PALEOGEOGRAPHIC MAPS OF THE JAPANESE ISLANDS - PLATE TECTONIC SYNTHESIS FROM 750 MA TO THE PRESENT

A series of paleogeographic maps of the Japanese Islands, from their b irth at ca 750-700 Ma to the present, is newly compiled from the viewp oint of plate tectonics. This series consists of 20 maps that cover al l of the major events in the geotectonic evolution of Japan. These inc lude the birth of Japan at the rifted continental margin of the Yangtz e craton (ca 750-700 Ma), the tectonic inversion of the continental ma rgin from passive to active (ca 500 Ma), the Paleozoic accretionary gr owth incorporating fragments from seamounts and oceanic plateaux (ca 4 80-250 Ma), the collision between Sino-Korea and Yangtze (250-210 Ma), the Mesozoic to Cenozoic accretionary growth (210 Ma-present) includi ng the formation of the Cretaceous paired metamorphic belts (90 Ma), a nd the Miocene back-are opening of the Japan Sea that separated Japan as an island are (25-15 Ma).