Imbricate structure of the Permian Yoshii Group in the Otakeyama area, Okayama Prefecture, southwest Japan

Abstract

The Yoshii Group of the Akiyoshi terrane is distributed over the Otakeyama area, Okayama Prefecture, southwest Japan. The Yoshii Group is composed of siliceous rocks and clastics, comprising chert-clastic sequences. The Yoshii Group is divided into four structural units (Units Ot 1, Ot 2, Ot 3, and Ot 4) in structurally ascending order. Lithological similarities and radiolarian age suggest that these units exhibit almost identical ocean plate stratigraphy. These units are structurally-repeated to form an imbricate structure. This structure was possibly formed by off-scrape accretion at a toe of an accretionary complex. Additionally, a review of previous studies indicates that an imbricate structure is common in the Akiyoshi terrane. The presence of an imbricate structure in the Akiyoshi terrane, Permian accretionary complex, indicates the possibility that a specific horizon of Permian pelagic sequences acted as a décollement zone.

Keywords

accretionary complex / imbricate structure / Permian radiolaria / Yoshii Group / Okayama Prefecture / southwest Japan

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Dr. Kurihara, T. (Niigata University), for his valuable comments and information from several papers about the Permian accretionary complex and radiolarians; Dr. Ishida, N. (Niigata University) and Dr. Kuwahara, K. (Ashiya University), for helpful comments about radiolarian identification; Professor Hasegawa, Y., Prof. Tazawa, J., Dr. Niikawa, I., and other members of the Historical Earth Science Seminar in Niigata University for their helpful comments and suggestions; Prof. Takemura, A. (Hyogo University of Teacher Education), Prof. Sano, H. (Kyushu University), and Dr. Kamata, Y. (University of Tsukuba) for their various comments on first draft. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for their critical reading and constructive comments on the manuscript.

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