north and south china suturing in the east end: what happened in korean peninsula?

Gondwana Research 22 (2012) 493–506

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North and South China suturing in the east end: What happened inKorean Peninsula?

Ki-Hong Chang a, Xixi Zhao b,⁎a Department of Geology, Kyungpook National University, 1370 Sankyuk-dong, Buk-gu Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Koreab Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA

⁎ Corresponding author.E-mail addresses: [email protected] (K.-H. C

(X. Zhao).

1342-937X/$ – see front matter © 2012 International Adoi:10.1016/j.gr.2011.12.010

a b s t r a c t
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:Received 11 July 2011Received in revised form 3 December 2011Accepted 3 December 2011Available online 9 January 2012

Keywords:Korean PeninsulaOkcheon TroughHwanggangni basinSino-Korean CratonSongnim orogeny

The history of basin formation and crustal deformation of the Korean Peninsula is here critically reviewed toshow it is an important tectonic architecture of the collision between North and South China in Early Meso-zoic. To synthesize our current geologic and paleomagnetic knowledge, we propose a new crustal detach-ment and extrusion model for the continental collision and rotation between the North and South ChinaBlocks (NCB and SCB) east of the Tancheng–Lujiang fault. We emphasize that the Yellow Sea TransformFault (YSTF) played a key role in accommodating the collisional history of the two blocks in the east end.The YSTF allowed the Korean Peninsula exempted from being directly involved in the NCB–SCB collision. Dur-ing the Early Triassic collision phase of the two blocks, a large piece of the upper crust of the northeasternpart of the SCB was detached and slumped over the Korean Peninsula and fragmentally deposited in themetamorphosed Okcheon Trough. In the course of the exhumation of the Sulu ultra-high-pressure (UHP)metamorphic belt in the Middle Triassic, the northern part of the SCB extruded eastward toward Korea. Ageneral time correlation of the Songnim orogeny of Korea and the early exhumation of the Sulu UHP meta-morphic belt suggests their genetic relation. The exhumation of the Sulu UHP metamorphic belt triggeredthe mid Triassic extrusion tectonics, which in turn facilitated the clockwise rotation of the SCB. The eastwardextrusion and clockwise rotation of the SCB (relative to NCB) exerted a large amount of eastward compres-sion to the Korean Peninsula and led to the Middle–Late Triassic Songnim orogeny. Geologic and paleomag-netic information synthesized in this paper has revived and reinforced the belief for the single Sino-KoreanCraton which comprises Korea and north China since the Precambrian time.

© 2012 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The past existence of the Gondwana supercontinent is now clearlyconfirmed by geologic and geophysical data (e.g., Li, 1998, 2008;Maruyama and Santosh, 2008). By 320–310 Ma, Gondwana had col-lided with Laurentia to form a single supercontinent named Pangea,which stretched from pole to pole. The fragmentation of Pangea oc-curred as a result of plate tectonics and continental drift over LatePaleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic time to form the modern conti-nents and oceans. Starting in Late Paleozoic time, fragmentationof Pangea (and former Gondwana continents) and the concomitantexpansion of Eurasia have occurred repeatedly. The latest exampleis the addition of India to Eurasia in Early Cenozoic time(McElhinny and McFadden, 2000; Wang et al., 2008; Lippert et al.,2011). Indeed, this global geographical reorganization is still inprogress, as evidenced in part by the continued India's indentation

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into Tibet (Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975), Australia's northwardmotion (e.g., Audley-Charles et al., 1988; Whitem, 1995), andNorth America's northwesterly movement toward Asia (e.g., Vander Voo et al., 1999).

