The Ryukyu Arc is an island arc which extends from the south of Kyushu along the Ryukyu Islands to the northeast of Taiwan, spanning about 1,200 kilometres (750 mi).[2][3][4] It is located along a section of the convergent plate boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting northwestward beneath the Eurasian Plate along the Ryukyu Trench.[3][4][5] The arc has an overall northeast to southwest trend and is located northwest of the Pacific Ocean and southeast of the East China Sea.[6] It runs parallel to the Okinawa Trough, an active volcanic arc, and the Ryukyu Trench.[7] The Ryukyu Arc, based on its geomorphology, can be segmented from north to south into Northern Ryukyu, Central Ryukyu, and Southern Ryukyu; the Tokara Strait separates Northern Ryukyu and Central Ryukyu at about 130˚E while the Kerama Gap separates Central Ryukyu and Southern Ryukyu at about 127 ˚E.[2][5][7] The geological units of the arc include igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, ranging from the Paleozoic to Cenozoic in age.
^ abPark, J.-O.; Tokuyama, H.; Shinohara, M.; Suyehiro, K.; Taira, A. (1998). "Seismic record of tectonic evolution and backarc rifting in the southern Ryukyu island arc system". Tectonophysics. 294 (1–2): 21–42. Bibcode:1998Tectp.294...21P. doi:10.1016/S0040-1951(98)00150-4.
^Nakae, S. (2013). "The radiolarian evidence for the accretion of the Fu-saki Formation with the inferred oceanic plate stratigraphy: A case of weakly-metamorphosed accretionary complex in Ishigaki Jima, southern Ryukyu Arc, Japan". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 73: 21–30. Bibcode:2013JAESc..73...21N. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.04.022.