Palaeomagnetism of Tertiary Basins in Southern Korea: 2. Basaltic Rocks in the Central Part of Pohang Basin

남한 제3기 분지지역에 대한 고자기 연구 : 2. 포항분지 중부의 현무암질암

In order to determine the emplacement time and stratigraphic position of basaltic rocks in the central part of Pohang basin, palaeomagnetic investigations were conducted on 111 samples collected from 6 sites. Formation mean built from site-mean ChRM directions is $d=340.7^{\circ}$, $i=52.2^{\circ}$ (${\alpha}_{95}=6.0^{\circ}$, k=91) in the geographic coordinates. If "tilt" correction is applied regarding the plane perpendicular to the side walls of columnar joint as palaeohorizon, the formation mean becomes $d=328.7^{\circ}$, $i=43.8^{\circ}$ (${\alpha}_{95}=17.1^{\circ}$, k=13). It is to be noticed that the formation mean is deflected significantly (about $20{\sim}30^{\circ}$) counterclockwise from the Tertiary reference geomagnetic field of Eurasia, independent of "tilt" correction. This situation is very different from that of clockwise rotation of ChRM directions which has been ubiquitously observed in other Tertiary basins of south Korea, and indicates sinistral regional simple-shearing during the emplacement times of the basaltic rocks. Considering previous palaeomagnetic and AMS (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility) data from other Tertiary regions of south Korea, the time of this sinistral shearing should be 15 Ma or directly thereafter, and this time point represents inversion from extensional to compressional tectonic regime. Magnetic foliation data obtained in this study indicate WNW-ESN compression during or directly after emplacement of the basaltic rocks, while it has known from regional tectonic study that the time of the WNW-ESN compression is about 15 Ma, when SW Honshu was rotated and the Korean strait was narrowed.