East Asia is dominated by the South China Block (SCB) and Sino-Korean Craton (SKC) (Fig. 1). Several published papers favor the hy-pothesis that these blocks were derived from the Paleozoic supercon-tinent Gondwana (e.g., McElhinny et al., 1981; Enkin et al., 1992;Courtillot et al., 1994; Zhao et al., 1994; Jin, 2002). Recent geologic in-terpretation of Chinese geology (e.g., Wan, 2010; 2011), however,concluded that both North and South China were never parts ofGondwana. If indeed the SKC and SCB were associated with easternGondwana during the Early and Middle Paleozoic, as suggested bysome paleontological data (McKerrow and Scotese, 1990; Metcalfe,1991, 2006), then they certainly had rifted off by the Late Paleozoic.This separation is shown by paleomagnetic data (Zhao and Coe,1989; Van der Voo, 1993; Zhao et al., 1993a,b; Uno, 2000; Huanget al., 2008), which suggest that these blocks were too far north tohave been attached to Gondwana, and by biogeographic differencesand paleoclimatic evidence (Cui and Zhen, 1984; Veevers andPowell, 1987), which indicate that while eastern Gondwana was

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Sino-Korean CratonTa

n-Lu

Fau

lt

DabieSouth China

Sulu

NM

PB

IBGM

OB

YMYellow Sea

0 400

125°E 135°E

35°N

40°N

Fig. 1. Geological sketch map of eastern China and Korean Peninsula. The Korean partof the Sino-Korean Craton (mainly Precambrian) is geographically divided into threeparts (‘massifs’) due to the Late Proterozoic–Mesozoic sedimentary basin formations.Massifs and basins in Korea are abbreviated as follows: NM = Nangrim Massif; GM =Gyeonggi Massif; YM = Yeongnam Massif; OB = Okcheon belt (trough); PB =Pyeongnam basin; IB = Imjingang belt (trough). Dashed line denotes the northwardextension of the Tanlu fault that is still controversy. Note that the Sulu zone is showndiscontinuously to any parts of the Korean Peninsula.

494 K.-H. Chang, X. Zhao / Gondwana Research 22 (2012) 493–506

being glaciated at southern polar latitudes in the Late Paleozoic, boththe SKC and SCB were in equatorial latitudes.

The Korean Peninsula has a long history of basin formation andcrustal deformation and serves as a tectonic link between easternChina and the Japanese Islands. Tectonically, Korea comprises threemajor Pre-Cambrian massifs: Nangrim, Gyeonggi, and Yeongnammassifs (Fig. 1). The Nangrim and Gyeonggi massifs are separatedby the Imjingang belt (or trough), which is a narrow zone thatrecorded high-grade metamorphic events in the Late Permian–EarlyTriassic (Cho et al., 1995; Ree et al., 1996). The Gyeonggi and Yeong-nam massifs are separated by the Okcheon Fold Belt (or OkcheonTrough). To the northeast, the Okcheon Trough comprises the Tae-baeksan Basin that carries the Joseon Supergroup (Cambro-Ordovician) and Pyongan Supergroup (Carboniferous–?Triassic). TheCretaceous Kyongsang Basin in the southeastern part of the KoreanPeninsula comprises gently eastward-dipping successions (Chang,1975; Rhee et al., 1998). A Tertiary sequence was deposited in thePohang Basin formed in association with back-arc opening in theEast Sea (Sea of Japan) (Chough et al., 2000). Plutonism and volca-nism were active from the Late Cretaceous to the Early Tertiary dueto the northwestward (orthogonal) subduction of the proto-Pacificplate accompanied by ridge subduction (Uyeda and Miyashiro,1974; Maruyama et al., 1997; Okada, 2000).

The collision between the SKC and SCB has played a central role inshaping up the eastern Asian continents. Paleomagnetic studies (e.g.,Zhao and Coe, 1987; Enkin et al., 1992; Uno, 2000; Huang et al., 2008),tectonostratigraphic analysis (e.g., Mattauer et al., 1985; Yin and Nie,1993), metamorphic history (e.g., Okay et al., 1993; Cong, 1996), andradiometric dating results (Reischmann et al., 1990; Ratschbacher et al.,2003) indicate that the two blocks collided, starting from the east, dur-ing Permo-Triassic to Middle Jurassic.

