- Article
- Published:
Paleomagnetic directions of the Aso pyroclastic-flow and the Aso-4 co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits in Japan
Earth, Planets and Space volume 53, pages 1137–1150 (2001)
Abstract
The Aso pyroclastic-flow deposits, products of major Pleistocene volcanic eruptions in Japan, are divided into four eruptive units: Aso-1, Aso-2, Aso-3, and Aso-4 in ascending order. The paleomagnetic directions determined from welded tuff samples of these units, which are distributed near the source caldera in central Kyushu, are characteristic of the individual units and are all of normal polarity. The unit-mean directions for Aso-1 and Aso-4 are similar to the direction of the present geomagnetic field. The direction for Aso-2 is characterized by an unusually steep inclination, and that for Aso-3 by an unusually easterly declination. The mean VGP for the Aso-4 co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits in Chubu, Tohoku, and Hokkaido is identical to those for subunits of the Aso-4 tephra: the Aso-4A welded tuff in Oita Prefecture, the lower part of the Ube volcanic ash layer in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and the distal ash-flow deposit in Miyazaki Prefecture. According to some evidences of volcanology, these subunits are supposed to have been deposited at the same time. The regional-mean directions for these subunits are almost the same as the directions expected for the overall-mean VGP (A95 = 1.3°, N = 42) located at 22.7°W, 83.8°N. This indicates that its magnetization was acquired in a geomagnetic field dominated by the same dipole field (DF) component in all regions of the Japanese Islands; the DF pole is inferred to coincide with the overall-mean VGP.
References
Endo, H. and Y. Suzuki, Geology of the Tsuma and Takanabe district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 105 pp., 1986 (in Japanese with English bstract).
Fisher, R. A., Dispersion on a sphere, Proc. Roy. Soc., A217, 295–305, 1953.
Fujii, J. and T. Nakajima, Paleomagnetic directions of Quaternary widespread tephras, Mem. Fac. Edu. Fukui Univ., Ser. II, No. 51, 47–60, 1998 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Fujii, J., T. Nakajima, S. Ishida, and S. Matsuo, Paleomagnetic directions of the Aso-4 tephra in Yamaguchi Prefecture, southwest Japan, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 39, 227–232, 2000 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Geograph. Surv. Inst. Japan, Isogonic chart for 1990.0, 1900.
Gohara, Y., T. Shinbori, K. Suzuki, S. Nomura, and C. Komori, Some problems on the Pleistocene formations of north Kyushu, Japan, Bull. Resource Res. Inst., No. 62, 83–108, 1964 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Hayashida, A., H. Kamata, and T. Danhara, Correlation of widespread tephra deposits based on paleomagnetic directions: link between a volcanic field and sedimentary sequences in Japan, Quaternary International, 34-36, 89–98, 1996.
Hirooka, K., Paleomagnetic and archaeomagnetic age dating, Mem. Geol. Soc. Japan, No. 29, 305–318, 1988 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Hoshizumi, H., K. Ono, K. Mimura, and T. Noda, Geology of the Beppu district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 131 pp., 1988 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Hyodo, M., Recent progress in paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic studies of the Quaternary in Japan, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 38, 202–208, 1999.
Hyodo, M. and S. Minemoto, Paleomagnetic dating using geomagnetic secular variations and excursions from lake sediments in Japan, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 35, 125–133, 1996 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Hyodo, M., C. Itota, and K. Yaskawa, Geomagnetic secular variation reconstructed from magnetizations of wide-diameter cores of Holocene sediments in Japan, J. Geomag. Geoelectr., 45, 669–696, 1993.
Kamata, H., Geology of the Miyanoharu district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 127 pp., 1997 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Kameyama, T., The Pleistocene formations of the Kammon district, J. Geol. Soc. Japan, 74, 415–426, 1968 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Kawai, N., K. Yaskawa, T. Nakajima, M. Torii, and S. Horie, Oscillating geomagnetic field with a recurring reversal discovered from Lake Biwa, Proc. Japan Acad., 48, 186–190, 1971.
Kimura, K., T. Yoshioka, N. Imoto, S. Tanaka, M. Musashino, and Y. Takahashi, Geology of the Kyoto-Tohokubu district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 89 pp., 1998 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Kirschvink, J. L., The least-squares line and plane and the analysis of paleomagnetic data, Geophys. J. Roy. Astron. Soc., 62, 699–718, 1980.
