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Ocean Floor Science Lab
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The lab investigates plate motion and the dynamism of the Earth through rocks from the ocean floor.
AboutAbout the lab
Reading ocean floor and plate motion from rocks
The Ocean Floor Science Lab studies the motion of the ocean floor and of plates as recorded in rocks, and the dynamism of the Earth as reflected in magma.
The lab aims to clarify the structure and evolutionary history of subducting oceanic plates from the chemical and isotopic compositions recorded in basalts from submarine volcanoes.
The lab also studies rocks of the Pacific Plate that is subducting into the trench, and rocks of ancient deep ocean floor exposed in eastern Hokkaido.
The lab is the Ocean Floor Science Division of the Faculty of Science and Graduate School of Science at Tohoku University, and is also the Geochemistry Research Field of the Center for Northeast Asian Studies.
Key terms
- Petit-spot volcano
- A submarine volcano that erupts around the bulge formed by the bending of an oceanic plate just before it subducts
- Outer rise
- A topographic bulge on the ocean floor formed when an oceanic plate bends as it subducts into a trench
- Isotopic composition
- The abundance ratio of atoms of the same element that differ in mass (isotopes)
NewsLab news
The Ocean Floor Science Lab was established
A doctoral student received the Student Outstanding Presentation Award at the 131st Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of Japan
A doctoral student and a research fellow received the 2024 Research Encouragement Award of the Geological Society of Japan
A master's student received the Student Outstanding Presentation Award at JpGU 2024
ResearchResearch themes
Using rocks and magma from the ocean floor as clues, the lab seeks to capture the motion of oceanic plates and the dynamism of the Earth as reflected in magma. Its main subjects are the deep ocean floor of the Pacific and rocks of ancient deep ocean floor preserved in eastern Hokkaido.
*Illustrative imageOceanic plates and petit-spot volcanoes
Around the outer rise, the bulge formed where a subducting oceanic plate bends, submarine volcanoes called petit-spot volcanoes erupt. The lab investigates the structure and evolutionary history of oceanic plates from the chemical and isotopic compositions of their basaltic lavas.
*Illustrative imagePacific Plate rocks and megathrust earthquakes
The discovery of petit-spot volcanoes and seismic structural surveys have revealed new information about the rocks and structure of the Pacific Plate. Deep ocean floor material subducting from the trench into Earth's interior is thought to control the occurrence of plate-boundary megathrust earthquakes and the extent of their source regions.
*Illustrative imageAncient deep ocean floor preserved in eastern Hokkaido
In the Nemuro and Tokoro belts of eastern Hokkaido, rocks of the ancient Pacific deep ocean floor, 100 to 50 million years old, are exposed. The lab reconstructs the Pacific deep ocean floor of that time from the formation processes of basalts produced by submarine magmatism and from the depositional environments of the strata.
*Illustrative imageData-driven analysis and analytical environment
The lab applies statistical analysis methods using programming languages and the development of data-driven analysis techniques to solid Earth science research. It also works on building a sample preparation system environment capable of supporting advanced analyses.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Ocean Floor Science Lab consist of faculty members and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.
- ProfessorNaoto Hirano
- Assistant ProfessorAkio Goto
- Assistant ProfessorTsuyoshi Miyamoto
- Assistant ProfessorDaniel Pastor-Galán
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Earth seafloor crust age 1996 - 2” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped)
- Oceanic plates and petit-spot volcanoes: “Rock sample 4 Aphanitic basalt Addi Amyuq pass” Jan Nyssen / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Pacific Plate rocks and megathrust earthquakes: “Japan Trench” Mikenorton / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Ancient deep ocean floor preserved in eastern Hokkaido: “Pillow-lava of Lagani, Corsica” Cardioceras / CC0 (cropped)
- Data-driven analysis and analytical environment: “HR-ICP-MS, high-resolution inductively coupled plasma ionization mass spectrometer used for multi-element analysis, in CAFIA laboratory, Czech Republic” Sarka Na kopci / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Volcanology and Geofluids Lab): “Taal Volcano eruption on January 12, 2020” Michael Angelo Luna / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Quantum Beam Earth Science Lab): “U.S. Department of Energy - Science - )” U.S. Department of Energy from United States / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Mineralogy Lab): “Natural Mineral Crystal Display” QueenCityCebu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Resources and Environmental Geochemistry Lab): “Analyse des éléments chimiques dans l'eau (Ifremer )” Stephane Lesbats / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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