• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2014

In this study we carried out SHRIMP U-Pb age dating of detrital zircons from age-unknown meta-sedimentary formations distributed around the NNE-SSW trending Gwangju Shear Zone, a branch of Honam Shear Zone, in the southwestern region of the Korean Peninsula. The meta-sedimentary formations from the west (Yeonggwang) and east (Jangseong) areas of the Gwangju Shear Zone have different patterns of zircon age distributions. Zircons of quartzites from the Yeonggwang area yield clusters at Neoarchean (ca. 2,500 Ma), Paleoproterozoic (ca. 1,860 Ma), Neoproterozoic (ca. 960 Ma) and Paleozoic (ca. 380 Ma) ages, but those of the Jangseong area yield clusters at only Neoarchean (ca. 2,500Ma) and Paleoproterozoic (ca. 1,880 Ma) ages. The contrastive patterns in age indicate that the meta-sedimentary formations from the west and east areas correspond to the meta-sedimentary formations of the Okcheon Metamorphic Belt and the sedimentary formations overlying on the Yeongnam Massif, respectively. The results imply that the Gwangju Shear Zone is the tectonic boundary between the Okcheon Metamorphic Belt and the Yeongnam Massif.