• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.407-413
• /
• 2003

The geology of the Apdong Nb-Ta deposit, is hosted by alkali metasomatites, consist of Upper Proterozoic sedimentary rocks, alkali syenites(Hoamsan intrusive) of Phyonggang Complex(late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic), Jurassic granite and Quaternary basalt. Alkali syenites are distinguished as alkali amphibole-pyroxene syenite, alkali amphibole-biotite syenite, biotite-nepheline syenite, biotite syenite, and quartz-alkali amphibole-pyroxene syenite. Alkali metasomatites are the products of intense post-magnatic metasomatism, and form the Nb-Ta ore bodies as the belt, irregular vein and lenticular types in the southern part of Hoamsan intrusive. The ore mineralization is characterized by the occurrence of pyrochlore, zircon, and small amounts of columbite, fergusonite. magnetite, fluorite, molybdenite, ilmenite, titanite, apatite, and monazite. Pyrochlore is one of the niobium/tantalum oxides and contains substantial amounts of rare earths and radioactive elements. The compositional varieties of pyrochlore can be defined: (1) enriched in tantalum, uranium and cerium, (2) substantially tantalum- and fluorine-poor, and (3) enriched in thorium or barium. The geochemical characteristics, ore textures and mineral occurrences indicate that alkali metasomatism of the mineralizing fluid was the dominant ore-forming process.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.61-75
• /
• 2011

Mantle-derived xenoliths, corresponding to spinel harzburgite and lherzolite in alkali basalts from Jeju Island, are metasomatized to various extents. They contain distinctive secondary orthopyroxene, forming corona or poikilitic textures. It clearly indicate that this secondary orthopyroxene has been produced at the expense of olivine along the grain boundaries and margins, suggesting silica-enriched metasomatic melt infiltrated through grain boundaries. Based on the geotectonic characteristics of Jeju Island and textural characteristics and major elements composition of mantle xenoliths, it is suggested that the silica-enriched melt/fluid could have derived from the ancient subducted slab, possibly in the mantle wedge, implying that the high $SiO_2$ activity in the lithospheric upper mantle beneath Jeju Island at that time.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.67-73
• /
• 2017

The concrete pavement slabs that suffer expansion due to the Alkali-Aggregate Reaction(AAR) increase and the increase consequently causes unexpected displacement of bridge abutment. As the expansion due to the AAR is greater than that due to the temperature change, lethal load can act on bridge abutment. Therefore appropriate preventive measures may be necessary. The degree of expansion by AAR depends on the severity of AAR and geometry condition of concrete pavement and road structure. In order to prevent damage to bridge, it is effective to release the expansion force of the concrete. It would be advantageous to replace the concrete pavement with asphalt for a long section of concrete pavement.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.261-281
• /
• 2016

Our knowledge of the lithosphere beneath the Korean Peninsula has been improved through petrologic and geochemical studies of upper mantle xenoliths hosted by Quaternary intraplate alkali basalts from Jeju Island. The xenoliths are mostly spinel lherzolites, accompanied by subordinate harzburgite and pyroxenites. The mantle xenoliths represent residual mantle material showing textural and geochemical evidence for at least a three-stage evolution, fractional partial melting, recrystallization, and metasomatism. Their composition primarily controlled by early fractional melt extraction and porphyroclastic and mylonitic fabrics formed in a shear-dominated environment, which was subsequently modified by residual slab-derived fluids (or melts). Modal metasomatic products occur as both anhydrous phase(orthopyroxene) and hydrous phase (phlogopite). Late-stage orthopyroxene is more common than phlogopite. However, chemical equilibrium is evident between the primary and secondary orthopyroxene, implying that the duration of post-metasomatic high temperatures enabled complete resetting/reequilibration of the mineral compositions. The metasomatic enrichment pre-dates the host Jeju Quaternary magmatism, and a genetic relationship with the host magmas is considered unlikely. Following enrichment in the peridotite protolith in the mantle wedge, the upper mantle beneath proto-Jeju Island was transformed from a subarc environment to an intraplate environment. The Jeju peridotites, representing old subarc fragments, were subsequently transported to the surface, incorporated into ascending Quaternary intraplate alkali basalt. The result of this study implies that long term material transfer in the transformation of geotectonic setting from a subarc to intraplate may have played a significant role in the evolution of lithospheric mantle, resulting in the enriched mantle domains, such as EM I or EM II in the lithospheric mantle beneath East Asia.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.311-325
• /
• 2017

