Paleostress of the Joseon and Pyeongan Supergroups in South Korea using the New Calcite Strain Gauge (NCSG)

Limestone bodies under the tectonic environment have experienced various tectonic processes, and also changed the stress state. In this study, calcite twins found in limestones of the Joseon Supergroup and Pyeongan Supergroup in the northeastern part of the Ogcheon Belt, South Korea were measured, then the paleostress (i.e., the maximum shortening axis) was reconstructed using the new calcite strain gauge (NCSG) technique. The average twin thickness and average twin intensity increase as the total twin strain increases. We utilize the appearance of twins, the average twin thickness and average twin intensity, and the total twin strain to estimate that the observed calcite twins were produced at temperatures of < $200^{\circ}C$ in the Joseon Supergroup and $170^{\circ}C$ in the Pyeongan Supergroup. In the Joseon Supergroup, the dominant direction of the maximum shortening axis WNW-ESE to NW-SE; NE-SW shortening is also observed. The maximum shortening axes in the Pyeongan Supergroup are oriented NW-SE and NE-SW. The NE-SW direction of maximum shortening is associated with the occurrence of the Songrim orogeny of the Paleozoic to Early Jurassic, and the NW-SE direction of maximum shortening correlates to the Daebo orogeny of the Early Jurassic to Late Jurassic. It is thus concluded that the paleostress across the study area changed from NE-SW to NW-SE during the Mesozoic.