• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.345-361
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• 1994

Lens shaped titanomagnetite ore bodies in the Soyeonpyeong iron mine are embedded in amphibolites, which were intruded into Precambrian metasediments such as garnet-mica schist, marble, mica schist, and quartz schist. Mineral chemistry, K-Ar dating and hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopic analysis for the amphibolites and titanomagnetite ores were conducted to interpret petrogenesis of amphibolite and ore genesis of titanomagnetite iron ore deposits. Amphibolites of igneous origin have unusually high content of $TiO_2$, ranging from 0.94 to 6.39 wt.% with an average value of 4.05 wt.%. REE patterns of the different lithology of the amphibolite show the similar trend with an enrichment of LREE. Amphiboles of amphibolites are consist mainly of calcic amphiboles such as ferro-hornblende, tschermakite, ferroan pargasite, and ferroan pargasitic hornblende. K-Ar ages of hornblende from amphibolite and gneissic amphibolite were determined as $440.04{\pm}6.39Ma$ and $351.03{\pm}5.21Ma$, respectively. This indicates two metamorphic events of Paleozoic age in the Korean peninsula which are correlated with Altin orogeny in China. The titanomagnetite mineralization seems to have occurred before Cambrian age based on occurrence of orebodies and ages of host amphibolites. The Soyeonpyeong iron ores are composed mainly of titanomagnetite, ilmenite, and secondary minerals such as ilmenite and hercynite exsolved in titanomagnetite. The temperature and the oxygen fugacity estimated by the titanomagnetite-ilmenite geothermometer are $500{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ (ave. $550^{\circ}C$) and about $2{\pm}10^{-23}bar$, respectively. Hornblendes from ores and amphibolites which responsible for magnetite ore mineralization, have a relatively homogeneous isotopic composition ranging from +0.8 to +3.9 ‰ in ${\delta}^{18}O$ and from -87.8 to -113.3 ‰ in ${\delta}D$. The calculated oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions of the fluids which were in equilibrium with hornblende at $550^{\circ}C$, range from 2.8 to 5.9‰ in ${\delta}^{18}O_{H2O}$ and from -60.41 to -81.31 ‰ in ${\delta}D_{H2O}$. The ${\delta}^{18}O_{H2O}$ value of magnetite ore fluids are in between +6.4 to + 7.9 ‰. All of these values fall in the range of primary magmatic water. A slight oxygen shift means that $^{18}O$-depleted meteoric water be acted with basic fluids during immiscible processes between silicate and titaniferous oxide melt. Mineral chemistry, isotopic compositions, and occurences of amphibolites and orebodies, suggest that the titanomagnetite melt be separated immisciblely from the titaniferous basic magma.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 1996

Rb-Sr isochron ages, Sr and Nd isotopic compositions were determined for late Cretaceous granophyre on the Haenam-Wando areas, the southwestern part of the Yeongdong-Kwangju depression in Korea. The granophyre in the Haenam-Wando areas are distributed in the shape of a resurgent cauldron. Five samples of Haenam granophyre give a defined Rb-Sr whole rock isochron age of $75.7{\pm}7.2Ma$ and Sr initial ratio of $0.70826{\pm}0.00020(2{\sigma})$. Plagioclase, orthoclase and whole rock of Haenam granophyre give a defined Rb-Sr whole rock-mineral isochron age of $67.0{\pm}5.8Ma$ and Sr initial ratio of $0.708880{\pm}0.00028(2{\sigma})$. Five samples of Wando granophyre give a defined Rb-Sr whole rock isochron age of $70.6{\pm}3.3Ma$ and Sr initial ratio of $0.70850{\pm}0.00088(2{\sigma})$. Eight samples of Haenam granophyre give a defined Nd isotope ratios of 0.512180~0.512259 and ${\varepsilon}Nd$ (T) values of -6.53~-8.15, ${\varepsilon}Sr$ (T) values of +51.49~+66.48 and model age of 1.28~1.60 Ga. Four samples of Wando granophyre give a defined Nd isotope ratios of 0.512228~0.512289 and ${\varepsilon}Nd$ (T) values of -6.74~-8.00, ${\varepsilon}Sr$ (T) values of +54.88~+78.98 and model age of 1.14~1.42 Ga.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.149-158
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• 1998

