The Beppu-Shimabara graben (別府‐島原地溝帯, Beppu-Shimabara Chikōtai) is a geological formation that runs across the middle of Kyushu, Japan, from Beppu Bay in the east to the Shimabara Peninsula in the west.[1] The area is known for its volcanic, geothermal, and seismic activity.[2] It encompasses several significant geological features, including a number of active volcanoes. The most prominent is Mount Aso, an active volcanic formation consisting of one of the world's largest calderas and a central crater group with five distinct peaks.[3]Beppu Onsen is located at the eastern end of the graben.
It is located at the overlap of two magma types—within plate type to the north, and island-arc type to the south—that erupted in the Quaternary: to the north, the eastern end of the Eurasian Plate and, to the south, the subduction zone of the Philippine Sea Plate.[4] It runs about 200 kilometres east to west and its north-south width varies between 20 and 30 kilometres.[5]
References
^Kita, Itsuro; Yamamoto, Masatsugu; Asakawa, Yoshitada; Nakagawa, Masafumi; Taguchi, Sachihiro; Hasegawa, Hidenao (November 2001). "Contemporaneous ascent of within-plate type and island-arc type magmas in the Beppu–Shimabara graben system, Kyushu island, Japan". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 111 (1–4): 99. doi:10.1016/s0377-0273(01)00222-0.
^"Description of Mt. Aso". Information on Restrictions for the Aso Volcano Crater. The Aso Volcano Disaster Prevention Council. 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
^Kita, Itsuro; Yamamoto, Masatsugu; Asakawa, Yoshitada; Nakagawa, Masafumi; Taguchi, Sachihiro; Hasegawa, Hidenao (November 2001). "Contemporaneous ascent of within-plate type and island-arc type magmas in the Beppu–Shimabara graben system, Kyushu island, Japan". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 111 (1–4): 99. doi:10.1016/s0377-0273(01)00222-0.
