MESOZOIC TECTONOTHERMAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAMBAGAWA, MIKABU AND CHICHIBU BELTS, SOUTH-WEST JAPAN - EVIDENCE FROM 40AR/39AR WHOLE-ROCK PHYLLITE AGES

Five whole-rock 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages from low-grade sectors of the Sambagawa belt (Besshi nappe complex) range between 87 and 97 Ma. Two whole-rock phyllite samples from the Mikabu greenstone belt record well-defined 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 96 and 98 Ma. Together these ages suggest that a high-pressure metamorphism occurred in both the Sambagawa and Mikabu belts at c. 90-100 Ma. The northern Chichibu sub-belt may consist of several distinct geochronological units because metamorphic ages increase systematically from north (c. 110 Ma) to south (c. 215 Ma). The northern Chichibu sub-belt is correlated with the Kuma nappe complex (Sambagawa belt). Two whole-rock phyllite samples from the Kurosegawa terrane display markedly older metamorphic ages than either the Sambagawa or the Chichibu belts. Accretion of Sambagawa-Chichibu protoliths began prior to the middle Jurrasic. Depositional ages decrease from middle Jurassic (Kuma-Chichibu nappe complex) to c. 100 Ma (Oboke nappe complex) toward lower tectonostratigraphic units. The ages of metamorphic culmination also decrease from upper to lower tectonostratigraphic units. The Kurosegawa belt and the geological units to the south belong to distinctly different terrances than the Sambagawa-Chichibu belts. These have been juxtaposed as a result of transcurrent faulting during the Cretaceous. Five whole-rock 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages from low-grade sectors of the Sambagawa belt (Besshi nappe complex) range between 87 and 97 Ma. Two whole-rock phyllite samples from the Mikabu greenstone belt record well-defined 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 96 and 98 Ma. Together these ages suggest that a high-pressure metamorphism occurred in both the Sambagawa and Mikabu belts at c. 90-100 Ma. The northern Chichibu sub-belt may consist of several distinct geochronological units because metamorphic ages increase systematically from north (c. 110 Ma) to south (c. 215 Ma). The northern Chichibu sub-belt is correlated with the Kuma nappe complex (Sambagawa belt). Two whole-rock phyllite samples from the Kurosegawa terrane display markedly older metamorphic ages than either the Sambagawa or the Chichibu belts. Accretion of Sambagawa-Chichibu protoliths began prior to the middle Jurrasic. Depositional ages decrease from middle Jurassic (Kuma-Chichibu nappe complex) to c. 100 Ma (Oboke nappe complex) toward lower tectonostratigraphic units. The ages of metamorphic culmination also decrease from upper to lower tectonostratigraphic units. The Kurosegawa belt and the geological units to the south belong to distinctly different terrances than the Sambagawa-Chichibu belts. These have been juxtaposed as a result of transcurrent faulting during the Cretaceous.