• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.493-499
• /
• 1997

Grain size analysis have been made for the carbonate-detrital mixed sediments on the continental shelf off the southeastern coast of Korea. The detrital components are well-sorted with mean grain size between 2-3 phi. The detrital components are thought to be deposited in the beach environment during the glacial times when the sea level was low, representing typical 'relict' sediments. Most of the carbonate components consist of shell fragments, and are deeply weathered. They are also interpreted as the relict components that were deposited in the shallow marine environment. The carbonate fraction are coarser-grained and poorly sorted compared to the detrital component. The carbonate components are thought to have experienced the continuous environmental control of fragmentation and selective size sorting after the deposition.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.33-41
• /
• 1999

A new sedimentary basin is reported from the marine multi-channel seismic data which were acquired for the hydrocarbon exploration on the southwestern Korean continental shelf in 1970. Along the southeastern part of Line 1192, the about 60-km-long basin with the thickness of 0.55~1.1 s is observed on the near-trace gather. However, both new and previous 24-fold stack sections fail to show the basin image probably due to its rugged top beneath the shallow water. The boundary contact between the basement with the velocity of about 5200m/s and the basin filling with the velocities of 4300~4700 m/s is unclear. These velocites are calculated from the corresponding shot gathers. Compared with the Haenam Basin, a neighbouring onshore Cretaceous sedimentary basin, we interpret that the new basin includes the volcanics and volcaniclastic sequences deposited in the lacustrine environment. This nonmarine basin was possibly formed as the result of the tectonic movement during the Cretaceous, implying the wide occurrence of the Cretaceous basins over the southern Korean Peninsula as well as its southwestern continental shelf.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.293-293
• /
• 1997

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.369-379
• /
• 2003

Analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles and sediment data from the southeastern continental shelf of Korea reveals that the late Quaternary deposits consist of a set of lowstand (LST), transgressive (TST), and highstand systems tracts (HST) that corresponds to the sea-level change after the Last Glacial Maximum. LST (Unit I) above the sequence boundary consists of sandy mud or muddy sand deposited during the last glacial period and is confined to the shelf margin and trough region. TST (Unit II) between transgressive surface and maximum flooding surface consists of sandy sediments deposited during the postglacial transgression (15,000-6,000 yr BP). Although TST is widely distributed on the shelf, it is much thinner than LST and HST. On the basis of distribution pattern, TST can be divided into three sub-units: early TST (Unit IIa) on the shelf margin, middle TST (Unit IIb) on the mid-shelf, and late TST (Unit IIc) on the inner shelf, respectively. These are characterized by a backstepping depositional arrangement. HST(Unit III) above the maximum flooding surface is composed of the fine-grained sediments deposited during the last 6000 yrs when sea level was close to the present level and its distribution is restricted to the inner shelf along the coast.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2004

The clay minerals of thirty-four bottom sediments collected from the northwestern continental shelf of the East China Sea have been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The clay mineral distribution is mainly controlled by the sediment source and the dominant circulation pattern. The predominant clay mineral in our study area is illite comprising more-than 70% of whole clay fraction. The highest concentration of illite (>72%) is found in the southeastern offshore parts beyond the reach of terrigenous input from the Cheju Island. It means that these illites are largely transported by the Kuroshio Current from the South China Sea. Smectite is highly concentrated in the northwest middle part and in the outer-shelf mud patch. It seems to be due to the high supply of smectite transported from China where the fine-grained sediments are discharged from the modern and ancient Huanghe River. The relatively high abundance of kaolinite is likely derived from the Changjiang River via Taiwan ·Warm Current. In contrast, the large amounts of chlorite and high chlorite/kaolinite ratios occur in the northwestern are, reflecting the transportation by the Huanghai Sea Coastal Current from the southern Yellow Sea.

