Abstract
Lacustrine sediments record paleoenvironmental and faunal changes as well as human impacts, in the surrounding regions. Examination of environmental changes on a million years time-scale can be achieved by study of sediments from tectonic lakes. Such research had been done around Lake Biwa and Lake Baikal in the past ; however, many other lake studies have been done by the ICDP in recent years, and a lot of data relating to the geological history of Lake Biwa are available. This paper summarizes these data, and discusses the tectonics around Lake Biwa. Tectonics in the northern and southern lake areas were different after the deposition of the Kb-Ks tephra (0.45-0.6 Ma). The Central flexure in the northern area has existed since approximately 0.44 Ma at least. The paleo-topographies of the Lake Biwa region 0.9 Ma and 0.44 Ma are presented.