The suture between the two blocks lies close to northern marginof the Qinling orogenic foldbelt. Ultra-high pressure, coesite-anddiamond-bearing metamorphic rocks crop out at both Dabie Shanand Sulu area of the suture (Fig. 1). U–Pb dating of zircons from the

high-pressure eclogites yields metamorphic ages of 210–230 Ma(e.g., Enami and Zang, 1990; Ames et al., 1993; Okay et al., 1993;Eide et al., 1994; Cong et al., 1995). These rocks have been interpretedto be products of the collision between north and south China (Okayand Sengör, 1992; Xu et al., 1992). The Qinling–Dabie–Sulu suturezone is abruptly truncated to the east by the north-northeast-trending Tanlu fault (Fig. 1). This peculiar tectonic feature hasattracted much attention of earth scientists.

Various opinions exist about the location of the suture east of theSulu zone across the Yellow Sea. Possible candidates include theImjingang Belt in central Korea, the Okcheon Trough and the SouthKorean Tectonic Line in south Korea, or unidentified faults south ofthe Korean Peninsula. Chough et al. (2000) attributed the Imjingangbelt as the eastward extension of the Qinling–Dabie–Sulu collisionalbelt of China. Okay and Sengör (1992) speculated a north-vergingthrust exists in southern Jiaodong of Shandong province, whichcould accommodate the crustal shortening west of the Tanlu fault.Yin and Nie (1993), on the other hand, proposed an indentation pan-handle of the SCB that includes the region of Subei, southern Jiao-dong, Yellow Sea, and the southwestern Korea Peninsula hasindented into the NCB. Uno et al. (2004) suggested that the Gyeonggimassif was the eastern part of the SCB, based on their paleomagneticdata. Oh et al. (2005) further speculated that the Dabie–Sulu collisionbelt in China extends to the Hongseong–Odesan belt in Korea, whichdivides Korea's Gyeonggi massif into northern and southern portions.All those models infer that Korean Peninsula (or part of it) was for-merly located close to the SCB, contradicting to the traditionallyview that Korea has been incorporated with the north China into asingle SKC (Reedman and Um, 1975; Lee, 1987; Chang, 1995; Wan,2011). The lack of agreement about whether there is a suture zonebetween China and Korean Peninsula and about the tectonic coher-ence of Korea hinders our understanding of the regional tectonic evo-lution and paleogeography. Geological and geophysical studies inKorea are much needed to help unraveling the accretion and defor-mation history of eastern Asia.

This paper is an effort to remedy the situation. After briefly sum-marizing existing paleomagnetic evidence for the timing and modeof the north and south China suturing, we present our new tectonicinterpretation of geology of Korea. We examine the effects of theSulu continental collision to the Korean Peninsula and point out thatthe Sulu orogen abruptly terminated at the eastern tip of the Shan-dong Peninsula was cut off by the Yellow-Sea Transform Fault(YSTF), a key tectonic feature first proposed by one of us a decadeago (Chang, 2000; Chang and Park, 2001). The YSTF not only servedas an eastern boundary of the SCB but also facilitated the consump-tion of the easternmost Paleo-Tethys and the convergence of theSCB while exempted the Korean Peninsula from the continental sub-duction of the SCB. By integrating available geological, geochronolog-ical, geophysical, and paleomagnetic data, we present our refinedtectonic model for north and south China collision at the easternend, which corroborates previous hypothesis that Korea has beenconnected to the NCB, and suggests that when the Late Permian–Early Triassic subduction stopped and the large rotational suturingand exhumation of the Sulu UHP belt commenced in Middle–Late Tri-assic, the SCB's clockwise rotation has resulted in part of the SCB toextrude toward the Korean Peninsula and cause the Songnim orogenyin Korea.

2. Paleomagnetic implications concerning suturing betweenNorth and South China

Paleomagnetism remains a principle tool for paleogeographic re-construction and kinematical evolution of continental plates orblocks. If two blocks have been rigidly connected through geologictime, their paleomagnetic poles should be coincident based on thehypothesis that the time-averaged geomagnetic field is a geocentric

495K.-H. Chang, X. Zhao / Gondwana Research 22 (2012) 493–506

axial dipole (GAD). When reliable poles of the same age are signifi-cantly different, one must conclude that the regions were not rigidlyconnected during the times when magnetic remanence of the rockswas acquired. The inverse is not necessarily true: because paleolongi-tude is not constrained by the GAD geometry, the east–west separa-tion of the two blocks cannot be determined by paleomagnetism(e.g., Enkin et al., 1992).

