• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.301-312
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• 2015

A commercial gas field was found in the southwestern continental shelf of the Ulleung Basin, East Sea in the late 1990s. To develop additional gas field, an exploration well was drilled through the coarse infill of submarine canyon near the gas field, but it was uneconomic to develop hydrocarbons. Using newly acquired deep seismic reflection and previous well data, we have identified additional geological structure which has hydrocarbon potentials below submarine canyons in the southwestern margin of the basin. Based on the interpretation of the deep seismic reflection and well data, the sequences of the study area can be classified into the syn-rift megasequence(MS1), post-rift megasequence(MS2), syn-compressional megasequence(MS3), and post-compressional megasequence(MS4) in relation to the tectonic events. MS1, deposited simultaneously with the basin formation before the middle Miocene, is characterized by chaotic seismic facies with low- to moderate-amplitude and low frequency reflections. MS2 comprises laterally continuous, low- to moderate-amplitude reflections, showing progradational stacking patterns due to high rates of sediment supply during basin expansion in the middle Miocene. MS3 is mainly composed of continuous reflections with high amplitude and moderate- to high-frequency which are interpreted as coarse-grained sediments. The coarse-grained sediments of MS3 sequence is widely truncated by several submarine canyons which filled with fine-grained sediment of MS4 to form a stratigraphic trap of hydrocarbon. Therefore, the reservoir and seal of the hydrocarbon trap in the study area are coarse-grained sediment of MS3 and submarine canyon filled with fine-grained sediment of MS4, respectively. A flat-spot seismic anomaly, which may indicate the presence of hydrocarbon, is observed within the stratigraphic trap.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.185-197
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• 1995

Tungsten skarns in the Chungju mine which consists mainly of strata-bound type iron ore deposits are found in the vicinity of the contact between the age-unknown Kyemeongsan Formation and granitic rock intrusions of Mesozoic age($134{\pm}2Ma$). Tungsten skarns were formed extensively from alumina and silica-rich schistose rocks by the introduction of calcium and iron from hydrothermal solution. The skarns comprise a metasomatic column and are subdivided into four facies; garnet facies, wollastonite facies, epidote facies and chlorite facies. The skarn process in time-evolutional trend can be divided broadly into the four facies in terms of the paragenetic sequence of calc-silicates and their chemical composition. Skarn and ore minerals were formed in the following sequence; (1) garnet facies, adjacent to biotite granite, containing mainly garnet(>Ad96) and magnetite, (2) wollastonite facies containing mainly wollastonite and garnet(Ad95~60), (3) epidote facies, containing mainly epidote(Ps35~31), quartz, andradite-grossular(Ad63~50), and scheelite, (4) chlorite facies, adjacent to and replacing schist, containing mainly chrolite, muscovite, quartz, calcite, epidote(Ps31~25), hematite and sulfides. The mineral assemblage and mineral compositions. suggest that the chemical potentials of Ca and Fe increased toward the granitic rock, and the component Al, Mg, K, and Si decreased from the host rock to granitic rock. The homogenization temperature and salinity of fluid inclusion in scheelite, quartz and epidote of epidote facies skarn is $300-400^{\circ}C$ and 3-8wt.% eqiv. NaCl, respectively. ${\delta}^{34}S$ values of pyrite and galena associated with chlorite facies skarn is $9.13{\sim}9.51%_{\circ}$ and $5.85{\sim}5.96%_{\circ}$, respectively. The temperature obtained from isotopic com· position of coexisting pyrite-galena is $283{\pm}20^{\circ}C$. Mineral assemblages and fluid inclusion data indicate that skarn formed at low $X_{CO_2}$, approximately 0.01. Temperature of the skarn mineralization are estimated to be in the range of $400^{\circ}C$ to $260^{\circ}C$ and pressure to be 0.5 kbar. The oxygen fugacity($fo_2$) of the skarn mineralization decreased with time. The early skarn facies would have formed at log $fo_2$ values of about -25 to -27, and late skarn facies would have formed at log $fo_2$ values of -28 to -30. The estimated physicochemical condition during skarn formation suggests that the principal causes of scheelite mineralization are reduction of the ore·forming fluid and a decrease in temperature.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.1 s.176
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• pp.9-25
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• 2006

