Quaternary counterclockwise rotation of South Kyushu, Southwest Japan

Paleomagnetic data from latest Miocene to Pliocene sedimentary rocks in southeast Kyushu, as well as those previously reported from middle to late Miocene formations, show that a large part of south Kyushu has been rotated approximately 30 degrees counterclockwise with respect to north Kyushu and Eurasia during the past 2 m.y. This rotation started synchronously with rifting of the continental crust beneath south Kyushu and the northern Okinawa trough, which commenced around the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary and continues to the present. The coincidence of rotation and extension implies that arc rotation can take place during rifting of continental crust.