• Title/Summary/Keyword: Geology of the Korean Peninsula

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The Geomorphological Development of Coastal Terraces at Jigyeong-Ri, the Areal Boundary between Gyeongju- and Ulsan City on the Southeast Coast of Korea (한국 남동해안 경주-울산 경계지역 지경리 일대 해안단굴 지형발달)

  • 황상일;윤순옥;박한산
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.490-504
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    • 2003
  • The existence of coastal terraces, HH(High higher) surfaces found at Gampo of southeast coast and at Jeongdongjin of the central east coast were confirmed at Jjgyeong-Ri, the areal border between Gyeongjuand Ulsan city on the southeast coast of Korea Peninsula. Especially this study reports HH JK-surface located on the 155m a.s.l, which is the highest altitude among the ancient shorelines of the coastal terraces in Korea. The HH surfaces on the study area are classified into HH JK at 155m, HH I at 140m and HH II at 115m, and each formation stage is related to MIS 17(720∼690ka BP), MIS 15(630∼560ka BP) and MIS 13(510∼480ka BP) respectively. The HH-surfaces remain to be larger than those of H- and L-surfaces. The reason is caused by the unique factors of the coastal geology and morphology on the study area during the formation stage. And also the areal difference by the magnitude of upheaval doesn't exist from north to south because the altitude system of ancient shoreline on each coastal terrace is same along the east coast. The upheaval rate of the eastern coastal areas was measured in the relation to the ancient shoreline and formation stage among the coastal terraces such as HH JK-, HH I-, HH II, H I- and H II surface, and was almost same as 0.23mm/y.

Water Balance of a Small Catchment in the Subalpine Grassland of Mt. Halla, Southern Korea (한라산 아고산 초지대 소유역의 물수지)

  • An Jung-Gi;Kim Tae-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.41 no.4 s.115
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    • pp.404-417
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    • 2006
  • In order to clarify some characteristics of hydrological cycle in the subalpine zone of Mt. Halla, water balance has been analysed using hydrological data of a first-order drainage basin around Mansedongsan and meterological data of Odeung AWS. The experimental basin extends from 1,595 m to 1,645 m in altitude and has an catchment area of 1.34 ha. It is largely underlain by trachybasalt and covered with sasa bamboo and sedges. Hydrological observations were carried out every 20 minutes from April 15 to September 19, 2004. The basin shows the total precipitation of 3,074 m that is 1.6 to 3 times of those in coastal and intermontane regions. Surface runoff amounts to 850 mm that is equivalent to 27.6% of the precipitation. By contrast, evapotranspiration only accounts for 14.2% of the precipitation, and the remnant of 1,790 m penetrates underground through a basement. The basin is located in the subalpine zone and then it has a high rainfall intensity as well as a large rainfall due to frequent orographic precipitation. But surface runoff usually dose not exceed 30% of the rainfall while Percolation demonstrates about 2 times of the runoff. Compared with granite or gneiss basins in Korea Peninsula, the experimental basin is characterized by a higher portion of percolation in water balance. And it is probably related to the highly permeable basaltic lavas in Jeju Island which are also overlain by porous volcanic soils.

Global Environmental Changes and the Antarctic (지구환경변화와 남극)

  • Lee, Bang-Yong;Chung, Ho-Sung;Kang, Sung-Ho;Chang, Soon-Keun
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.216-233
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    • 2003
  • This study delineates the phenomena related with global environmental changes such as global warming, ozone depletion, and El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) noted in the Antarctic. Retreat of ice cliffs, glaciers, and calving of ice shelves indicate the effects of recently aggravated global warming. The ice cliff located at Marian Cove, King George Island, South Shetland Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula has been observed to be retreating faster in the last 7 years than in the previous 38 years since 1956. There are some indications of temperature and precipitation changes associated with ENSO around King Sejong Station. The regression analyses indicate significant trends such as a decrease in the total amount of ozone and an increase in ultraviolet radiation which was seen by a satellite (TOMS-EUV) in September and October which correspond to ozone-hole season over King Sejong Station. Increase of UV radiation due to the ozone depletion in the Antarctic has changed the growth rate of marine organisms. It may also result in changes to the productivity, biomass, and species composition of marine organisms which can affect the whole marine ecosystem. The recent ice-core drilling over Lake Vostok has been reviewed with emphasis on the four cycles of glacial stages over the past 420,000 years. It is time to show more interest in mainland Antarctica through investigations of the coring and vast ice sheet, terrestrial geology, and upper atmospheric sciences in order to understand the past environmental changes and to predict possible changes to the environment in the future.

Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Korean Peninsula: Implications from Peridotite Xenoliths in Alkali Basalts (우리나라 상부암석권 맨틀: 페리도타이트 포획암으로부터의 고찰)

  • Choi, Sung-Hi
    • The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.235-247
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    • 2012
  • Peridotite xenoliths hosted by alkali basalts from South Korea occur in Baengnyeong Island, Jeju Island, Boeun, Asan, Pyeongtaek and Ganseong areas. K-Ar whole-rock ages of the basaltic rocks range from 0.1 to 18.9 Ma. The peridotites are dominantly lherzolites and magnesian harzburgites, and the constituent minerals are Fo-rich olivine ($Fo_{88.4-92.0}$), En-rich orthopyroxene, Di-rich clinopyroxene, and Cr-rich spinel (Cr# = 7.8-53.6). Hydrous minerals, such as pargasite and phlogopite, or garnet have not been reported yet. The Korean peridotites are residues after variable degree of partial melting (up to 26%) and melt extraction from fertile MORB mantle. However, some samples (usually refractory harzburgites) exhibit metasomatic enrichment of the highly incompatible elements, such as LREE. Equilibration temperatures estimated using two-pyroxene geothermometry range from ca. 850 to $1050^{\circ}C$. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions in clinopyroxene separates from the Korean peridotites show trends between depleted MORB-like mantle (DMM) and bulk silicate earth (BSE), which can be explained by secondary metasomatic overprinting of a precursor time-integrated depleted mantle. The Korean peridotite clinopyroxenes define mixing trends between DMM and EM2 end members on Sr-Pb and Nd-Pb isotopic correlation diagrams, without any corresponding changes in the basement. This is contrary to what we observe in late Cenozoic intraplate volcanism in East Asia which shows two distinct mantle sources such as a DMM-EM1 array for NE China including Baengnyeong Island and a DMM-EM2 array for Southeast Asia including Jeju Island. This observation suggests the existence of large-scale two distinct mantle domains in the shallow asthenosphere beneath East Asia. The Re-Os model ages on Korean peridotites indicate that they have been isolated from convecting mantle between ca. 1.8 and 1.9 Ga.

Korea Stress Map 2020 using Hydraulic Fracturing and Overcoring Data (수압파쇄와 오버코어링 자료를 활용한 한국응력지도 2020)

  • Kim, Hanna;Synn, Joong-Ho;Park, Chan;Song, Won Kyong;Park, Eui Seob;Jung, Yong-Bok;Cheon, Dae-Sung;Bae, Seongho;Choi, Sung-Oong;Chang, Chandong;Min, Ki-Bok
    • Tunnel and Underground Space
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    • v.31 no.3
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    • pp.145-166
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    • 2021
  • Korea Stress Map database is built by integrating actual data of 1,400 in-situ stress measurements using hydraulic fracturing and overcoring method in South Korea. Korea Stress Map 2020 is presented based on the guideline proposed by World Stress Map Project. As detailed data, stress ratio and maximum horizontal stress direction distribution for each region are also presented. The dominant maximum horizontal stress direction in the Korean Peninsula is from northeast to southeast, and the magnitude of the in-situ stress is relatively distributed. There is some stress heterogeneity caused by local characteristics such as topographical and geological properties. We investigated case studies in which the in-situ stress was affected by mountainous topography, difference in rock quality of fracture zone, presence of mine or underground cavities, and geological structure of fault zone.

Structural Evolution of the Eastern Margin of Korea: Implications for the Opening of the East Sea (Japan Sea) (한국 동쪽 대륙주변부의 구조적 진화와 동해의 형성)

  • Kim Han-Joon;Jou Hyeong-Tae;Lee Gwang-Hoon;Yoo Hai-Soo;Park Gun-Tae
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.39 no.3 s.178
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    • pp.235-253
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    • 2006
  • We interpreted marine seismic profiles in conjunction with swath bathymetric and magnetic data to investigate rifting to breakup processes at the Korean margin leading to the separation of the Japan Arc. The Korean margin is rimmed by fundamental elements of rift architecture comprizing a seaward succession of a rift basin and an uplifted rift flank passing into the slope, typical of a passive continental margin. In the northern part, rifting occurred in the Korea Plateau, a continental fragment extended and partially segmented from the Korean Peninsula, that provided a relatively broader zone of extension resulting in a number of rifts. Two distinguished rift basins (Onnuri and Bandal Basins) in the Korea Plateau we bounded by major synthetic and smaller antithetic faults, creating wide and symmetric profiles. The large-offset border fault zones of these basins have convex dip slopes and demonstrate a zig-zag arrangement along strike. In contrast, the southern margin is engraved along its length with a single narrow rift basin (Hupo Basin) that is an elongated asymmetric half-graben. Rifting at the Korean margin was primarily controlled by normal faulting resulting from extension in the west and southeast directions orthogonal to the inferred line of breakup along the base of the slope rather than strike-slip deformation. Although rifting involved no significant volcanism, the inception of sea floor spreading documents a pronounced volcanic phase which seems to reflect slab-induced asthenospheric upwelling as well as rift-induced convection particularly in the narrow southern margin. We suggest that structural and igneous evolution of the Korean margin can be explained by the processes occurring at the passive continental margin with magmatism intensified by asthenospheric upwelling in a back-arc setting.

