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Identification of stratigraphic duplication using radiocarbon dating: An example from geological units at a road-cut exposure near the Kumamoto Earthquake Museum KIOKU, southwest Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2026

Mitsuru Okuno Open the ORCID record for Mitsuru Okuno [Opens in a new window] ,
Masayuki Torii ,
Masataka Kawaguchi ,
Naoya Takahashi ,
Takashi Ishizawa Open the ORCID record for Takashi Ishizawa [Opens in a new window] ,
Yasuo Ichikawa ,
Yoko Yoshimi ,
Yuki Hara  and
Shinji Toda
Mitsuru Okuno*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, 3-3-138 Sugimotocho, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
Masayuki Torii
Affiliation:
Center for Water Cycle, Marine Environment and Disaster Management, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
Masataka Kawaguchi
Affiliation:
Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
Naoya Takahashi
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, 6-3 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Takashi Ishizawa
Affiliation:
International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, 468-1 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8572, Japan
Yasuo Ichikawa
Affiliation:
OYO Corporation, 7 Kanda Mitoshiro-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8486, Japan
Yoko Yoshimi
Affiliation:
OYO Corporation, 7 Kanda Mitoshiro-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8486, Japan
Yuki Hara
Affiliation:
OYO Corporation, 7 Kanda Mitoshiro-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8486, Japan
Shinji Toda
Affiliation:
International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, 468-1 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8572, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Mitsuru Okuno; Email: okuno326@omu.ac.jp
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Abstract

A large-scale outcrop was exposed along the newly constructed road access to the Kumamoto Earthquake Museum “KIOKU” (former Tokai University Aso Campus). Multiple layers of tephra and paleosols cover the Sawatsuno lava (27 ± 6 K-Ar ka) in this outcrop. Three (3) characteristic tephra layers: Kusasenrigahama Pumice (Kpfa: ca. 32.5 cal ka BP) from Kusasenrigahama crater in Aso caldera, Aira Tn (AT: ca. 30 cal ka BP) and Kikai Akahoya (K-Ah: ca. 7.3 cal ka BP) from southern Kyushu are intercalated between thick sandy volcanic ash layers erupted from the post-caldera volcanoes of Aso caldera. Thirteen (13) radiocarbon ages were obtained from soil samples and charcoal fragments. Among these, a sample just below AT shows a younger age, indicating that the upper soil/tephra sequence including AT, was re-deposited on ground surface at the time immediately after ca. 13.4 cal ka BP indicated by this age. This suggests that the duplicated sequence, confirmed by our detailed dating is a product of either near-surface hidden faulting or a small local landslide associated with one of the paleoseismic events similar to the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.

Keywords

Aso Volcanoradiocarbon ageSawatsuno lavawidespread tephra

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Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , First View , pp. 1 - 9
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 4th Radiocarbon in the Environment Conference, Lecce, Italy, 23–27 Sept. 2024

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