Seismic Reflection Image Across the Izu-Bonin Island Arc System

The Izu-Bonin island arc system occupies almost a northern half of the Izu-Bonin-Island (IBM) arc system extending 2500 km south from near Tokyo, which is one of the largest convergent margins on earth. This Izu-Bonin island arc system is a typical intra-oceanic island arc system involving trench-arc-backarc basin system, i.e., the Izu-Bonin trench, the Izu-Bonin arc, and the backarc Shikoku basin. In order to figure out the past 50 m.y. development history of the entire Izu-Bonin intra-oceanic island arc system, we collected marine multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection data across the island arc system on board the R/V Kairei of the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC) in May 2002. We used a ~5-km, 204-channel streamer and a 12,000 cubic inch (~200 L) air-guns array. Receiver spacing was 25-m, yielding 51-fold coverage at 12.5-m CDP spacing. We acquired the MCS data on two different lines: ~560-km-long Line 1 and ~1140-km-long Line 3. The MCS data were migrated in depth domain. Velocity-depth models for the depth migration were iteratively constructed by prestack depth migration velocity analysis. Wide-angle data guided the velocity analysis. In this paper, we show the two MCS profiles and discuss the development process of the Izu-Bonin island arc system from viewpoints of seismic stratigraphy and structure. We identify a clear seismic reflector of the subducting Pacific plate with several horst-and-graben structures, which can be observed beneath the arc more than 60 km landward from the trench axis. Forearc basin is characterized by several buried normal faults and vigorous intra-oceanic sedimentation. In the arc rifting zone, we observe many seismic hyperbolic signatures indicative of active volcanic intrusions, which are related to active magmatism. The topmost sedimentary cover sequences are obviously tilted and cut by many normal faults. It is noticeable that reflectors of the middle crust in the arc-backarc transition zone appear to pinch out to the west Shikoku basin.