SPEPS収録論文

This Special Issue showcases recent advances and emerging perspectives in thermochronology and its applications across Asia. Thermochronology is a discipline that estimates the thermal history of rocks and minerals in order to elucidate the timing and rates of various geological events occurring within the crust, such as tectonic, magmatic, erosional, and surface processes. Over the past half-century, thermochronology has developed primarily in Europe and North America, but in recent years, its research activity has been growing in other regions, including Asia (see the figure below). Asia is a region characterized by active crustal deformation, seismicity, and magmatic activity driven by plate subduction and collision. When combined with the humid climate brought by the monsoon system, these processes result in dynamic landscape evolution, making Asia a highly unique target for thermochronological research. Clarifying the spatiotemporal evolution of these processes is not only of fundamental importance in the geosciences but also contributes to societal needs such as natural hazard mitigation and the exploitation of natural resources. The Asian Conference of Thermochronology (ACT2026), the first international conference organized by the Asian thermochronology community, will be held in Turkey in August 2026. This special issue brings together distinctive thermochronological research from Asia and adjacent regions, with a primary focus on contributions presented at the conference. The holding of the above conference and the publication of this special issue are part of the activities of the Focus Group on Thermochronology on Earth’s Surface Processes within the Solid Earth Sciences Section of JpGU.

Edited by: Orhan Karsli, Takahiro Tagami, Yuntao Tian, Olga Yakubovic, Yuan-Hsi Lee, Muat Tamer