• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.251-258
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• 2019

During the detailed geological survey around the southern Yangsan Fault, we newly found a Quaternary fault outcrop, which cuts unconsolidated sediments. The fault named the Sinwoo site, located in the Sinwoo pasture, Miho-ri, Duseo-myeon, Ulsan metropolitan city, is the first discovered Quaternary fault near the western part of the south Yangsan Fault. In this study, we provide information on characteristics of fault geometry and unconsolidated sediment at Sinwoo site based on the analysis data of topography, drainage, and lineament around the study site. The fault site is situated at pediment slope, but fan-shaped middle terrace, as well as thick sediment exposed at low terrace, indicates that the unconsolidated sediments have been deposited in the alluvial fan environment. The drainage develops to the third-order drainage system, and the first and the second drainage system meet at right angles to each other and form a radial drainage pattern. In addition, the NE-SW direction lineaments can be identified on the basis of the curvature of the river and the step of the topographic relief, running over the Sinwoo site. The fault of $N30-35^{\circ}E/79-82^{\circ}SE$ shows ~ 5.8 m apparent vertical offset and dominantly reverse-slip sense based on slickenline, rotation of pebbles, and drag folding at footwall. However, some discontinuous sediments observed in the footwall are interpreted as fissure-filling materials due to the strike-slip movement. Now, we are under multidisciplinary investigations of additional field survey and age dating in order to determine the evolution of Sinwoo site fault during the Quaternary.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.643-654
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• 2023

The West Philippine Basin, an oceanic basin half the size of the Philippine Sea Plate, lies in the western part of the plate and south of the Korean Peninsula on the Eurasian Plate. It subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Islands bordering the Ryukyu Trench and the Philippine Trench with 25-50% of this basin already consumed. However, the history of the opening of the basin's southern region has been a topic of debate. The non-transform discontinuity formed during the seafloor spreading is similar to the transform fault boundaries normally perpendicular to mid-ocean ridge axes; however, it was created irregularly due to ridge propagations caused by variations of mantle convection attributable to magma supply changes. By analyzing high-resolution multi-beam echo-sounding data, we confirmed that the non-transform discontinuity due to the propagating rift evolved in the entire basin and that the abyssal hill strike direction changed from E-W to NNW-SSE from the fossil spreading center. In the early stage of basin extension, the Amami-Sankaku Basin was rotated 90 degrees clockwise from its current orientation, and it bordered the Palau Basin along the Mindanao Fracture Zone. The Amami-Sankaku Basin separated from the Palau Basin while the spreading of the West Philippine Basin began with a counter-clockwise rotation. This indicates that the non-transform discontinuities formed by a sudden change in magma supply due to the drift of the Philippine Sea Plate and simultaneously with the rapid changes in the spreading direction from ENE-WSW to N-S. The Palau Basin was considered to be the sub-south of the West Philippine Basin, but recent studies have shown that it extends into an independent system. Evidence from sediment layers and crustal thickness hints at the possibility of its existence before the West Philippine Basin opened, although its evolution continues to be debated. We performed a combined analysis using high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry and satellite gravity data to uncover new insights into the evolution of the West Philippine Basin. This information illuminates the complex plate interactions and provides a crucial contribution toward understanding the opening history of the basin and the Philippine Sea Plate.