Baekun gold-silver deposit is an epithermal quartz vein that is filling the fault zone within Triassic or Jurassic foliated granodiorite. Mineralization is associated with fault-breccia zones and can be divided into two stages. Stage I which can be subdivided early and late depositional stages is main ore mineralization and stage II is barren. Early stage I is associated with wallrock alteration and the formation of sulfides such as arsenopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, stannite, galena. Late stage I is characterized by Au-Ag mineralization such as electrum, Ag-bearing tetrahedrite, stephanite, boulangerite, pyrargrite, argentite, schirmerite, native silver, Ag-Te-Sn-S system, Ag-Cu-S system, pyrite, chalcopyrite and galena. Fluid inclusion data indicate that homogenization temperatures and salinity of stage I range from $171.6^{\circ}C\;to\;360.8^{\circ}C\;and\;from\;0.5\;to\;10.2\;wt.\%\;eq.$ NaCl, respectively. It suggest that ore forming fluids were cooled and diluted with the mixing of meteoric water. Also, Temperature (early stage I: $236\~>380^{\circ}C,\;$ late stage $I: <197\~272^{\circ}C$) and sulfur fugacity (early stage $I:\;10^{-7.8}$ a atm., late stage I: $10^{-14.2}\~10^{-l6}atm$.) deduced mineral assemblages from stage 1 decrease with paragenetic sequence. Sulfur ($2.4\~6.1\%_{\circ}$(early stage $I=3.4\~5.3\%_{\circ},\;late\;stage\;I=2.4\~6.1\%_{\circ}$)), oxygen ($4.5\~8.8\%_{\circ}$(quartz: early stage $I=6.3\~8.8\%_{\circ}$, late stage $I=4.5\~5.6\%_{\circ}$)), hydrogen ($-96\~-70\%_{\circ}$ (quartz: early stage $I=-96\~-70\%_{\circ},\;late\;stage\;f=-78\~-74\%_{\circ},\;calcite:\;late\;stage\;I=-87\~-76\%_{\circ}$)) and carbon ($-6.8\~-4.6\%_{\circ}$ (calcite: late stage I)) isotope compositions indicated that hydrothermal fluids may be magmaticorigin with some degree of mixing of another meteoric water for paragenetic time.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

The geology of the Seungryung Zn deposit, located in the Muzu basin, consists of Precambrian leucocratic granitic gneiss, Cretaceous clastic rocks, pyroclastic rocks, and intrusive rocks. The deposit shows a weakly skarnized hydrothermal replacement ore developed along limestone bed in the gneiss. The mineralization can be divided into three stages: the early skarnization producing garnet and pyroxene, the main mineralization in the middle stage precipitating most metallic minerals such as magnetite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, Pb-Ag-Bi-S system minerals, and the late stage for altered or low temperature minerals such as chlorite and marcasite. Pb-Ag-Bi-S system minerals include heyrovskite-eskimoite solid solution, lillianite-gustavite solid solution, and vikingite. Chalcopyrite diseases are quite common in sphalerite showing bead chains and dusting textures. The ${\delta}^{34}S$ values of sulfides minerals are concentrated within the narrow range of 3.4~4.1‰ for pyrite, 3.3~4.3‰ for sphalerite, 4.0~4.3‰ for chalcopyrite, and 2.8‰ for galena, suggesting that most sulfur is of igneous origin. Sulfur isotope geothermometry is calculated to be $346{\sim}431^{\circ}C$, implying that the mineralization occurred at relatively high temperature. FeS contents of sphalerite are relatively high in the range of 6.58~20.16 mole% (avg. 16.58 mole%) with the enrichment of Mn compared to Cd, similarly to representative skarn Pb-Zn deposits in South Korea. On the contrary, sphalerite from Au-Ag deposits in the Seolcheon mineralized zone around the Seungryung deposit is enriched in Cd, showing similar feature like representative epithermal Au-Ag deposits. This suggests that around the related igneous rocks, magnetite and sphalerite were produced at high temperature in the Seungryung deposit, and with decreasing temperature and compositional change of mineralizing fluids, Au-Ag mineralization proceeded in the Seolcheon mineralized zone.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.155-166
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• 1982

