http://www.cneas.tohoku.ac.jp/labs/geo/1index/
•Professor Tatsuki Tsujimori (Center for Northeast Asian Studies), specializing in metamorphic petrology, geochemistry, and tectonics
•Associate Professor Naoto Hirano (Center for Northeast Asian Studies), specializing in Volcanoes, Basalt, and Ocean floor tectonics
•Assistant Professor Akio Goto (Center for Northeast Asian Studies), specializing in Rheology on magma, and Physics on eruption phenomena
•Assistant Professor Tsuyoshi Miyamoto (Center for Northeast Asian Studies), specializing in Volcano formation development history, and Petrology on magma process
•Assistant Professor Daniel Pastor-Galán (The Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences), specializing in structural geology and plate kinematics/dynamics

Some spectacular views of the present-day Earth's surface, discovering beauty and science.

A convergent plate margin (a.k.a. subduction zone) occurs where two tectonic plates collide and oceanic plate slides beneath the other plate, descending in to the deep Earth's mantle due to the higher density of the oceanic plate. Since plate tectonics has operated on the Earth, the 'subduction' of oceanic plate to deep mantle depths plays a crucial role in the physicochemical evolution of the solid Earth. Generation and growth (or disruption) of continental crust and consequent chemical differentiation and large-scale mass-circulation have attended convergent plate margin throughout Earth history. Therefore, the study of geological phenomenon associated with convergent plate margins allows us to understand solid Earth process and evolution.

Since late 2015, PRG has been working hard on various research projects to improve and revolutionize our understanding of the solid Earth process and evolution. We in PRG (Petrotectonics Research Group) seek to understand Plate tectonic processes, Rock evolution, and Global geodynamics.

Our most current projects in PRG have been attempted to answer the following questions: to answer the following questions:

• What are the geochemical mass inputs and outputs associated with the 'subduction' of oceanic plate at a convergent plate margin? What is the physicochemical mechanism for the geochemical mass transfer from the subducting plate (slab) into the overlaying mantle? How does the 'subduction zone' impact the Earth's evolution? What are the secular changes throughout Earth history?


• What is the petrochemical structure of oceanic plate in past and present? What is the petrochemical diversity of the oceanic crust before subduction? How does the flexural plate bending before entering a trench affect the structure? What are physicochemical properties and conditions of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary beneath the long-lived oceanic plate?

77 research keywords: accretion; accretionary complex; alteration; amphibolite; anatesis; basalt; batholith; Bayesian statistics; blueschist; calcite; collision; craton; crust; decarbonation; dehydration; diamond anvil cell (DAC); diapir; eclogite; element cycle; exhumation; fluid inclusions; fluid-rock interaction; forearc; gabbro; garnet; geochemistry; geochronology; geodynamic modeling; glaucophane; gneiss; granite; granulite; greywacke; high-pressure experiment; hydration; jadeitite; lawsonite; magmatism; mantle; mantle plume; mantle-melt interaction; marble; metamorphism; metasomatism; mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB); migmatite; multivariate analysis; obduction; ocean island basalt (OIB); olivine; ophiolite; Paleoproterozoic; peridotite; petit-spot; petrology; Phanerozoic; phengite; pillow basalt; pillow basalt; plate kinematics; Raman microscopy; rodingite; schist; serpentinite; serpentinite mélange; slab; subduction; submarine volcano; tectonic block; tectonic erosion ; thermodynamic modeling; troctolite; vein; volcanism; volcano; xenolith; zircon

Our research targets cover a wide range of geological processes in orogenic bets as well as modern arc–trench–ocean system.


We rock in geology! We seek highly motivated students who are eager to learn and truly understand the solid Earth.