Temporal-spatial variations of Plio-Pleistocene volcanic activity in the Ryohaku Mountains, cental Japan; Evidences from K-Ar ages

Tanase, Atsushi*; Oikawa, Teruki*; Ninomiya, Atsushi; Hayashi, Shintaro*; Umeda, Koji

Temporal and spatial variations on Plio-Pleistocene volcanism in the Ryohaku Mountains, central Japan, have been investigated by newly obtained K-Ar ages on 38 groundmass samples separated from volcanic rocks. The volcanoes in the Ryohaku Mountains form two volcanic rows of the Kuzuryu and hakusan Volcanic Chains which have ESE-WNW and N-S alignments, respectively. Early volcanic activity occurred intermittently from 3.6 Ma to 1.5 Ma, and the volcanoes near the junction of the two volcanic chains were active. The volcanic activity in the ESE-WNW trending Kuzuryu Volcanic Chain was restricted in the age range from 1.2 Ma to 0.7 Ma with migration from Eboshi-Washigatake Volcano (ESE end) to Hoonji Volcano (WNW end). The N-S trending Hakusan Volcanic Chain was active from 0.4 Ma to the present.