Seismic evidence of divergent rifting and subsequent deformation in the southern Japan Sea, and a Cenozoic tectonic synthesis of the eastern Eurasian margin

Neogene rift system configuration for the back-arc of southwest Japan, southern rim of the Japan Sea, is argued on the basis of reflection seismic interpretation. Divergent rifting and subsequent contraction provoked by an arc–arc collisional event are manifested by the formation of faulted grabens and their inverted deformation, respectively. We identified the following four Cenozoic tectonic epochs as a decomposition process of the eastern Eurasian margin based on reliable paleomagnetic data: (1) Plate margin rearrangement on a regional left-lateral fault through southwest Japan and Sikhote Alin, which constituted a continuous geologic province before the early Tertiary differential motion; (2) Early Tertiary clockwise rotation (>20°) of the east Tan-Lu block relative to the North China block; (3) Oligocene to early Miocene divergent rifting and spreading of the Japan Sea, which divided southwest Japan from the east Tan-Lu block; (4) Middle Miocene bending and back-arc inversion of southwest Japan caused by collision with the Izu-Bonin arc. According to the estimation of relative motions during these events, a paleogeographic reconstruction is presented through Cenozoic time.