9, 111–124, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petford, N., A. R. Cruden, K. J. W. McCaffrey, and J. L. Vigneresse, Granite magma formation, transport and emplacement in the Earth’s crust, Nature, 408, 669–673, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitcher, W. S., The nature, ascent and emplacement of granitic magmas, J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 136, 627–662, 1979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suetake, S., Heterogeneous structures in a plutonic complex: inferences from the Tottabetsu plutonic complex, the Main zone of the Hidaka metamorphic belt, Hokkaido, Mem. Geol. Soc. Jpn., 47, 57–74, 1997 (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, Y., Petrological study of tonalitic rocks in the upper reaches of Satsunai River, Main Zone of the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt— Coexistent relation of S-type with I-type granite, J. Geol. Soc. Jpn., 98, 295–308, 1992 (in Japanese).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe, R. A. and W. J. Collins, Depositional features and stratigraphic sections in granitic plutons: implications for the emplacement and crystallization of granitic magma, J. Struct. Geol., 20, 1273–1289, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto, A., Spherical terrain corrections for gravity anomaly using a digital elevation model gridded with nodes at every 50 m, J. Fac. Sci. Hokkaido Univ., 11, 845–880, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto, A., M. Saito, K. Yamada, and H. Ishikawa, Gravity anomaly and crustal structure around the southern part of the Hidaka Collision Zone in Hokkaido, Japan, Geophys. Bull. Hokkaido Univ., 64, 21–49, 2001 (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroyuki Kamiyama.

Rights and permissions

Open Access  This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kamiyama, H., Yamamoto, A., Hasegawa, T. et al. Gravity and density variations of the tilted Tottabetsu plutonic complex, Hokkaido, northern Japan: implications for subsurface intrusive structure and pluton development. Earth Planet Sp 57, e21–e24 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351894

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351894

Key words