# Eustatic change modulates exhumation in the Japanese Alps

Georgina E. King, Floriane Ahadi, Frédéric Herman, Leif Anderson, Cécile Gautheron, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Nadja Stalder, Rahul Biswas, Matthew Fox, Guillaume Delpech, et al.

► To cite this version:

Georgina E. King, Floriane Ahadi, Frédéric Herman, Leif Anderson, Cécile Gautheron, et al. Eu-static change modulates exhumation in the Japanese Alps. Geology, 2023, 51 (2), pp.131-135. 10.1130/G50599.1. hal-04457960

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1 Eustatic change modulates exhumation in the Japanese Alps

2

3 Georgina E. King¹*, Floriane Ahadi², Shigeru Sueoka³, Frédéric Herman¹, Leif Anderson¹, Cécile

4 Gautheron², Sumiko Tsukamoto⁴, Nadja Stalder¹, Rabiul Biswas ¹,⁵, Matthew Fox⁶, Guillaume

5 Delpech², Stéphane Schwartz⁷ and Takahiro Tagami⁸

6

7 ¹University of Lausanne, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, 1015, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

8 ²Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France

9 ³Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tono Geoscience Center, Jorinji Izumichu, 509-5102, Japan

10 ⁴Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, 30655 Hannover, Germany

11 ⁵Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Department of Earth Sciences, Kanpur-208016, India

12 ⁶University College London, Earth Sciences, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

13 ⁷Université Grenoble Alpes, ISTERRE, 38610, Gières, France

14 ⁸Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

15 *georgina.king@unil.ch

16

17 Abstract

18 The exhumation of bedrock is controlled by the interplay between tectonics, surface processes

19 and climate. The highest exhumation rates of cm/yr are recorded in zones of highly active

20 tectonic convergence such as the southern Alps of New Zealand or Himalayan syntaxes, where

21 high rock uplift rates combine with very active surface processes. Here, by using a combination

22 of different thermochronometric systems including trapped-charge thermochronometery, we

23 show that such rates also occur in the Hida Mountain Range (HMR), Japanese Alps. Our results

24 imply that cm/yr rates of exhumation are more common than previously thought. Our

25 thermochronometry data allow the development of time-series of exhumation rate changes at

26 the timescale of glacial-interglacial cycles and show a four-fold increase in baseline rates to

27 rates of ~10 mm/yr within the past ~65 kyr. This increase in exhumation rate is likely
explained by knickpoint propagation due to a combination of very high precipitation rates, climatic change, sea-level fall, range-front faulting and moderate rock uplift. Our data resolve cm scale sub-Quaternary exhumation rate changes showing that in regions with horizontal convergence, coupling between climate, surface processes and tectonics can exert a significant and rapid effect on rates of exhumation.

33

## Introduction

The topography of mountain ranges evolves in response to rock uplift and erosion by climatically modulated surface processes, which together determine rates of rock exhumation. The highest bedrock exhumation rates are reported for actively converging mountains such as the southern Alps of New Zealand, Taiwan or the Himalayan syntaxes. Models predict that in rapidly uplifting orogens, the response time of erosion to climatic change is short (Whipple et al., 1999). However, direct measurements are lacking, in part because of the temporal mismatch between climatic changes and tectonic timescales. Here we show that cm/yr exhumation rates may be more common than previously thought and that coupling between tectonics and surface processes can profoundly modify rates of exhumation. We do this through applying a range of different thermochronometric methods that have different thermal sensitivities and thus record different stages of rock cooling throughout exhumation. The recently established set of trapped-charge thermochronometry methods (Guralnik et al., 2015; King et al., 2020) are sensitive to changes in exhumation at the timescale of glacial/interglacial cycles, allowing the response time of erosion to such climate transitions to be resolved.

The Japanese Alps reach elevations of 3,000 m, bisect the main Japanese island of Honshu and are thought to have formed ~3 Myr ago (Harayama et al., 2003; Sueoka et al., 2016) in response to convergence between the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) and Amur Plate (Townend and Zoback, 2006). Strain partitioning along the Tokai-south Kanto block (Mazzotti et al., 2001, Fig. 1a) results in maximum deformation being accommodated in the northern Japanese Alps, corresponding to WNW-ESE shortening of 100-200 x 10⁻⁹/yr (Mazzotti et al., 2001; Townend
and Zoback, 2006). The HMR is the most northern and most extensive of the Japanese Alps, and was uplifted in two stages following volcanism in the late Pliocene, 2.7-1.5 Myr ago (Harayama et al., 2003; Oikawa, 2003), magmatism (Ito et al., 2021) and E-W compression since the Pleistocene, 1.4-0.5 Myr ago (Oikawa, 2003). High water availability and high heat flow caused by subduction of the PSP causes crustal weaking and focuses deformation in this region (Townend and Zoback, 2006). Partially molten rock, inferred from low seismic wave velocity zones, is thought to occur at depths of 12-20 km and 2-4 km beneath the HMR (Masubara et al., 2000), consistent with active magmatism resulting in regional topographic bulging and rock uplift (Townend and Zoback, 2006). Geodetic surveys indicate contemporary rock uplift rates of the HMR of 3-5 mm/yr (El-Fiky and Kato, 2006), comparable to catchment-averaged denudation rates of ~4 mm/yr (Fujiwara, 1999; Korup et al., 2014). The Kurobe catchment of the HMR has been estimated to yield the highest erosion rates in Japan (Yoshikawa, 1974).