Structural Geometry, Kinematics and Microstructures of the Imjingang Belt in the Munsan Area, Korea (임진강대 문산지역의 구조기하, 키네마틱스 및 미세구조 연구)

  • Lee, Hyunseo;Jang, Yirang;Kwon, Sanghoon
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.54 no.2
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    • pp.271-283
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    • 2021
  • The Imjingang Belt in the middle-western Korean Peninsula has tectonically been correlated with the Permo-Triassic Qinling-Dabie-Sulu collisional belt between the North and South China cratons in terms of collisional tectonics. Within the belt, crustal-scale extensional ductile shear zones that were interpreted to be formed during collapsing stage with thrusts and folds were reported as evidence of collisional events by previous studies. In this study, we tried to understand the nature of deformation along the southern boundary of the belt in the Munsan area based on the interpretations of recently conducted structural analyses. To figure out the realistic geometry of the study area, the down-plunge projection was carried out based on the geometric relationships between structural elements from the detailed field investigation. We also conducted kinematic interpretations based on the observed shear sense indicators from the outcrops and the oriented thin-sections made from the mylonite samples. The prominent structures of the Munsan area are the regional-scale ENE-WSW striking thrust and the N-S trending map-scale folds, both in its hanging wall and footwall areas. Shear sense indicators suggest both eastward and westward vergence, showing opposite directions on each limb of the map-scale folds in the Munsan area. In addition, observed deformed microstructures from the biotite gneiss and the metasyenite of the Munsan area suggest that their deformation conditions are corresponding to the typical mid-crustal plastic deformation of the quartzofeldspathic metamorphic rocks. These microstructural results combined with the macro-scale structural interpretations suggest that the shear zones preserved in the Munsan area is mostly related to the development of the N-S trending map-scale folds that might be formed by flexural folding rather than the previously reported E-W trending crustal-scale extensional ductile shear zone by Permo-Triassic collision. These detailed examinations of the structures preserved in the Imjingang Belt can further contribute to solving the tectonic enigma of the Korean collisional orogen.

Trace (Minor) Elemental and Isotopic Compositions of Calcitic Skeletons in the Eastern Coast and Cheju Island, Korea (한반도 동해안과 제주도 연안에서 발견되는 방해석질 각질의 미량원소, 부원소 및 탄소와 산소 동위원소 함량의 변화)

  • Ji, Ok-Mi;Woo, Kyung-Sik
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.3 no.3
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    • pp.124-141
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    • 1998
  • The objectives of this study are to investigate the trace (minor) elemental and isotopic compositions of calcitic skeletons, such as barnacle, echinoid, branching and encrusting calcareous algae and oyster, from the eastern coast of Korean peninsula and Cheju Island, and to compare their variations with latitude, that is, the temperature of ambient seawater at which the skeletons grew. Articulated and encrusting red algae are composed of high-Mg calcite (7-21 mol% $MgCO_3$). Echinoids are also composed of high-Mg calcite (7-15 mol% $MgCO_3$). Whereas barnacles are composed of low-Mg calcite (1-5 mol% $MgCO_3$). The Mg compositions of articulated red algae, barnacle and oyster tend to increase with increasing water temperature, whereas those of encrusting red algae and echinoid do not show any trend. Sr compositions of articulated red algae, echinoid and barnacle tend to decrease with increasing water temperature, whereas those of encrusting red algae and oyster do not show any trend. Mn compositions of articulated red algae and encrusting red algae decrease with an increase of water temperature, whereas those of echinoid and barnacle do not show any trend. Fe compositions of articulated red algae tend to decrease with increasing water temperature, whereas those of encrusting red algae and oyster increase. Fe compositions of echinoid and barnacle do not show any trend with water temperature variations. Ba compositions of echinoid and low-magnesium calcitic skeletons do not show any trend with water temperature variations. Ba compositions of articulated red algae tend to decrease with increasing water temperature, whereas those of encrusting red algae increase. Cd and Pb compositions of all the skeletons tend to increase with increasing water temperature. Cu compositions of encrusting red algae increase with increasing water temperature, whereas articulated red algae, echinoid, barnacle and oyster do not show any trend. Zn compositions of high-magnesium calcitic skeletons and low-magnesium calcitic skeletons do not show any trend. Estimated water temperatures from oxygen isotopic data of all the skeletons except for the barnacle arc higher than the range of temperature of the shallow seawater of the East Sea and around Cheju Island. The oxygen isotopic compositions of oyster and echinoid are well clustered, and they do not show any trend with increasing water temperature. Therefore, this could reflect that the organisms have not secreted their shells in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with ambient seawater due to vital effect. Thus, the oxygen isotopic composition of barnacle can potentially be utilized for paleotemperature estimate whereas those of other organisms in this study may not be useful.