Peridotite xenoliths in middle Miocene alkaline basalt from the Mt. Baekdu area are mainly anhydrous spinel lherzolites, displaying coarse-grained protogranular texture. These xenoliths have late-stage secondary orthopyroxene replacing olivine as the metasomatic mineral and glass formed along the grain boundaries. The studied xenoliths are characterized by the high $Mg{\sharp}[=100{\times}Mg/(Mg+Fe_{total})$ atomic ratio] of olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene (89~92) and the $Cr{\sharp}[=100{\times}Cr/(Cr+Al)$ atomic ratio] of spinel (10~29). Based on major-element data, the studied xenoliths are similar to those from the abyssal peridotites. Clinopyroxenes of the xenoliths are mostly enriched in incompatible trace elements, exhibiting two types of REE patterns: (1) LREE-depleted with $(La/Yb)_N$ of 0.1~0.2 and $(La/Ce)_N$ of 0.4~0.8. (2) LREE enriched with $(La/Yb)_N$ of 2.2~3.8 and $(La/Ce)_N$ of 1.2~1.6. The calculated equilibrium temperatures and oxygen fugacities resulted in $920{\sim}1050^{\circ}C$ and ${\Delta}fO_2(QFM)=-0.8{\sim}0.2$, respectively. It is suggested that the Mt. Baekdu peridotite xenoliths represent residues left after variable degrees of melt extraction(less than 15 vol%), which was subsequently subjected to different degrees of modal/cryptic metasomatism by silica- and LREE-enriched fluids (or melts).

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.13-30
• /
• 2012

Phlogopite and kaersutite, showing distinctively different textural characteristics compared to the common phenocrysts, are observed in alkali basalt from Jeju Island. They occur as large crystals (2-10 mm) in host basalts, whereas fine-grained phlogopite and kaersutite occur in ultramafic mantle xenoliths and mafic gabbroic xenoliths, respectively, as an interstitial and microvein phases, or in corona textures (<1 mm). This textural characteristics of fine-grained grains clearly indicates secondary in origin. Phlogopite contains high $TiO_2$(4.1-6.9 wt%) and F(2.8-4.6 wt%) and relatively high mg#[=100Mg/(Mg+$Fe^t$) in mols, where $Fe^t$ is total iron](88-80), whereas kaersutite has high $TiO_2$(5.6-6.11 wt%) and much lower mg#s(68-64). Our textural observations and the geochemical character of these hydrous minerals suggest that they were unrelated to each other and mica formation happened early in the upper mantle before the mantle xenoliths had been trapped. In contrast, kaersutite formation has happened later, probably during the late stage of crystallization as intracrustal processes. The presence of phlogopite and kaersutitic amphibole is a direct evidence for K-, Ti-, F- and $H_2O$-bearing fluid/melt percolation in the lithosphere beneath Jeju Island, indicating that they are product of interaction between host rock/peridotite/fluid-melt. Thus, the upper mantle/lower crust beneath Jeju Island are metasomatized to various extents, characterized by a change in major metasomatic hydrous minerals from phlogopite to amphibole with decreasing depth.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.61-72
• /
• 2005

Modal and chemical compositions of clinopyroxnes in spinel peridotites from the Baegryeong Island and the Boeun, enclosed in Miocene alkali basalt, are important for understanding the pre-eruptive temperature condition and chemical processes such as mantle depletion and enrichment. All spinel peridotites show transitional texture between protogranular and porphyroclastic textures. Temperature ranges of spinel peridotites from the Baegryeong Island and the Boeun at 15 kb are 773∼1188℃ and 705∼1106℃, respectively. The spinel peridotites from the Baegryeong Island and the Boeun have undergone the 1∼10% and 1∼4% fractional melting, which were determined by using primitive mantle-normalized Y and Yb of clinopyroxenes. LREE enrichment patterns of clinopyroxene indicate that these rocks from both areas have undergone cryptic mantle metasomatism without new minerals.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.63-76
• /
• 2022