Our study area is the Kurobe gorge, one of the steepest gorges in Japan. The Kurobe gorge descends 1 km over 5 km distance and is drained by the 85 km long Kurobe River, which discharges 1.8 km³/yr of water into the Toyama basin and transported 1-2 Mt/yr of coarse sediment (sand and gravels) before the river was dammed (Uda and Omata, 1989). The HMR is one of the snowiest places on Earth, with a total annual precipitation of 4000 mm/yr (Uda and Omata, 1989) and annual snowfall between November and April of >9 m/yr. Peak snowmelt occurs in mid-April (Yamanaka et al., 2012) although peak discharge measured at the Kurobe dam usually occurs in the summer months (Wada et al., 2004) following convective rainfall. Multiple granitic intrusions have been recognized within the Kurobe region, ranging from >50 Ma in age to the ~0.8 Ma Kurobegawa granite, which has recently been shown to be the youngest surface-exposed granite yet-dated on Earth (Ito et al., 2013). Geobarometry data show that granites in the Kurobe region were emplaced at 4-10 km depth (Yamaguchi et al., 2003).

The presence of the Kurobegawa granite at the surface, together with preliminary thermochronometric data (Yamada, 1999; Ito et al., 2013; King et al., 2020) and dam-
sedimentation rates (Fujiwara et al., 1999; Esmaeili et al., 2015), indicate very high rates of
erosion in this region, although the cause of these rates remains unclear.

83

## Methods

Samples of granite were taken to form an elevation transect, along the main trunk of the Kurobe
River and a tributary catchment, whilst three additional samples were taken from farther East,
from Mt. Karamatsu and Mt. Kashimayarigadake (Fig. 1). We combined 12 new zircon (U-
Th)/He ages (ZHe) and 11 new feldspar multi-OSL-thermochronometry ages with existing
thermochronometric data (Fig. 2; Yamada, 1999; Ito et al., 2013; King et al., 2020). Infra-red-
stimulated-luminescence measurements were made at 50, 100, 150 and 225 °C, allowing the
different thermal stabilities of the luminescence signals to be exploited; as the IRSL 50°C data
were in athermal steady-state, they were not included in the analyses. We combined the
thermochronometric data using a 1-D thermal model (Biswas et al., 2018), which allows the
generation of a time-series of exhumation rate changes (Fig. 3). To understand the causes of
exhumation rate changes in Kurobe, we use stream-power modelling to track the migration of
knick-points throughout the catchment (Fig. 4; Schwanghart and Scherler, 2014) and evaluate
the glacial history of the catchment by estimating the equilibrium line altitude from climate
records (Anderson et al., 2021). Full methodological details are given in the Supplementary
Materials.

100

## Exhumation rates

In agreement with existing thermochronometric data, the OSL and ZHe ages obtained are
extremely young, yielding minimum ages of 8 ka and 0.1 Ma respectively for samples from the
main river valley (Figs. 1 and 2). The combined conversion of the ZFT and ZHe data into
exhumation rates yields a rate of <0.2 mm/yr until 2.5 Ma when rates increase, reaching ~2
mm/yr at around 1 Ma (Fig. 3a). Rates peak at 6-14 mm/yr within the past 0.3 Myr (Fig. 3a). In
contrast, samples from the East of the HMR from Mt. Karamatsu and Mt. Kashimayarigadake
108 reveal peak exhumation of 6 mm/yr around 4 Ma and rates of <0.2 mm/yr since 2 Ma (Fig. 1 and 3a). Performing the same exercise using the OSL and electron spin resonance (ESR) data 109 reveals a complex exhumation rate history over the past 0.15 Myr (Fig. 3b and 3c), resolved 110 because of the sensitivity of trapped-charge dating systems over kyr timescales. Whereas 111 samples from the main Kurobe River exhumed rapidly with rates of >10 mm/yr over the past 112 ~20 kyr, samples from the tributary catchment exhumed rapidly with rates of ~10 mm/yr 113 around ~65 ka before reducing to rates of <5 mm/yr over the past 50 kyr (Figs. 3b, 3c, 4a). 114

