Abstract

The hypothesis of ridge subduction which explains the Cretaceous igneous activities in East Asia including China, Korea and Japan, has been widely accepted in the society. Especially, the hypothesis explains the southwest-tonortheast migration of the Cretaceous adakite emergence in Southwest Japan. However, the hypothesis has several issues because the geochemical analyses and plate reconstruction model are not consistent with the consequences of the ridge subduction. To resolve the issues, a new hypothesis of the plume-continent and plume-slab interaction is suggested, which explains the igneous activities during the Cretaceous. In this review, I briefly introduce the two hypotheses and suggest an additional future study to prove the new hypothesis.

Keywords Cretaceous, igneous activity, ridge subduction, plume-continent and plume-slab interaction