The islands of Japan were separated from mainland Asia by back-arc spreading.
The islands of Japan are primarily the result of several large ocean movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years from the mid-Silurian to the Pleistocene, as a result of the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the continental Amurian Plate and Okinawa Plate to the south, and subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk Plate to the north.
Japan was originally attached to the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. The subducting plates, being deeper than the Eurasian plate, pulled Japan eastward in the process of back-arc extension, opening the Sea of Japan around 15 million years ago.[1] The Strait of Tartary and the Korea Strait opened much later.
Japan is situated in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Frequent low intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times per century. The most recent major quakes include the 2024 Ishikawa earthquake and tsunami, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake, and the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995.
The geological features and bedrock composition of the Japanese main islands
^Barnes, Gina L. (2003). "Origins of the Japanese Islands: The New "Big Picture"" (PDF). University of Durham. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
The GeologyofJapan is handled mostly by Geological Society ofJapan [ja], with the following major periodicals: The Journal of the Geological Society...
list is of the geological belts (帯, tai), the structural geotectonic units, ofJapan.: 178 The Geological Survey ofJapan subdivides the Japanese archipelago...
pipes. Category: Japanese seismologists Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction GeologyofJapanJapan Meteorological Agency Japan Meteorological...
chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronology (a scientific branch ofgeology that aims to determine the age of rocks). It is used...
"Geological evolution ofJapan: an overview". In Moreno, T.; Wallis, S.; Kojima, T.; Gibbons, W. (eds.). The GeologyofJapan. London: The Geological Society...
Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea ofJapan, extending from the Sea...
zone. Barnes, Gina L. (2022). Tectonic Archaeology: Subduction Zone Geology in Japan and Its Archaeological Implications. Archaeopress Publishing Limited...
The Geological Survey ofJapan (地質調査総合センター, Chishitsu chōsa sōkō sentā) (GSJ) is a research institute and department of the National Institute of Advanced...
Zone Geology in Japan and Its Archaeological Implications. Archaeopress Publishing Limited. pp. 35–6. Bird, Peter (2003). "An updated digital model of plate...
Japan Median Tectonic Line (中央構造線, Chūō Kōzō Sen), also Median Tectonic Line (MTL), is Japan's longest fault system. The MTL begins near Ibaraki Prefecture...
pelagic and hemipelagic sediments. For example, most of the geological basement ofJapan is made up of accretionary complexes. Accretionary wedges and accreted...
southeastern edge ofJapan's Ryukyu Islands in the Philippine Sea in the Pacific Ocean, between northeastern Taiwan and southern Japan. The trench has a...
Structural geology is the study of the three-dimensional distribution of rock units with respect to their deformational histories. The primary goal of structural...
variations of pore water iodine in the eastern Nankai Trough, Japan: Evidence for different methane sources in a large gas hydrate field, Geology, v. 35,...
Tectonic Line and is a place where you can observe a wide variety of rocks, minerals, geological structures and so on. The Fossa Magna Park, a geopark, is also...
China's interpretation of the geography is that "...the Okinawa Trough proves that the continental shelves of China and Japan are not connected, that...
operations. Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation Japan Coal Miners' Union List of mines in Japan Geography ofJapanGeologyofJapan David Bostwick...
United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a moment magnitude of 7.5 and a focal depth of 10 km (6.2 mi) for the earthquake. The Japan Meteorological...
Pacific Plate that preserve the record of this subduction. Farallon Plate List of tectonic plates GeologyofJapan Woods & Davies 1982, Abstract Seton et...
In geology and related fields, a stratum (pl.: strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that...
of the Sea ofJapan is a zone of concentrated geological strain which extends several hundred kilometers and north–south along the eastern margin of the...
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