115 The high rates of exhumation recorded for the study area are commensurate with rates 116 elsewhere in the HMR (Spencer et al., 2019) but are anomalous relative to the Japanese Alps 117 more generally (Korup et al., 2014; Yoshikawa, 1974). Ito et al. (2021) have proposed that 118 intrusion of the Kurobegawa granite by three phases of magmatism at 2.1-2.0 Ma, ~1.0 Ma and 119 0.8-0.7 Ma resulted in uplift of the study area; contemporaneous with the increase in 120 exhumation rates to ~2 mm/yr recorded by the ZHe and ZFT data (Fig. 3a). 121

121 The youngest granites are exposed in the main Kurobe River valley, coincident with the 122 majority of samples that yield the most recent phase of rapid exhumation (Figs. 3, 4). However, 123 the kyr timescale of exhumation rate changes revealed by the thermochronometric ages (Fig. 3) 124 suggests that additional processes drive erosion rate changes in the Kurobe basin. We propose 125 that the data are best explained by knickpoint propagation along the Kurobe River in response 126 to the combined effects of eustatic changes, climate change, range-front faulting and magmatism 127 induced uplift. 128

129 **Knickpoint propagation**

130 Knickpoints are a change in channel slope and form in river valleys in response to spatially-
131 variable tectonic uplift, base-level change, and/or fault activity (Whipple and Tucker, 1999;
132 Steer et al., 2019). Rapid knickpoint retreat occurs in catchments with high stream-power and
133 bedload transport (Cook et al., 2013). The large volumes of sediment mobilised in the Kurobe
134 catchment are documented both by rapid rates of dam sedimentation (Esmaeili et al., 2015) and
also by the extensive 120 km² Kurobe alluvial fan. Uplift of the HMR, range-front faulting, subsidence of the Toyama basin and climatically driven sea-level changes have caused the Kurobe River base-level to change extensively over the Quaternary. Sea level low-stands of up to ~140 m occurred in the Japan Sea during the Late Pleistocene (Oba and Irino, 2012) and the combination of eustatic change and uplift means that the Kurobe River base-level has increased by ~80 m in the past 10 kyr (Ishikawa, 1991). Calculation of the normalised channel steepness, a simplified proxy of river stream power, reveals peak values around the study site (Fig. 4a). The combination of high base level change, high channel steepness and high sediment transport mean that during sea-level low stands, rapid bedrock incision and knickpoint propagation occurred at the sample location.

Multiple knickpoints occur in the catchment including between the main Kurobe River and the sampled tributary channel (Fig. 4b) where the river profile is over-steepened. This feature may relate to a change in lithology between different granitic intrusions (Fig. 1b), to localised faulting (Ito et al., 2013), or to knickpoint formation during glacial period sea-level low-stands and subsequent upstream knickpoint propagation. Analysis of the river profile indicates that the most significant knickpoint is coincident with the Kurobe dam around 10 km upstream of the study area (Supplementary Material). Whilst the dam conceals the true scale of the knickpoint, steepening of the river channel indicates a minimum knickpoint elevation of 40 m. Assuming that this feature relates to base-level fall during the last glacial maximum (LGM), 20 kyr ago, basin-wide knickpoint propagation modelling (Crosby and Whipple, 2006) yields a knickpoint retreat rate of ~3 m/yr (Supplementary Material). Whilst this rate is high, the high sediment transport of the Kurobe River, coupled with its high discharge and steepness, plus sea-level fall of ~120 m during the LGM (Oba and Irino, 2012) mean that knickpoint retreat must have been rapid.

The difference in timing of peak exhumation revealed by the ESR and OSL data in the main river channel and the tributary valley (Fig. 3b and 3c) reflects more rapid rock cooling in the main channel. This likely relates to more significant exhumation of the main river channel,
driven by its larger drainage area, but may also be influenced by hydrothermal activity related to emplacement of the Kurobe granite (Ito et al., 2013). Nevertheless, data from both locations yield a mean exhumation rate of ~9 mm/yr over 15 ka, equating to approximately 130 m of exhumation. Whilst ~40 m of this can be related to the continued uplift of the HMR, as revealed by geodetic surveys (El-Fiky and Kato, 2006), dam sedimentation rates (Fujiwara et al., 1999) and detrital cosmogenic nuclide data (Korup et al., 2014), and is consistent with the baseline rates of 2-4 mm/yr revealed by the ESR, OSL, ZFT and ZHe data (Fig. 3), the remainder likely relates to surface erosion and incision following base level change of the Kurobe River due to climatic changes over the past ~65 ka.

