Geology and Marine Science (Institute of Geology and Geoinformation)

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Geology and Marine Science

Institute of Geology and Geoinformation (IGG)

URL:http://unit.aist.go.jp/igg/cie/

Director'Shigeko TOGASHI

Research outline

Surrounded by oceans, Japan is one of the few developed countries where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are a frequent occurrence. To live in safety and maintain a high level of economic activity, it is essential to minimize the damage from such natural disasters, while also preserving the global environment, based on accurate predictions of the future. A deep understanding of the "Earth system" will help us make safe, sustainable, and efficiency decisions in mitigating geological hazards and managing the environment.

The Institute of Geology and Geoinformation (IGG), working together with its related units as the Geological Survey of Japan, carries out integrated research on land and marine geology from a long-term viewpoint, and as the core center in the Geological Survey of Japan, is creating an intellectual infrastructure of reliable geological data. At the same time, IGG takes a strategic approach to the following as important issues for quality of life and sustainable development.

(1) Comprehensive research on the geological environment of urban and coastal areas, including ecosystems

(2) Research to mitigate geological hazards due to earthquake and volcanic activity

(3) Elucidation of the island arc system and creation of a geological knowledge base using this work, and integration of geoscience data and information to a common standard

Research highlights

Fig. 1 Geological map of Miyakejima volcano
IGG provides information on the history of volcanic activity, which is necessary to predict the tendency of eruptions and evaluate volcanic activity from a long-term perspective, in the form of geological maps of volcanoes such as the above. By 2005, work on 13 active volcanoes has been completed and published.

Fig. 2 Changes in environment of Song Hong (Red River) delta in Vietnam during last 10,000 years
The sea formed a bay extending to near the present-day Hanoi 9,000 years ago, and a lowland area of mangroves extended over the entire delta until approximately 4,000 years ago. Thereafter, the coastline quickly advanced due to the decreasing sea level, resulting in an environment close to the modern one. These changes were demonstrated for the first time in work by IGG researchers (published in 2003).

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