Late Cenozoic evolution of epithermal gold metallogenic provinces in Kyushu, Japan

Kyushu Island, Japan, is located at the junction of the Southwest Japan arc and the Ryukyu arc. There are two major late Cenozoic epithermal gold-silver provinces in Kyushu, which are termed the Northern and Southern provinces. The provinces are characterized by: 1) Pliocene volcanism dominated by calc-alkaline andesite, followed by Quaternary volcanism including extrusion of both calc-alkaline and tholeiitic magmas; 2) formation of extensional grabens; 3) Pliocene to Pleistocene mineralization, which was dominated by abundant low sulfidation (LS) epithermal deposits with a few high sulfidation (HS) examples. The two epithermal gold-silver provinces have evolved differently since about 5 Ma; the Northern province has exhibited diminished hydrothermal activity from the Pliocene to Pleistocene, whereas the Southern province has witnessed increased hydrothermal activity mainly in easterly and northerly directions. Changes of tectonic setting from the Pliocene to Pleistocene account for the variable trends in epithermal gold deposit formation. Westward oblique subduction of the Philippine Sea plate beneath the Southwest Japan arc caused development of the Hohi graben and arc-related volcanism at about 6 Ma. This was associated with widespread LS mineralization in and surrounding the Hohi graben, as is represented by the Bajo and Taio deposits. The subduction of the relatively buoyant Kyushu-Palau ridge during the early Pliocene strengthened the coupling between the slab and overriding Ryukyu arc, leading to polygenetic andesite volcanism with associated HS (Kasuga, Iwato, and Akeshi) and LS (Kushikino) mineral deposits forming in the Southern province. A change of the subduction direction of the Philippine Sea plate, from west to north-northwest in the early Pliocene, increased the orthogonal convergence rate between the Southwest Japan arc and the Philippine Sea plate, resulting in a decrease of volcanic and hydrothermal activity in the Hohi graben of the Northern province. The more northerly subduction of the Philippine Sea plate shifted the locus of the Kyushu-Palau ridge subduction northward, resulting in underplating of the older (85–60 Ma), negatively buoyant Amami basin oceanic slab in the Southern province, rather than continued subduction of the young (27–15 Ma), buoyant Shikoku basin slab. This replacement caused steepening of the slab angle and slab-rollback in the Southern province, which was associated with regional extension, an eastward shift of the Ryukyu volcanic front, and development of the Kagoshima and Shimabara grabens, as well as the Okinawa trough. Rhyolite and basalt volcanism, in addition to andesite volcanism, have occurred since 2 Ma in the area of the Ryukyu back arc; coincident LS mineralization at Hishikari and Ohkuchi was affiliated with the rhyolite volcanism. Another change of the subduction direction of the Philippine Sea plate to the northwest occurred at 2–1 Ma. The forearc sliver of the Southwest Japan arc shifted westward, in association with right-lateral strike-slip faulting along the Median tectonic line, due to the increase of the westward convergence rate. This shift resulted in shortening and cessation of graben development in the Hohi area, restricting the subsequent volcanism and related hydrothermal activity to the central part of the graben.