NEW FINDS OF GRANITOIDS IN THE KURILE ISLANDS

Abstract

In this article, we discuss new finds of granite and granite-gneiss in the Kurile Islands, both as fragments in beach deposits and as inclusions in volcanic rocks. Although an ice-rafted origin for some fragments is theoretically possible, this concept must be rejected. Our inference that a granitic crust is present under the Kurile Islands agrees well with the now numerous data on the past existence of a granitic crust in nearby, but now submerged areas of the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan, the Philippine Sea, and the Zenkevich and the Obruchev Rises in the Pacific. Thus, the idea that the Kurile island arc was established on a continental crust that was subsequently oceanized is confirmed.