3-D simulation for the tectonic evolution around the Kanto Region of Japan using the kinematic plate subduction model

In the Kanto region of Japan, we can observe one of the most active crustal deformations on the earth. In the southern part of the Boso peninsula to the south, the uplift rate is estimated to be 5 mm/yr from the height of marine terraces. From geological evidence, the Kanto mountains to the west are considered to uplift at 1mm/yr. In contrast, the center part of the Kanto region is stable or subsiding, covered by the Holocene sediments. The depth of the basement reaches 3 km at the deepest. Vertical deformation in the timescale of 1 Myr is being revealed by the analysis of the recent seismic reflection experiments compared with the heights of the dated sediment layers exposed on land. These crustal deformation occurs in a highly complex tectonic setting with four plates interacting with each other: beneath Kanto, situated on the Eurasian and North American plates, the Philippine sea plate subducts and the Pacific plate further descends beneath the North American and Philippine sea plates, forming the unique trench-trench-trench triple junction on the earth. In addition, the Izu-Bonin (Ogasawara) arc on the Philippine sea plate is colliding with the Japan islands due to the buoyancy of the arc crust. At the plate boundaries near the Izu-Bonin arc, large interplate earthquakes occurred at the Sagami trough in 1703 and 1923 (Kanto earthquake) and at the Nankai trough in 1707, 1854 and 1944. To reveal the crustal deformation under these plate-to-plate interactions, we use the kinematic plate subduction model based on the elastic dislocation theory. This model is based on the idea that mechanical interaction between plates can rationally be represented by the increase of the displacement discontinuity (dislocation) across plate interfaces. Given the 3-D geometry of plate interfaces, the distribution of slip rate vectors for simple plate subduction can be obtained directly from relative plate velocities. In collision zones, the plate with arc crust cannot easily descend because of its buoyancy. This can be represented by giving slip-rate deficit. When crustal deformation occurs, it also causes change in geometry of the plate boundary itself. Iterating this effect sequentially backward in time, we can reconstruct the past plate boundary geometry and past crustal deformation fields. Using the above model, we estimate the long-term slip-rate distribution due to plate subduction/collision to explain the crustal deformation in Kanto obtained from geological and geomorphological studies. The basic deformation pattern of the basin-forming movement in the Kanto plain and uplifts in the southern Boso peninsula and in the Kanto and Akaishi mountains cannot be explained by the collision restricted to the Izu peninsula only. It is necessary to assume wider collision extended to the neighboring Sagami and Suruga trough, which is consistent to the width of the arc crust of the Izu-Bonin arc. However, the degree of the collision is relatively small in these areas where large interplate earthquake occurs. The effect of temporal change in geometry of the plate interfaces is not so large in the timescale of 1 Myr.