ABSTRACT The Shikoku Basin is a back-arc basin located offshore southwest Japan. Sediments within the basin make up a key part of the subduction inputs to the Nankai Trough. A 19 m.y. history of sedimentation has been documented at Sites C0011 and C0012 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (Kumano transect) and Sites 1173 and 1177 of the Ocean Drilling Program (Muroto and Ashizuri transects, respectively). This paper focuses on three noteworthy aspects of that history: (1) the onset of substantial pyroclastic influx, which shifted significantly along the strike length of the margin, from 3.3–3.9 Ma at Sites 1177 and 1173 to 7.6–7.8 Ma at Sites C0011 and C0012; (2) transport of sand by sediment gravity flows, which resulted in three discrete sand bodies during the Miocene (Kyushu, Daiichi Zenisu, and Daini Zenisu submarine fans); and (3) clay mineral assemblages within hemipelagic mudstones, which show systematic reduction of 3 wt% detrital smectite per 1 m.y. decrease in age. Collectively, these temporal and spatial adjustments of lithofacies and sediment composition have important implications for downdip and along-strike projections of frictional, geotechnical, and hydrogeological properties as strata enter the Nankai subduction zone. The stratigraphic positions of smectite-rich Miocene mudstones, for example, should match up with increases in the volume of fluid production by clay dehydration during subduction. The higher-permeability sand bodies (Kyushu and Zenisu submarine fans) should act as preferred conduits for focused fluid flow. The potential for buildup of fluid overpressures should increase above and laterally adjacent to stratigraphic pinch-outs of sand bodies, especially where the aquifers are inclined or confined between basement highs. These three-dimensional complexities set the Nankai-Shikoku system apart from other subduction zones (e.g., Japan Trench, Costa Rica) where inputs consist of comparatively homogeneous pelagic and hemipelagic deposits.

We present a comprehensive data set of organic and inorganic geochemistry from a lower Cretaceous pelagic bedded chert succession of the Shimanto accretionary belt in the Yokonami Peninsula (Kochi, Japan). Based on stable isotopic composition of total organic carbon (δ 13 C org ), in conjunction with radiolarian biostratigraphic data, we propose that a 1.3-m-thick interval within the examined section is correlative with Tethyan Selli Level (Apennines, Italy), a sedimentary expression of oceanic anoxic event (OAE) 1a. Specifically, the δ 13 C org record illustrates a discernible negative shift and subsequent positive excursions upsection, a pattern that resembles the typical δ 13 C org pattern across OAE 1a reported from various sites such as the Mediterranean Tethys and Pacific seamount flanks. Our δ 13 C org record from the deep Pacific basin supports the idea that the δ 13 C variation across OAE 1a was induced by a significant perturbation of global carbon cycle. The slight increase in total organic carbon contents of sediment deposited during OAE 1a suggests slight or no expansion of oxygen-deficient water mass in the overlying water column. Rare earth elements and lead isotopic compositions indicate relatively higher contributions of volcanic or hydrothermally altered components before and after OAE 1a. The volcanic or hydrothermal source may be associated with emplacement of the Ontong Java Plateau during the early Aptian, or tectonically induced hydrothermal alteration associated with the formation of the accretionary complex.