Dacitic tuffs, 97 to 118 m thick, were recovered from the lower part of the subsurface Seongdongri Formation, Janggi Basin, which was drilled to assess the potential for underground storage of carbon dioxide. The tuffs are divided into four depositional units(Unit 1 to 4) based on internal structures and particle componentry. Unit 1 and Units 3/4 are ignimbrites that accumulated in subaerial and subaqueous settings, respectively, whereas Unit 2 is braided-stream deposits that accumulated during a volcanic quiescence, and no dacitic tuff is observed. A series of analysis shows that mordenite and clinoptilolite mainly fill the vesicles of glass shards, suggesting their formation by replacement and dissolution of volcanic glass and precipitation from interstitial water during burial and diagenesis. Glass-replaced clinoptilolite has higher Si/Al ratios and Na contents than the vesicle-filling clinoptilolite in Units 3. However, the composition of clinoptilolite becomes identical in Unit 4, irrespective of the occurrence and location. This suggests that the Si/Al ratio and pH in the interstitial water increased with time because of the replacement and leaching of volcanic glass, and that the composition of interstitial water was different between the eastern and western parts of the basin during the formation of the clinoptilolite in Units 1 and 3. It is also inferred that the formation of the two zeolite minerals was sequential according to the depositional units, i.e., the clinoptilolite formed after the growth of mordenite. To summarize, during a volcanic quiescence after the deposition of Unit 1, pH was higher in the western part of the basin because of eastward tilting of the basin floor, and the zeolite ceased to grow because of the closure of the pore space as a result of the growth of smectite. On the other hand, clinoptilolite could grow in the eastern part of the basin in an open system affected by groundwater, where braided stream was developed. Afterwards, Units 3 and 4 were submerged under water because of the basin subsidence, and the alkali content of the interstitial water increased gradually, eventually becoming identical in the eastern and western parts of the basin. This study thus shows that volcanic deposits of similar composition can have variable distribution of zeolite mineral depending on the drainage and depositional environment of basins.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.23-36
• /
• 2012

Morphological and mineralogical characteristics of laumontite and adularia in the breccia zone in a fault, Yangbuk-myeon, Gyeongju, Korea suggest that they formed by reaction with hydrothermal alteration related to fault activity. Laumontite commonly occurring in the breccia zone is related to the presence of hydrothermal fluids bearing alkaline elements in the zone. Laumonite is characterized by elongated columnar form with aspect ratio varying 5~10. Laumontite and adularia whose characteristic euhedral forms are indicative of the latest product formed as rapid precipitation from fluids or replacements of Ca-plagioclase. Hydrothermal fluids reacted with intensively fractured granite, typical with high permeability, leached alkaline elements such as Ca, K, allowing laumontite and adularia to be precipitated under neutral to weak alkaline conditions. It is noteworthy that the formation process and genesis of low temperature minerals such as laumontite and adularia are very similar to those formed by wallrock alteration or hydrothermal alteration that occurred in epithermal deposits. Taking into account its characteristic morphology and chemistry, authigenic K-feldspar that commonly forms at low temperature in many fault zones must be adularia.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.307-324
• /
• 2020

Major and trace elements, and Sr, Nd, isotopic composition analysis have been carried out on the Miocene basalt (Huangsongpu basalt, 20 Ma) 25 km to northeast from the Mt. Baekdu. The basalt has Na2O+K2O=3.5~4.7 wt.%, and MgO=9.9~11.1 wt.%, containing Mg-rich olivine (Mg#=75~86), clinopyroxene (Mg#=72~85) and Ca-rich plagioclase micro-phenocrysts. These data suggest that the basalt belongs to the alkaline magma series with a primitive nature, crystallized at a near-liquidus. The basalt is also characterized by high Cr (394~479 ppm) and Ni (389~519 ppm) contents, Nb-Ta enrichment anomalies and OIB-like trace elements patterns, displaying identical signatures to those of typical intraplate magmas. The rare earth element (REE) patterns of the basalt and high (Gd/Yb)sample/(Gd/Yb)PM ratio (=2.8~3.5) suggest the parental magma was derived from relatively low-degree (3~5%) partial melting of garnet peridotite. The 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr composition of the basalt are higher than those of BSE. The high 87Sr/86Sr (= ~0.7058) ratio of the basalt indicates a contribution of recycled ancient oceanic crust or continental crust on the Pacific slab suggesting that the Huangsongpu basalt was generated from metasomatized mantle.