• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.293-309
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• 2014

The Qinling-Dabie-Sulu-Hongseong-Odesan collision belt was formed by the collision between the North China and South China Cratons during late Permian to Triassic. During the collision, Triassic post-collision igneous rocks regionally intruded in the Qinling and the Hongseong-Odesan collision belts which represent the western and eastern ends of the collision belt, respectively. However, no and minor Triassic post-collision igneous activities occur in the Dabie and Sulu belts respectively. The peak metamorphic pressure conditions along the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu-Hongseong-Odesan belt indicate that the slab break-off occurred at the depth of ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic condition in the Dabie and Sulu belts and at the depths of high pressure (HP) or high pressure granulite (HPG) metamorphic condition in the Qinling and Hongseong-Odesan belts. In the Dabie and Sulu belts the heat supply from the asthenospheric mantle through the gab formed by slab break-off could not cause an extensive melting in the lower continental crust and lithospheric mantle directly below it due to the very deep depth of slab break-off. On the other hand, in the Qinling and Hongseong-Odesan belts, shallower slab break-off caused the emplacement of regional post collision igneous rocks. The post-collision igneous rocks occur in the area to the north of the Mianlu Suture zone in the western Qinling belt and crop out continuously eastwards into the areas to the north of the Shangdan Suture zone in the eastern Qinling belt through the areas within the South Qinling block. This distribution pattern of post collision igneous rocks suggests that the Triassic collision belt in the Mianleu Suture zone may be extended into the Shangdan Suture zone after passing through the South Qinling block instead into the boundary between the South Qinling block and the South China Craton.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.59-87
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• 2012

Recent studies reveal that eclogite formed in the Hongseong area and post collision igneous rocks occurred throughout the Gyeonggi Massif during the Triassic Songrim Orogeny. These new findings derive the tectonic model in which the Triassic Qinling-Dabie-Sulu collision belt between the North and South China blocks extends into the Hongseong-Yangpyeong-Odesan collision belt in Korea. The belt may be further extended into the late Paleozoic subduction complex in the Yanji belt in North Korea through the Paleozoic subduction complex in the inner part of SW Japan. The collision belt divides the Gyeonggi Massif into two parts; the northern and southern parts can be correlated to the North and South China blocks, respectively. The collision had started from Korea at ca. 250 Ma and propagated to China. The collision completed during late Triassic. The metamorphic conditions systematically change along the collision belt:. ultrahigh temperature metamorphism occurred in the Odesan area at 245-230Ma, high-pressure metamorphism in the Hongseong area at 230 Ma and ultra high-pressure metamorphism in the Dabie and Sulu belts. This systematic change may be due to the increase in the depth of slab break-off towards west, which might be related to the increase of the amounts of subducted ocecnic slab towards west. The wide distribution of Permo-Triassic arc-related granitoids in the Yeongnam Massif and in the southern part of the South China block indicate the Permo-Triassic subduction along the southern boundary of the South China block which may be caused by the Permo-Triassic collision between the North and South China blocks. These studies suggest that the Songrim orogeny constructed the Korean Peninsula by continent collision and caused the subduction along the southern margin of the Yeongnam Massif. Both the northern and southern Gyeonggi Massifs had undergone 1870-1840 Ma igneous and metamorphic activities due to continent collision and subduction related to the amalgamation of Colombia Supercontinent. The Okcheon metamorphic belt can be correlated to the Nanhua rift formed at 760 Ma within the South China blocks. In that case, the southern Gyeonggi Massif and Yeongnam Massif can be correlated to the Yangtz and Cathaysia blocks in the South China block, respectively. Recently possible Devonian or late Paleozoic sediments are recognized within the Gyeonggi Massif by finding of Silurian and Devonian detrital zircons. Together with the Devonian metamorphism in the Hongseong and Kwangcheon areas, the possible middle Paleozoic sediments indicate an active tectonic activity within the Gyeonggi Massif during middle Paleozoic before the Permo-Triassic collision.

• Proceedings of the Mineralogical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.1-3
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• 2002

