This paper presents modem models for coastal to shelf sequences in a microtidal and wave-dominated setting, based on detailed analyses of latest Pleistocene-Holocene sequences on the Pacific side of Northeast Japan. The latest Pleistocene-Holocene sequences on the Pacific side of Northeast Japan, created in response to sea-level changes for the last 30 kyr, can be assigned to lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts related to sea-level changes, and show characteristic bounding surfaces and depositional systems. These basically support the sequence architecture model of Vail. However, transgression and regression occurred almost simultaneously with rise and fall of sea level in the study areas, and so inflection points of sea-level curves, where the absolute slope or the rate of change is greatest, are less significant for these high-frequency sequences

Shelf sequence and characteristic bounding surfaces in a wave-dominated setting: latest Pleistocene-Holocene examples from Northeast Japan

Vertical tectonic crustal movements along the Japanese coastlines inferred from late Quaternary and recent relative sea-level changes

Shelf sequence and characteristic bounding surfaces in a wave-dominated setting: Latest Pleistocene-Holocene examples from Northeast Japan

This paper reviews studies conducted between 1980 and 1988 on relative sea level changes and coastal evolution during the Holocene in Japan. The Japanese Working Group of IGCP Project 200, on “late Quaternary sea level changes, ” compiled the two-volume “Atlas of Sea Level Records in the late Quarternary in Japan” in 1987, which included materials related to this topic, based on papers published since 1980. The group also compiled the “Middle Holocene Shoreline Map of Japan (1:200, 000), which demonstrated the location of the middle Holocene shoreline with numerous data on height and radiocarbon age representing the sea level of that stage, and with 15 insets, considered to be typical examples of various types of study. Numbers of papers by year in terms of research field and study area are summarized in Figs. 1 and 2. Several review papers on sea level study have been also published in the last several years, in addition to local studies.Relative sea level curves published in the past 10 years are shown in Fig. 3. The curve patterns show noticeable local or regional differences, reflecting tectonic factors with a different amount and character in each area. Some areas characterized by a rather late culmination age of the postglacial transgression contrast with most of the Japanese coast, which has a culmination age of ca. 6, 000 to 6, 500y.B.P. Two minor fluctuations of Holocene sea level which were pointed out by OTA et al. (1982), have been recognized in several areas; a eustatic origin for such fluctuation is most likely, judging by the nearly coincident occurrence of climatic fluctuation revealed by pollen analyses, molluscan assemblage analyses and submarine core data.The following topics are discussed in particular detail in this paper: 1) Progress of excavation on the Holocene lowland and coral reefs, in order to obtain systematic samples for identification of marine limits and samples for analyses of various fossils and for dating. 2) Holocene marine terrace study with special reference to coseismic uplift and volcanic activity. 3) Identification of the former sea level on the rocky coast. Barnacles and tube worms (Pomatoleios kraussii) as sea level indicators are discussed, including problems with accuracy of radiocarbon dating. 4) Problems concerning the recognition and accuracy of former shorelines in the large alluvial plain. 5) The significance of small drowned valleys as a suitable field for the reconstruction of sea level change. 6) Climatic fluctuation during the Holocene, with relation to sea level fluctuation. 7) Increased overseas studies on Holocene sea level change by Japanese scientists.

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Recent Japanese Research on Relative Sea Level Changes in the Holocene and Related Problems

Seismic-driving of sand beach ridge formation in northern Honshu, Japan?

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Hiroshi Moriwaki

Papers

Geomorphic development of holocene coastal plains in japan