• 한국해양학회지
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.271-278
• /
• 1995

A study of heavy mineral sands in terms of heavy mineral group and concentration has been carried out by analyzing 88 grab samples from the continental shelf off the southeast coast of Korea. Heavy mineral groups seem to be outlined and classified into four regions in the study area: 1) the western region; high concentrations of stable minerals, such as opaque mineral, magnetite, garnet and ZTR, 2) Korean Trough region; moderate concentrations of stable minerals, 3) the eastern region; abundant altered mineral and amphibole with minor of pyroxene concentration, and 4) the northeastern shelf-break region; low concentration of stable minerals with abundant altered minerals. The sedimentologic natures of four major heavy mineral regions (groupings) seem to be influenced by physical, dynamic and hydraulic milieu and also aerial and/or subaqueous weathering processes. It seems to be, further, plausible that shallow marine waves and currents associated with neritic dynamic condition of transgressive sea might be very effective on the concentration and groupings (sorting) of heavy min-erals in the surficial sediments of the continental shelf. The pyroxene-abundant heavy mineral suite (group), in fact, seems to suggest a sediment source from Japanese Islands.

• 한국석유지질학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• spring
• /
• pp.15-21
• /
• 1998

Sparker profiles and sediment cores collected from the Korea Strait show a distinct pattern of stacked prograding wedges consisting of three distinct units. These wedges are interpreted as the lowstand deposits formed during glacioeustatic sea-level lowstands. Repeated sea-level falls during late Pleistocene with high sediment discharge from the paleo-Nakdong River system resulted in the formation of thick lowstand wedges.

• 한국해양학회지
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.39-51
• /
• 1989

A total of 139 surface sediment samples, collected from the continental shelf and slope off the southeastern coast of Korea, were analyzed in order to understand their grain-size, mineral composition and organic carbon content. Based on the grain-size characteristics, five surface sedimentary facies were distinguished: sand, clay, mud, sand-mud mixed, and sand-clay mixed facies. The sand facies appears to be composed mostly of relict sand. For mud, most of which seem to be of recent origin, two different sources were suggested, based principally on their areal distribution pattern and the local hydrographic conditions. Heavy mineral composition of the fine-sand size fraction allowed us to distinguish different sand populations from the study area. On the whole, the Hupo Bank sediments showed a high content of garnet, while the sediments from the northern part of the continental shelf were characterized by a relatively high content of metamorphic minerals (kyanite, sillimanite, andalusite, staurolite). Among clay minerals, the most abundant was illite, with chlorite, kaolinite and smectite following in decreasing order. Organic carbon contents in the sediments of the study area were generally high and showed an average value of 1.94%. The sediment grain-size exerted a strong influence on the organic carbon content. The highest organic carbon content, on the other hand, was found in the continental slope sediments.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.349-356
• /
• 2010

Analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles acquired from the southeastern continental shelf of Korea reveals that the late Quaternary transgressive deposits consist of six seismic units created in response to sea-level rise. These units with different seismic facies and geometry can be grouped into two distinct depositional wedges (paralic and marine) bounded by a ravinement surface. The paralic component underlying the ravinement surface consists of the sediment preserved from shoreface erosion and contains incised-channel fill, ancient beach-shoreface deposit and estuarine deposit. The top of paralic unit is truncated by a ravinement surface and overlain by marine component. The marine component consists of the sediment produced through shoreface erosion during landward transgression and contains mid-shelf sand sheet, mid-shelf sand ridge and inner shelf sand sheet. Such transgressive stratigraphic architecture of six sedimentary units is controlled by a function of lateral changes in the balance among rates of relative sea-level rise, sediment input and marine processes at any given time.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.303-312
• /
• 2011

Analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles from the southeastern continental shelf of Korea reveals that the Holocene transgressive deposits consist of five sedimentary units characterized by retrograding or backstepping depositional arrangements. Unit I, forming a linear sediment body along the shelf margin, is an ancient beach/shoreface deposit formed during the early stage of transgression. During the transgression, the paleo-channels were backfilled with fluvial or coastal-plain sediments, forming Unit II as an incised-channel fill deposit. The near-surface sediment was reworked and eroded by shoreface erosion, forming a thin lag of sands (Unit III) on the midshelf. During the middle stage of the transgression, the shoreline may have stabilized at around 70 - 80 m below the present sea level for some period of time to allow the formation of sand ridge systems (Unit IV). Unit V in the inner shelf was deposited in an estuarine environment during the middle to late stage of transgression. Such transgressive stratigraphic architecture is controlled by a function of lateral changes in the balance among rates of relative sea-level rise, sediment input and marine processes at any given time.