Lowrie, W., Identification of ferromagnetic minerals in a rock by coercivity and unblocking temperature properties, Geophys. Res. Lett., 17, 159–162, 1990.
Machida, H., Recent progress in tephra studies in Japan, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 30, 141–149, 1991.
Machida, H., Quaternary widespread tephra catalog in and around Japan: recent progress, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 38, 194–201, 1999.
Machida, H. and F. Arai, Extensive ash falls in and around the Sea of Japan from large late Quaternary eruptions, J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 18, 151–164, 1983.
Machida, H., F. Arai, and M. Momose, Aso-4 ash: a widespread tephra and its implications to the events of late Pleistocene in and around Japan, Bull. Volcanol. Soc. Japan, Ser. 2, 30, 49–70, 1985 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Matsumoto, A., K. Uto, K. Ono, and K. Watanabe, K-Ar age determinations for Aso volcanic rocks—concordance with volcanostratigraphy and application to pyroclastic flows—, Abstracts Fall Meet. in 1991, Volcanol. Soc. Japan, 73, 1991 (in Japanese).
Murayama, M, E. Matsumoto, T. Nakamura, M. Okamura, H. Yasuda, and A. Taira, Re-examination of the eruption age of Air-Tn ash (AT) obtained from a piston core off Shikoku—determined by AMS 14C dating of planktonic foraminifera—, J. Geol. Soc. Japan, 99, 787–798, 1993.
Nakajima, T. and J. Fujii, Paleomagnetic direction of the Aira Tn tephra deposit, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 34, 297–307, 1995a (in Japanese with English abstract).
Nakajima, T. and J. Fujii, Magnetic susceptibilities of Quaternary tephras, Mem. Fac. Edu. Fukui Univ., Ser. II, No. 47, 31–46, 1995b (in Japanese with English abstract).
Nakajima, T. and J. Fujii, Paleomagnetic directions of the Aso-4 ash and the Aso pyroclastic flows, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 37, 371–383, 1998 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Okumura, K., Quaternary tephra studies in the Hokkaido district, northern Japan, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 30, 379–390, 1991 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Ono, K., I. Matsumoto, M. Miyahisa, Y. Teraoka, and N. Kambe, Geology of the Taketa district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 145 pp., 1977 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Reynolds, R. L., Comparison of the TRM of the Yellowstone Group and the DRM of some Pearlette ash beds, J. Geophys. Res., 84, 4525–4532, 1979.
Sakai, A., Y. Teraoka, K. Miyazaki, H. Hoshizumi, and Y. Sakamaki, Geology of the Miemachi district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 115 p., 1993 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Shiraishi, T., F. Arai, and Y. Fujimoto, Discovery of Aso-4 ash and drift pumice of Aso-4 pyroclastic flow and Sambe-Kisuki pumice fall deposits in the upper Quaternary of the Oga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture, northeast Honshu, Japan, The Quaternary Res. (Jpn), 31, 21–27, 1992 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Suzuki, T., Stratigraphy of middle Pleistocene tephra layers around Nasuno Plain, in north Kanto, central Japan, 102, 73–90, 1993 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Teraoka, Y., K. Okumura, A. Murata, and H. Hoshizumi, Geology of the Saiki district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 78 pp., 1990 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Teraoka, Y., K. Miyazaki, H. Hoshizumi, T. Yoshioka, A. Sakai, and K. Ono, Geology of the Inukai district, with geological sheet map at 1:50,000, Geol. Surv. Japan, 129 pp., 1992 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Watanabe, K., Studies on the Aso pyroclastic flow deposits in the region to the west of Aso caldera, southwest Japan, I: Geology, Mem. Fac. Edu. Kumamoto Univ., Nat. Sci., No. 27, 97–120, 1978.
Watanabe, H., A. Urabe, and K. Arakawa, Widespread tephras of the Kaisaka terrace deposit in the Tsunan-machi area, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Earth Science (Chikyu Kagaku), 53, 420–433, 1999 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fujii, J., Nakajima, T. & Kamata, H. Paleomagnetic directions of the Aso pyroclastic-flow and the Aso-4 co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits in Japan. Earth Planet Sp 53, 1137–1150 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352409
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352409