SG/3043 Week 2: Japan's Physical Structure

Lecture Outline:

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Geotectonics and Japan's Mountain Skeleton
• 3. Mountain Landforms
• 4. The Plains and Coasts

Key Concepts:

Changes in interpretation of Japan's geomorphological structure over time, eg. emphasis on plate tectonics and sea-level change postdates key texts; the four tectonic plates and subduction patterns; plates and the Fossa Magna, plates and processes (up- and down-warping, folding, faulting, intrusion and volcanism); deep marine earthquakes and shallow earthquakes on land; volcanic forms (cones, calderas, crater lakes); Trewartha's six mountain arcs and three nodes; mountain glaciation as a minor factor in shaping landforms; precipitation and river erosion; veined mountain landscapes; role of volcanic ash (tephra); marine and river terraces in foothills; structural basins between mountain ranges; the major plains and their genesis; characteristic structure of Japanese plains; diluvium and alluvium; land subsidence (compaction and groundwater extraction; drowned coasts.

Resource: Schematic Geotectonic Map of Japan

Revision Questions: 1. With the aim of diagrams, describe the major geomorphological features of the Japanese Archipelago, and account for their distribution. 2. "Plate tectonics may have given us Japan's skeleton, but it is climate that has moulded the skin". Discuss.

Recommended Reading:

Richard Bowring and Peter Kornicki (eds.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 2-6

Prue Dempster, Japan Advances. London: Methuen, 1967 Chapter 1, pp. 5-35

Matsuo Machida, "Tephra and its implications with regard to the Japanese Quaternary Period". In: Association of Japanese Geographers (ed.), Geography of Japan. Tokyo: Teikoku Shoin, 1980, pp. 29-53

Yutaka Sakaguchi, 1980, "Characteristics of the physical nature of Japan, with special reference to landforms". In: Association of Japanese Geographers (ed.), Geography of Japan. Tokyo: Teikoku Shoin, 1980, pp.3-28

Glenn T Trewarth, Japan: A Geography. London: Methuen, 1965, Chapter 1, pp. 15-38