2009 Volume 59 Issue 7-8 Pages 423-438
Middle Miocene to Pliocene chronostratigraphic data were obtained from three sections on the southwestern margin of the Sendai Plain, northeast Japan. In this tectonically active area, we newly infer the numerical age of the coastal sedimentary sequence on the basis of 27 fission track ages in combination with planktonic foraminiferal and diatom analyses. The Hatatate Formation cropping out along the Natori-gawa Section approximately ranges from 13 Ma to 11.5 Ma in age. The Tsunaki Formation ranges from 10 Ma to 8.3 Ma, and the basal part of the Nashino Formation is assigned to 6.4 Ma. Four major unconformities were recognized in the Middle Miocene to Pliocene sequence in the study area from a compilation of chronological data: ca. 9 Ma, 6.4Ma, latest Miocene, and 3.5Ma, respectively. The oldest unconformity was newly identified in this study. Formative timings of these unconformities correlate well with the uplift history of the Ou Backbone range reconstructed by Nakajima et al. (2006). These data provide a restriction to reconstruct the uplift history of the Northeast Honshu Arc.