The Median Tectonic Line (MTL) extends more than 800km long in the middle part of Southwest Japan, dividing it into the Inner and Outer Zones. The middle course basin of the Kinokawa River dealed here has been formed on the south side of the MTL in the middle part of the Kii Peninsula. The thick Plio-Pleistocene to middle Pleistocene sediments cover the basin and various forms of river terraces are observed.
The writer has investigated the geomorphic development of the area, closely relating to the Quaternary crustal movements of Inner and Outer Zones. The results are as follows.
The Plio-Pleistocene to middle Pleistocene sediments are divided into the lower (Shobudani Formation) and the upper (Gojo Formation). The Shobudani Formation consists, in most cases, pebbles, cobbles, gravels, sands, silts and clays, which are considered to be deposited in lacustrine environment. On the other hand, the Gojo Formation consists of wellrounded boulders, transported by the Paleo-Kinokawa River, and rarely of silts and clays, unconformably overlying the Shobudani Formation and the bed rock. Thrust faults along the MTL are sometimes recognized which cut the Shobudani Formation and are overlaid by the Gojo Formation.
The river terrace surfaces can be classified into seven,
i.e., Gojo, Yamada, Koino, Yamakage, Nohara, Futami and Imai surfaces in descending order. The Yamada surface is correlated to the Higher terrace surface in the south Osaka Plain. The highest terrace (Gojo surface) may be the depositional surface of the Gojo Formation from the geomorphological and geological point of view.
The age of the deposition of the Gojo Formation,
i.e., the final formation of the Gojo surface is thought to be during the middle Pleistocene. This age is very important in many aspects as follows;
1) During the early Pleistocene, there existed a E-W trending narrow lake along the MTL. In the middle Pleistocene, however, the Gojo Formation was accumulated as the river deposits of the Paleo-Kinokawa River, forming its depositional surface as the Gojo surface. Since then, the Kinokawa River cut the above terrace surface by deepening.
2) Simultaneously with the deposition of the Gojo Formation, Kii Mountains south of the MTL started severe uplift, supplying coarse gravels into the Kinokawa River Basin. On the other hand, Izumi Mountains of the north also began to rise up, accompanied by the upheaval of Kongo Mountains.
3) The older fault system showing thrust movements along the MTL has become inactive, and the younger fault system parallel to it has become active predominantly showing the dextral strike-slip movements since the age of the deposition of the Gojo Formation.
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