This article presents new field, geochronological, and geochemical data for the Late Miocene Oki-dozen dike swarm (ODS), southwest Japan. This swarm is part of a volcanic suite comprising mafic and silicic dikes, sills, and pyroclastic cones from which we obtained structural measurements at a various genetic orders and scales. The mafic magmas generated three dike swarms with dikes oriented to NW-SE, N-S, and NE-SW. In comparison, the silicic intrusions do not have a preferred orientation but instead appear to radiate from the center of the volcanic suite. Comparison of the maximum thickness of 37 dikes with SiO2 content (wt%) yielded a critical thickness (T cr ) value of T cr = 0.2 × (SiO2 − 40). These data indicate that the orientations of dikes were controlled by the magnitude of dike tip pressure and magma overpressure, both of which positively correlate with SiO2 concentrations. The silicic units yield estimated pressures (up to 15–60 MPa) that are large enough to have counteracted the regional stress field, whereas the mafic dike swarm only yielded lower pressures. This result suggests that comparative analysis at a range of scales is essential for the accurate determination on the tectonic stress field by igneous rocks.
Part of the book: Evolutionary Models of Convergent Margins