Sulfur isotope compositions (${\delta}^{34}S$) of seventy one sulfide minerals from the Shinyemi ore deposits were determined to range from -10.1 to +5.0‰ with a mean value of +2.1‰. These values are roughly comparable to those of various hydrothermal ore deposits in Korea, about +2.0 to +7.0‰ in ${\delta}^{34}S$, suggesting that they are to be same in source of sulfur. The Shinyemi deposits are grouped into two types; the western bedded skarn orebodies and the eastern small pipes and veins. The ${\delta}^{34}S$ values of sulfide minerals from the bedded orebodies (early mineralization) are ranging from -10.1 to +2.5‰, which is relatively wide in range, whereas those of the pipes and veins. (later mineralization) have a narrow range of ${\delta}^{34}S$ values, +2.7 to +5.0‰, regardless of the kind of sulfide minerals. Isotopic temperature obtained from the sphalerite-galena mineral pairs of the New B orebody appeared to be about 400 to $540^{\circ}C$ are reasonably good agreement with the comparable data of skarn mineral assemblages. It is concluded that the west orebodies were formed in earlier stage at higher temperatures than the east orebodies formed later at lower temperatures. Judging from the various data from the present study, the Shinyemi deposits can be defined as a typical contact metasomatic deposit. The source of sulfur in the hydrothermal solutions is considered to be comagmatic with the Shinyemi granodiorite.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2010

We report petrologic characteristics including $^{40}Ar-^{39}Ar$ absolute ages of the subsurface lavas recovered from borehole cores in two islets, Marado and Gapado, off the southwestern coast of Jeju in southernmost Korea and discuss on the volcanism in the region. The lavas in Gapado are apparently divided into one unit with bright colored, aphanitic texture and sheet jointed, and another unit with dark colored and massive. The outcrops often show differentially weathered pattern due to textural difference. While, the lavas in Marado have vesicular and glomerporphyric texture, even though each lava flow unit in Marado has slight unique texture with variation of vesicularity and phenocrysts. The chemical composition of rock core samples from Gapa borehole and Mara borehole shows that the lavas from Gapado and Marado are classified into basaltic trachyandesite($SiO_2$ 52.6-53.6 wt%, $Na_2O+K_2O$ 7.3-7.5 wt%) and tholeiitic andesite($SiO_2$ 51.7-52.8 wt%, $Na_2O+K_2O$ 3.6-4.1 wt%), respectively. The measured $^{40}Ar-^{39}Ar$ plateau ages range from $824{\pm}32\;Ka$(MSL -69 m) to $758{\pm}\;Ka$(MSL 19 m) for core samples of Gapa borehole and $259{\pm}168\;Ka$(MSL -26 m) for a core sample of Mara borehole, respectively. The absolute age of Gapado basaltic trachyandesite is well correlated with that of Sanbangsan trachyte(Won et al., 1986). Meanwhile, the age of a sample in Marado has $259{\pm}168\;Ka$(MSL -26 m) with poor plateau age formation and high error range. We report the data in caution but the rock composition and absolute age of Marado tholeiitic andesite are relatively correlated with those of lava units from Duksu and Sangmo-2 boreholes, indicating the volcanism during 260-150 Ka. On the basis of interpretation of occurrences of exposed and subsurface volcanic rocks of the study area, stratigraphic relationship with adjacent borehole cores and the bathymetry chart of surrounding area, it indicates that the lavas in Gapado were formed around 800 Ka during relatively early stage of volcanic activity in Jeju Island. Meanwhile, Marado may have originated around 260-150 Ka during relatively young stage of volcanism in Jeju Island. It is inferred that the volcanisms have originated in land and these islets were individual ancient volcanoes. The apparent topography has been re-shaped by tidal erosion due to transgression.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.147-164
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• 1975

19 amphibolite samples from the Precambrian Sobaegsan metamorphic belt including the Ogbang mine amphibolites were analyzed for 24 elements each, by wet chemical and emission spectroscopic methods. All the chemical data were evaluated by the methods outlined by Evans and Leake(1960) and Leake(1964) and by Shaw and Kudo(1965). The chemical similarity of all the studied rocks analyzed to basic igneous rocks is consistently indicated particularly by trace element abundance and variation trends. Petrography and oxidation ratios were also considered in attempting to determine the nature of the parent rocks. 3 analyses of W-bearing mafic metamorphic rocks from Sangdong area of the Ogcheon geosynclinal zone are also presented and discussed. Geochemical data for these latter rocks have been possibly derived from mafic tuffs deposited in an area of carbonate deposition.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.523-535
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• 1994