Volcanic rocks including rhyolitic tuff, rhyolite and welded tuff in the Bupyeong silver mine area form a topographic circular structure known as a resurgent caldera. Granitic rocks are emplaced inside and outside area of the circular structure. K-Ar dating and Nd-Sr isotope studies were carried out to invesitigate the origin and petrogenetic evolution of the rhyolitic and granitic magma in the Bupeong silver mine area. Whole rock K-Ar age ranges from 208 to 131 Ma for rhyolitic rocks. Radiometric ages for the granitic rocks are 167.6 Ma for pink feldspar biotite granite from inside granitic pluton of the circular volcanic body, 178.8 Ma for the Kimpo hornblende biotite granite and 111.8 Ma for the Songdo foliated granite from outside granitic plutons of the volcanic body. The radiometric age data indicates that the volcanic activities which are partly overlapped by granite plutonic activities in the Bupyeong mine area had recorded early Jurassic and early Cretaceous in age. Initial Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of the rhyolitic rocks ($^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$=0.710~0.719 and $^{143}Nd/^{144}Nd$=0.5115~0.5118) are similar to those of granitic rocks ($^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$=0.709~0.716 and $^{143}Nd/^{144}Nd$=0.5115~0.5116) from inside granite stock. This means that similar source materials of felsic magma responsibles for the Bupyeong volcanic rocks and inside plutonic rocks. Based on the Nd and Sr isotopic compositions, rhyolitic and granitic magmas in the Bupyeong area originated from the partial melting of the old continental crust which has Nd model age ranging from 1500 to 2900 Ma. This is analogous to those of the other Jurassic granitoids in South Korea.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.249-262
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• 1997

The Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of two foliated granitic plutons located in the Chonju and Sunchang area were determined in order to reconfirm the intrusion ages of granitoids and to study the sources of granitic magmas. The best defined Rb-Sr isochron for the whole rock samples of the Chonju foliated granite (CFGR) give an age of $284{\pm}12Ma$, suggesting early Permian intrusion age. In contrast, the whole rock Rb-Sr data of the Sunchang foliated granite (SFGR) scatter widely on the isochron diagram with very little variation in the $^{87}Rb/^{86}Sr$ ratios and, therefore, yield no reliable age information. Futhermore they show the concordance of mineral and whole rock Rb-Sr isochron and divide into two linear groups with roughly the same slopes and significantly different $^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$ ratios, indicating some kind of Rb-Sr distortion in whole rock scale and a difference in source material and/or magmatic evolution between two subsets. The reconstructed isochrons of 243 Ma, which was defined from the proposed data by the omission of one sample point with significantly higher $^{87}Rb/^{86}Sr$ ratio than the others, and 252 Ma, from the combined data of it and some of this study, strongly suggest the possibility that the SFGR was intruded appreciably earlier than had previously been proposed, although the reliability of these ages still questionable owing to high scatter of data points and, therefore, further study is necessary. All mineral isochrons for the investigated granites show the Jurassic to early Cretaceous thermal episode ranging from 160 Ma to 120 Ma Their corresponding initial $^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$ ratios correlate well with their whole rock data, indicating that the mineral Rb-Sr system of the investigated granites was redistributed by the postmagmatic thermal event during Jurassic to early Cretaceous. The initial ${\varepsilon}Sr$ values for the CFGR (64.27 to 94.81) tend to be significantly lower than those for the SFGR (125.43 to 167.09). Thus it is likely that there is a marked difference in the magma source characteristics between the CFGR and the SFGR, although the possibility of an isotopic resetting event giving rise to a high apparent initial ${\varepsilon}Sr$ in the SFGR can not be ruled out. In contrast to ${\varepsilon}Sr$, both batholiths show a highly resticted and negative values of initial ${\varepsilon}Nd$, which is -14.73 to -19.53 with an average $-16.13{\pm}1.47$ in the CFGR and -14.78 to -18.59 with an average $-17.17{\pm}1.01$ in the SFGR. The highly negative initial ${\varepsilon}Nd$ values in the investigated granitoids strongly suggest that large amounts of recycled old continental components have taken part in their evolution. Furthermore, this highly resticted variation in ${\varepsilon}Nd$ is significant because it requires that the old crustal source material, from which the granitoid-producing melts were generated, should have a reasonably uniform Nd isotopic composition and also quit similar age. Calculated T2DM model ages give an average of $1.83{\pm}0.25Ga$ for CFGR and $1.96{\pm}0.19Ga$ for SFGR, suggesting the importance of a mid-Proterozoic episode for the genesis of two foliated granites. Although it is not possible to determine precisely the source rock compositions for the investigated foliatic granites, the Sr-Nd isotopic evidences indicate that midcrustal or less probably, a lower crustal granulitic source could be the most likely candidate.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.122-129
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• 1993

