Ryukyu Arc

Map of the Ryukyu Arc. Red triangles represent volcanoes based on Aster Volcano Archive (NASA-METI) data. Contours in 1 km intervals. Figure made with GeoMapApp (www.geomapapp.org) / CC BY / CC BY (Ryan et al., 2009).[1]

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.

  1. ^ Ryan, William B. F.; Carbotte, Suzanne M.; Coplan, Justin O.; O'Hara, Suzanne; Melkonian, Andrew; Arko, Robert; Weissel, Rose Anne; Ferrini, Vicki; Goodwillie, Andrew; Nitsche, Frank; Bonczkowski, Juliet (March 2009). "Global Multi-Resolution Topography synthesis". Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 10 (3): n/a. Bibcode:2009GGG....10.3014R. doi:10.1029/2008gc002332. ISSN 1525-2027.
  2. ^ a b Kizaki, K. (1978). "Tectonics of the Ryukyu Island Arc". Journal of Physics of the Earth. 26 (Supplement): S301–S307. doi:10.4294/jpe1952.26.Supplement_S301.
  3. ^ a b Shinjo, R.; Kato, Y. (2000). "Geochemical constraints on the origin of bimodal magmatism at the Okinawa Trough, an incipient back-arc basin". Lithos. 54 (3–4): 117–137. Bibcode:2000Litho..54..117S. doi:10.1016/S0024-4937(00)00034-7.
  4. ^ a b Park, 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.
  5. ^ a b Shinjo, R.; Chung, S.-L.; Kato, Y.; Kimura, M. (1999). "Geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics of volcanic rocks from the Okinawa Trough and Ryukyu Arc: Implications for the evolution of a young, intracontinental back arc basin". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 104 (B5): 10591–10608. Bibcode:1999JGR...10410591S. doi:10.1029/1999JB900040.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b Kizaki, K. (1986). "Geology and tectonics of the Ryukyu Islands". Tectonophysics. 125 (1–3): 193–207. Bibcode:1986Tectp.125..193K. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(86)90014-4.