The strata-bound type iron ore bodies in the Chungju mine are interbedded with metamorphic rocks which are intruded by Mesozoic granitic rocks. The iron ore deposit occurs as layer or lens shape which are concordant with the metamorphic rocks. The iron ore is classified into banded and massive types based on the mode of texture and occurrence. Grain size and iron-oxides tend to become coarser toward massive ore than banded ore. Banded ores commonly contain internal layers defined by alternating magnetite- rich, hematite-rich, magnetite-hematite, and quartz-rich mesobands. The banded iron ore consists of hematite, magnetite, quartz, feldspar, and minor amounts of biotite, muscovite, chlorite, carbonates, epidote, allanite, and zircon. Massive ores which are characterized by high magnetite content occur in contact of granitic rocks. The massive iron ores consist mostly of magnetite and quartz, with minor amounts of hematite, pyrite, microcline, biotite, muscovite, chlorite, carbonates, epidote, allanite and zircon. Magnetite from banded and massive ores is almost pure $Fe_3O_4$ in composition, including 0.14 to 0.27 wt.% MnO and 0.10 to 0.15 wt.% MnO, respectively. Hematite of the ore contains 0.87 to 1.27 wt.% $TiO_2$ in banded ore and 3.44 to 6.96 wt.% $TiO_2$ in massive ore, respectively. Biotite shows a little compositional variation depending on ore types. Biotite of the banded ore has lower FeO, $TiO_2$ and $Al_2O_3$, and higher MgO and $SiO_2$ than the massive ore. The modes of occurrence and petrography of ore implies that massive ores might have been formed either under more reducing environments or higher temperature condition than banded ore. Banded ores might represent early episode of iron enrichment due to regional metamorphism. Massive ores might be related to the contact metamorphism resulting from late granitic intrusion.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.35-63
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• 1989

Geochemical characteristics of the Guryongsan (Ogcheon) uraniferous black slate show that this is an analogue to the conventional Chattanooga and Alum shales in occurrences. Whereas, its highest enrichment ratio in metals including uranium, among others, is explained by the cyclic sedimentation of the black muds and quartz-rich silts, and the uniform depositional condition with some what higher pH condition compared to the conditions of the known occurrences. The cyclic sedimentation, caused by the periodic open and close of the silled basin, has brought about the flush-out) of the uranium depleted water and the recharge with the new metal-rich sea water, which consequently contributed to the high concentration of metals in mud. The metal-rich marine black muds, which mostly occur in the early to middle Palaeozoic times, is attributed by the geologic conditions which related to the atmospheric oxygen contents, and these are scarcely met in the late Precambrian and/or with the onset of Palaeozoic era in the geologic evolution of the earth.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.239-257
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• 2023

Sangdong deposit, a W-Mo skarn deposit, is located in Taebaeksan mineralized district, hosting vertically developed scheelite-quartz veins that formed at the late ore-forming stage. In this study, we tried to examine the geochemical signatures of ore-forming fluids and vein-forming mechanisms by analyzing the micro-texture of quartz veins and trace element concentrations of quartz. As a result of texture analyses, quartz veins in the hanging wall orebody and the foot wall orebody commonly exhibit the blocky and the elongate blocky texture, respectively, whereas quartz veins in the main orebody show both textures. These textural differences indicate that quartz veins from the hanging wall orebody were precipitated by the primary hydrofracturing due to H₂O saturation in the igneous body with relatively high temperature and pressure at a vein-skarn stage, and after that, repeated hydrofracturing caused the formation of quartz veins from the main orebody and foot wall orebody. The results of trace element concentrations show that Li⁺+Al³⁺↔Si⁴⁺ is a main substitution mechanism. However, those of the foot wall orebody were clearly divided into a Li⁺-dominated substitution and a Na⁺-, K⁺-dominated substitution. Considering that quartz veins from the foot wall orebody commonly show the elongate blocky texture, such a distinction means that it is a result of repeated injections of fluid with the different composition. Ti concentrations of quartz from the hanging wall, main, and the foot wall orebody are 28.6, 8.2, and 15.7 ppm in average, respectively. Given a proportional relationship between the precipitation temperature and Ti concentrations, it seems that quartz veins from the hanging wall orebody were precipitated at the highest temperature. Al concentrations of the hanging wall, main, and the foot wall orebody having an inverse relationship with fluid pH are 162.3, 114.2, and 182.5 ppm in average, respectively. These results show that Al concentrations in vein-forming fluids were not changed dramatically. Moreover, these concentrations are extremely low in comparison with the other hydrothermal deposits. This indicates that quartz in overall ore veins at Sangdong deposit was precipitated from the constant condition with slightly acidic to near neutral pH.