We report Rb-Sr whole rock, K-Ar and fission track mineral ages for the Chuncheon granite in the Precambrian Gyeonggi massif. The Rb-Sr whole rock define an age of $196{\pm}9$ Ma with an initial ratio of $0.7159{\pm}0.0006$, suggesting that the granitic magma might have been generated from crustal sources (S-type), or probably mixed mantle and crustal materials, and emplaced into the massif in the late Triassic or the early Jurassic. K-Ar mineral ages of hornblende, muscovite and biotite are ~210 Ma, ~180 Ma and 166-170 Ma respectively, and fission track zircon and apatite ages are 65-70 Ma, ~35 Ma respectively. These ages indicate that the granitic magma might have been emplaced at about 7 to 9 km from the paleosurface, and rapidly cooled down up to $300^{\circ}C$ until middle Jurassic (~170 Ma) with a rate of about $10^{\circ}C$/Ma, due to thermal difference between the magma and the wall rock. During middle Jurassic to late Cretaceous (about 170-70 Ma), the granite pluton is assumed to have uplifted to 4 to 6 km level under the paleosurface with a rate of 30 m/Ma and slowly cooled down with a rate of about $1^{\circ}C$/Ma owing to relatively slow denudation of the massif. In late Cretaceous to the present, the pluton might have more rapidly uplifted to the present level with a rate of 85 m/Ma and rapidly cooled down with a rate of about $3^{\circ}C$/Ma compared to those of middle Jurassic to late Cretaceous time because of extensive igneous activities accompanied by tectonism in the Gyeonggi massif.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.247-261
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• 1994

Honam Shear Zone is a mylonite zone approximately parallel to the NE-SW trend located southern part of Korea peninsula. Geologic ages and petrogenesis of foliated granites in this zone are as follows: Igneous rocks of this zone are composed of granite gneiss, Paleozoic granites, Songrim granites, Jurassic granites and Cretaceous granites. Foliated granites show deformed phase of Paleozoic and Songrim granites during Daebo Orogeny. And isotopic ages obtained from foliated granites are early Permian to late Triassic period (276~200 Ma). Most of foliated granite masses are igneous complex consisting of a series of differential product of cogenetic magma. The individual rock mass of foliated granites plotted on Harker diagram shows mostly similar trend of calc-alkali series. REE diagram indicates that LREE amount of foliated granites are more enriched than HREE and negative Eu anomalies of them are weaker than those of the other granites. From these data, we suggest the rocks are generated from continental margin under syntectonic environment. Original magma type of foliated granites correspond to I-type, syn-collision type and Hercyano type. In compressive stress field between Ogcheon folded belt and Youngnam massif, foliated granites had formed due to mylonitic deformation. Those facts indicate that magma of foliated granites would had been generated by melting in lower crust or contamination in upper mantle.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2001

Geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions and K-Ar ages are analyzed in volcanic rocks from Weno Island, Caroline Islands. Seven Weno lava samples of alkali basalt and basaltic trachyandesite are aphyric or sparsely phyric comprising olivine, plagioclase, and clinopyroxene phenocrysts. Whole-rock geochemical variation of Weno lavas reflects main fractional crystallization of olivine and Cr-spinel phenocrysts. Newly determined K-Ar ages of Weno lavas range from 6.7 to 11.3 Ma (late Miocene), indicating their formation during primary volcanic stage of Chuuk Islands. Trace element compositions of Weno lavas are very similar to those of typical ocean island basalts (OIBs), suggesting their formation during intra-plate mantle plume activity. The plume composition is isotopically very similar to that of Hawaiian hot spot. However, the age span of Chuuk volcanism is longer than that of the other individual volcanoes in the Pacific.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.597-616
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• 2022