The eastward extension of the suture zone between the Sino-Korea and Yangtze cratons in the Korean Peninsula and Japanese islands remains debatable (Hiroi, 1981; Cluzel et al., 1991; Yin and Nie, 1993; Sohma and Kunugiza, 1993; Isozaki, 1997; Arakawa et at., 2000), and is related to our understanding of the continent-continent collision orogeny. The collision orogeny varies in tectono-metamorphic processes and the timing differs from place to place, as exemplified by the absence of coesite and micro-diamond in the Korean Peninsula and Japanese islands, because it is a long-lived process of more than several tens of million years from subduction to exhumation in the Wilson cycle, and because the suture zone extends more than several thousand kilometers with a curved shape from the Qinling area of China to the Hida highland area of Japan. Hiroi (1981) is the first paper to correlate the Unazuki metamorphic rocks of the Hida metamorphic belt in Japan with the Ogcheon belt in the Korean Peninsula based on the presence of 240 Ma medium P/T metamorphic rocks in both belts, but there is a lack of recent studies on this correlation. To resolve the correlationship, there are two approaches: 1) petrological studies characterizing the origin and P-T history of rocks and 2) in-situ micro-dating of fine-grained, zoned minerals of zircon, monazite, uraninite and thorite using the EPMA (U-Th-Pb chemical dating or CHIME depending on calibration method) and the SHRIMP (Sensitive High-resolution ion Microprobe) to decipher the timing of geological events. As a first step of these approaches, micro-dating was undertaken to rocks of the Hida metamorphic belt and its Mesozoic cover (Tetori Group) in the Hida highland area, central Japan.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.113-125
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• 2017

We investigates geochemical and tectonic characteristics for the Triassic Bojangsan trachyte in the southern margin of the Imjingang belt. The geochemical signatures of the thracyte are characterized by enrichments of REE and HFS, and show no Nb trough, suggesting that would not experience arc magmatic processes involving continental crustal materials. The trachyte reveals within-plate setting in tectonic discrimination diagrams using immobile HFS Nb and Y elements. And the trachyte shows typical signatures of A-type volcanic rocks with high Ga abundance and is classified as A1-type volcanic rocks rich in Nb. The geochemical signatures suggest that the trachyte was produced by the differentiation of mantle-derived magmatism at the continental rift in extensional setting subsequent to a major collision during the Permo-Triassic Songrim orogeny. The results provide robust evodence to consider the Imjingang belt as an extension of the the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu belt between the North and South China blocks.

• 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.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.391-409
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• 2013

The Hongseong area of the southwestern Gyeonggi massif is considered to be part of suture zone that is tectonically correlated with the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu belt of China in terms of the preservation of collisional evidences during Triassic in age. The Wolhyeonri complex, preserved at the center of the Hongseong area, consists mainly of Neoproterozoic orthogneisses and Middle Paleozoic intermediate- to high-grade metamorphic schists, orthogneisses and mafic metavolcanics. The area includes various Middle to Late Triassic intrusives (e.g. dyke or stock). They are mainly monzonite and aplite with small intrusions of monzodiorit, syenite and diorite in composition. The SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages yield 237 Ma to 222 Ma. The geochemistry of the studied Triassic intrusives show similar subuction- or arc-type signatures having Ta-Nb troughs, depletion of P and Ti, and enrichment of LILEs (large ion lithophile elements). In addition, the Triassic plutons in the Hongseong area, including those from this study, mostly possess high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic tectonic affinity. These results could be tectonically correlated to the post-collisional magmatic event following the Triassic collision between the North and South China blocks in China. Therefore, the Triassic plutons in the Hongseong area offer an important insight into the Triassic geodynamic history of the NE Asian region.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.249-267
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• 2016

The Hongseong area of the central-western Korean Peninsula is considered to be a part of collision zone that is tectonically correlated to the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu belt of China. The area includes the elliptical-shaped serpentinized ultramafic bodies, together with mafic rocks. The studied bodies are in contact with the surrounded Neoproterozoic alkali granites at the Baekdong and Wonnojeon bodies and the Paleoproterozoic Yugu gneiss at the Bibong body. The Baekdong body contains the blocks of the Neoproterozoic alkali granites and the Late Paleozoic metabasites. The Bibong body also includes the Neoproterozoic alkali granite blocks. The Mesozoic intrusive rocks are also recognized at the Baekdong, Wonnojeon and Bibong bodies. On the other hand, the Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks are occurred at the Bibong body. The detrital zircon SHRIMP U-Pb ages of the serpentinites at three bodies range variously from Neoarchean to Middle Paleozoic at the Baekdong body, and from Neoarchean to Early Cretaceous at the Wonnojeon and Bibong bodies. Although serpentinization does not generally produce minerals suitable for direct isotopic dating, the youngest Middle Paleozoic age at the Baekdong body and the Early Cretaceous age at the Wonnojeon and Bibong bodies indicate the possible upper age limit for the (re)serpentinization. Especially, the Early Cretaceous serpentinization ages may be related to the widespread Early Cretaceous igneous activity in the central-southern Korean Peninsula. Age results for the serpentinite bodies and the included blocks of the studied serpentinized ultramafic bodies in the Hongseong area, therefore, provide several possible interpretations for the serpentinization ages of the ultramafic rocks as well as the geotectonic implications of serpentinization, requiring more detailed study including other serpentinized ultramafic bodies in the Hongseong area.