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Trace (Minor) Elemental and Isotopic Compositions of Aragonitic Mollusk Shells in the Eastern Coast and Cheju Island, Korea (한반도 동해안과 제주도 연안에서 발견되는 아라고나이트질 연체동물 각질의 미량원소 및 탄소와 산소 동위원소 함량의 변화)

  • Ji, Ok-Mi;Woo, Kyung-Sik
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.3 no.3
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    • pp.112-123
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    • 1998
  • The objectives of this study are to investigate the trace elemental and stable isotopic compositions of aragonitic mollusk shells, such as Gomphina veneriformis melanaegis, Mytilidae and Umbonium coastatum, from the eastern coast of Korean peninsula and Cheju Island, and to compare their variations with latitude, that is, the temperature of the ambient seawater at which the skeletons grew. The Mg compositions of Gomphina veneriformis melanaegis tend to decrease with increasing water temperature, whereas those of Mytilidae and Umbonium coastatum do not show any trend. Sr compositions of Mytilidae tend to increase with increasing water temperature, whereas those of Gomphina veneriformis melanaegis decrease. Fe compositions of Umbonium coastatum tend to decrease with increasing water temperature, whereas those of Gomphina veneriformis melanaegis increase. Fe compositions of Mytilidae do not show any trend with water-temperature variations. Ba compositions of all the skeletons do not show any trend with water-temperature variations. Cd compositions of Mytilidae and Umbonium coastatum do not show any trend with increasing water temperature, whereas those of Gomphina veneriformis melanaegis increase. Cu compositions of Gomphina veneriformis melanaegis increase with increasing water temperature, whereas Mytilidae and Umbonium coastatum do not show any trend. Pb compositions of Umbonium coastatum do not show any tend with increasing water temperature, but those of other skeletons increase. Zn compositions of Mytilidae tend to decrease with increasing water temperature, whereas those of Gomphina veneriformis melanaegis increase. Zn compositions of Umbonium coastatum do not show any trend with increasing water temperature. Estimated water temperatures from oxygen isotopic data of all the skeletons are higher than the range of water temperature of the shallow seawater of the East Sea and around Cheju Island. The oxygen isotopic compositions of all the skeletons are well clustered, but they do not show any trend with latitude. Therefore, this could reflect that the organisms may not have secreted their shells in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with ambient seawater due to vital effect. Thus, isotopic compositions of all the organisms in this study may not be suitable for paleotemperature estimate.

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Constructing Geological Cross-sections at Depth and Interpreting Faults Based on Limited Shallow Depth Data Analysis and Core Logging: Southern Section of the Yangsan Fault System, SE Korea (제한된 천부자료와 시추코어분석을 통한 심부지질단면도 작성과 단층 인지법: 한반도 남동부 양산단층대 주변에서의 적용)

  • Kim, Taehyung;Kim, Young-Seog;Lee, Youngmin;Choi, Jin-Hyuck
    • The Journal of Engineering Geology
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.277-290
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    • 2016
  • Deep geological cross-sectional data is generally not common nor easy to construct, because it is expensive and requires a great deal of time. As a result, geological interpretations at depth are limited. Many scientists attempt to construct geological cross-sections at depth using geological surface data and geophysical data. In this paper, we suggest a method for constructing cross-sections from limited geological surface data in a target area. The reason for this study is to construct and interpret geological cros-sections at depth to evaluate heat flow anomaly along the Yangsan fault. The Yangsan Fault passes through the south-eastern part of the Korean Peninsula. The cross-section is constructed from Sangbukmyeon to Unchonmyeon passing perpendicularly through the Yangsan Fault System trending NW-SE direction. The geological cross-section is constructed using the following data: (1) Lithologic distributions and main structural elements. (2) Extensity of sedimentary rock and igneous rock, from field mapping. (3) Fault dimension calculated based on geometry of exposed surface rupture, and (4) Seismic and core logging data. The Yangsan Fault System is composed of the Jain fault, Milyang fault, Moryang fault, Yangsan fault, Dongnae fault, and Ingwang fault which strike NNE-SSW. According to field observation, the western section of the Yangsan fault bounded by igneous rocks and in the eastern section sedimentary rocks are dominant. Using surface fault length we infer that the Yangsan Fault System has developed to a depth of kilometers beneath the surface. According to seismic data, sedimentary rocks that are adjacent to the Yangsan fault are thin and getting thicker towards the east of the section. In this study we also suggest a new method to recognize faults using core loggings. This analysis could be used to estimate fault locations at different scales.