The Chungnam basin is a crucial area for studying the Mesozoic crustal evolutionary history of the Korean Peninsula. This study reports the revised geology and new isotopic ages from the northeastern Chungnam Basin based on detailed geological mapping and LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb analysis. Our renewed geologic map defines intra-basin, basin-bounding, and basement fault systems closely related to hydrothermal gold-bearing quartz vein injections. Here, we propose the directions of (micro)structural and geochronological future work to address issues on the relationship between the tectonic process, basin evolution, and hydrothermal fluid migration in the southwestern Korean Peninsula.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 1998

The Dabie-Sulu ultra-high pressure metamorphic (UHPM) zone is commonly suggested to be a collisional belt between the Sino-Korea craton (North China craton) and Yangtze craton (Zhai and Cong, 1996). Two important questions in formulating the tectonic evolution of the northeast Asia are : (1) the boundary between the UHPM zone and the Sino-Korea craton in the Shandong peninsula and (2) the extension of this Chinese UHPM zone into the Korean peninsula. There have been different opinions on the boundary between UHPM zone and the Sino-Korea craton in the Shandong peninsula. For example, the boundary has been suggested to be the Tan-Lu fault (Bai et al., 1993; Wang and Cong, 1996), or Wulian-Rongcheng fault (Cao et al., 1990). Our recent study finds out new evidences, indicating that the possible boundary is the Kunyushan granitoid complex zone, which occurs along the Wulian-Muping fault. Our new evidences are : (1) the basic rocks west to the Kunyushan granitoid zone are high-pressure granulites rather than eclogites (Zhai, 1996) with their Sm-Nd isotopic ages of 1750 Ma and 2788 Ma, representing their retrograde metamorphic and petrogenetic ages, respectively (Li et al., 1997b); (2) the orthogneisses west to the Kunyushan granitoid zone yield 2600-2900 Ma zircon ages and 1600-2020 Ma Rb-Sr and chemical U-Th-total Pb ages, with no younger data (Enami et al., 1993; Ishizaka et al., 1994), having a typical characteristic for the early Precambrian rocks in the Sino-Korea craton; (3) the orthogneisses east to the Kunyushan granitoid zone have 110-320 Ma isotopic ages with a peak value of 180-230 Ma, showing a typical characteristic of metamorphic rocks in the UHPM zone; (4) the Kunyushan granitoid zone consists of numerous granitic bodies, stocks and veins, which have 1900-2000 Ma, 610-710 Ma and 124-180 Ma istotopic ages indicating a long and complicated evolution history of this granitoid zone. There are many lenses and enclosures of metamorphic rocks from the Sino-Korea craton and Sulu UHPM belt in the Kunyushan granitoid zone. Zhai et al. (1998) have defined the Kunyushan granitoid zone as the Jiaodong Boundary complex zone. Some geologists suggested that the UHPM zone extend eastward to the Korea peninsula (Yin and Nie, 1993; Wang and Cong, 1996) and possibly to the Imjingang belt (Chang, 1994; Ree et al., 1996). Unfortunately, there has not been a conclusive evidence indicating that UHPM rocks occur in the Korea peninsula. In this regard, it becomes more important to compare metamorphic rocks in the Shandong peninsula with those in northern and southern Korea peninsula.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.130-138
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• 1993

Kyeonggi Gneiss complex forming Korean Precambrian basement is mainly composed of high-grade metasedimentary rocks, which are generally difficult to determine their absolute ages. We examined the feasibility of successive absolute age determination method for the marbles from this basement. We used hydrochloric acid for the selective dissolution of carbonate minerals from the marbles. Trace element analysis shows that most of Zr and Rb are concentrated in the residues. U in the residue is more abundant than that in HC1-dissolved parts. Pb, Sr, Sm, and Nd are somewhat evenly distributed between HC1-dissolved parts and the residues. }Th shows rather complex behavior. Sr isotopic compositions of the HC1-dissolved parts reveal mixing with Sr from non-carbonate minerals having much higher $^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$ ratios. We suggest that the most reliable method in the age determination for the marbles of this area is measuring Pb isotopic ratios of the pieces of pure marbles.