171

## 172 Glacial climate

In addition to eustatic change, enhanced erosion due to glacial or periglacial processes throughout the late Quaternary period will have also influenced the exhumation of Kurobe. The peak in exhumation rates of ~9 mm/yr at ~65 ka in the tributary catchment (Fig. 3b) is contemporaneous with MIS3/4 and what is thought to be the most extensive glaciation of Japan (Ono, 1991). Although global temperature was cooler during MIS2 than MIS3/4, more significant lowering of the Japan Sea level during MIS2 reduced moisture availability to the Japanese Alps preventing the establishment of large glaciers (Ono, 1991). During MIS4, the altitude of maximum ice extent in the HMR ranged from ~2,350 m in the West to ~1000 m in the East (Kawasumi, 2009), however equilibrium line altitude modelling using local climate records suggests that it is highly unlikely that Kurobe was glaciated at this time (Supplementary Material), indicating that periglacial processes were dominant.

The HMR is one of the snowiest places on Earth and under the cooler, humid conditions of MIS3/4 it is possible that annual snowfall exceeded the modern average of 9 m/yr (Aoki and Hasegawa, 2003). Periglacial processes coupled with enhanced stream power and fluvial incision following snowmelt may have increased sediment supply to the Kurobe River, further increasing erosion (Cook et al., 2013). After ~50 ka, estimated exhumation rates in the tributary
catchment reduced to ~2 mm/yr, commensurate with present day rates (Korup et al., 2014; Fujiwara et al., 1999). We suggest that these rates are typical of interglacial periods and are likely controlled by a combination of precipitation and earthquake driven landsliding (Kariya et al., 2011), continued uplift due to E-W compression and magma injection.

193

## 194 Conclusions

The exhumation rates recorded in Kurobe are some of the highest recorded on Earth, implying that cm/yr rates of exhumation are more common than previously thought. Kurobe is a high strain setting, similar to e.g. the Southern Alps of New Zealand, where a combination of tectonic convergence and active magmatism result in high rates of uplift. It is debated whether tectonics or climate controls Cenozoic exhumation and the role of global climatic cooling is at the centre of the dispute (Molnar and England, 1990). Here, using a suite of thermochronometers, we show that climatically-modulated eustatic and surface process changes, coupled with tectonics, strongly controls exhumation rates over sub-Quaternary timescales.

203

## 204 Figure captions:

205

**Fig. 1: Sample location and thermochronometric ages.** (a) Tectonic setting and accommodation of Philippine Sea/Amur convergence (Mazotti et al., 2001). (b) Geological map showing key faults (solid lines) as well as zircon U-Pb ages, (Z(U-Pb)) (modified from Ito et al., 2003). (c) Zircon fission-track (Yamada, 1999; ZFT); (d) zircon helium (this study, ZHe), (e) optically stimulated luminescence (King et al., 2020 and this study; OSL) and (f) electron spin resonance (King et al., 2020; ESR) ages.

212

**Fig. 2: Age-elevation relationship of the thermochronometric data.** OSL data from King et al. (2020) and this study, ESR from King et al. (2020), ZFT from Yamada (1999) and Z(U-Pb)
215

from Ito et al. (2003). Uncertainties for the OSL and Z(U-Pb) data are within the size of the datapoints.

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**Fig. 3: Exhumation rates.** Calculated from inversion of the thermochronometric data using a 1D thermal model (Biswas et al., 2018). (a) ZFT and ZHe data (b) OSL and ESR data of samples from the tributary valley and (c) from the main trunk of the Kurobe River; yellow and red sample-locations in Fig. 4a respectively. Shading highlights the timing of peak exhumation, with duration of ~15 ka; Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) are indicated.

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**Fig. 4: Stream modelling of the Kurobe River.** (a) The Kurobe River coloured according to channel steepness ($k_{sn}$), warmer colours indicate higher values. Sample locations are shown as filled circles. (b) Knickpoints (open circles) identified using the knickpoint finder function in TopoToolbox (Schwanghart and Scherler, 2014).

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**Acknowledgements**

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This research was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PZ00P2_167960 to GEK) and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (KAKENHI 26109003 to SS/TT). We thank the Chubu Regional Environment Office for permission to collect rocks. Sample collection was supported by the Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., Yasuhisa Hino (KANSO Co., Ltd.), Tetsuya Komatsu, Shuji Terusawa, Shoma Fukuda, Takayuki Arai and the staff of the Azohara lodge.

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