Like many other fields in earth sciences, progress in the paleomag-netic study of China has grown through repeated trials, criticisms, andimprovements. One must always be on guard for random and system-atic errors in paleomagnetic data that can render invalid tectonicimplications.

To integrate our current paleomagnetic knowledge, we have criti-cally assessed and updated previously published paleomagnetic dataof Late Permian through Late Cretaceous age from North and SouthChina and Korea (e.g., McElhinny et al., 1981; Enkin et al., 1992; Linand Li, 1995; Huang et al., 1996, 2001, 2005, 2008; Zhao et al.,1996; Yang et al., 1998; Zhu et al., 1998; Yang and Besse, 2001; Zhuet al., 2002; Uno and Huang, 2003; Li et al., 2004; Morinaga and Liu,2004; Uno et al., 2004; Su et al., 2005; Zhao and Coe, 2007; Lee etal., 2011). By North China here we mean the Sino-Korean Craton,plus Inner and Outer Mongolia. The South China Block is commonlysegregated into the Yangtze Block to the northwest and mobile belts(also known as Cathaysia block, Jiangnan old land, or Huanan block)to the southeast. In this paper, we associate the Yangtze and Cathay-sia blocks and any terranes that were already accreted by Middle Pa-leozoic time as the South China Block.

The available paleomagnetic results allowed us to construct plau-sible models for the amalgamation of the Chinese blocks (Fig. 2). Theamalgamation of the NCB and SCB took place in the Late Permian,with collision first occurring near the eastern end (in today's geo-graphic coordinates: 30°N, 120°E) of the Qinling Fold Belt and dia-chronously suturing from east to west due to a clockwise rotation ofabout 67° of SCB relative to NCB (Zhao and Coe, 1987).

Early Triassic poles for the two blocks are very similar to those forthe Late Permian, consistent with the same scissor model discussedabove in relation to the Late Permian data. Late Triassic paleomagnet-ic data for the NCB and SCB are still relatively sparse (especially forNCB, see Huang et al., 2008), but the pattern of relative rotations dur-ing these periods seems to emerge. North China underwent littlepolar wander during these periods and still kept its northwestern orsoutheastern orientation. The tectonic model is clearly applicable tothe entire Triassic. The Late Triassic time is characterized by largeclockwise rotational motion of the SCB relative to the NCB.

In the Early Jurassic, paleomagnetic poles for NCB and SCB are stillcompletely different from each other. In this case, about 30° of rota-tion between SCB and NCB is required to reconcile their poles. How-ever, more than half of the Qinling Sea between the NCB and SCBwas subducted. The SCB has changed its relative orientation fromthe northeast to the northwest by this time. Therefore, paleomagnetic

S

SS

S

N

N

N

N

T1

T3J1

P2

Fig. 2. Sketch plots showing NCB (N) and SCB (S) collisional and suturing processes from Laarrows indicate the paleo-declinations of SCB and NCB, respectively. Age: P, Permian, T, Tri

data suggest that most of the relative rotation between the Chineseblocks took place during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. By theMiddle Jurassic, the Qinling Sea is almost completely closed. Conse-quently, North and South China were assembled by Middle Jurassictime (Fig. 2).

The above interpretation is compatible with several geological andgeophysical observations. Petrological studies have revealed the pres-ence of ultra-high-pressure coesite and diamond-bearing metamor-phic assemblages in the Qinling–Dabie suture at the east end of theNCB–SCB boundary (Wang et al., 1992; Okay et al., 1993; Cong etal., 1995) suggesting that a significant part of the collision area wasonce buried deeper than 100 km and metamorphosed at pressures>3000 MPa. Although there is no direct control on when the ultra-high-pressure rocks were brought up to the surface, thermochronolo-gic studies consistently show that peak metamorphism occurred ataround 230 Ma (Ames et al., 1993; Li et al., 1993; Okay et al., 1993;Eide et al., 1994; Cong et al., 1995; Hacker et al., 1998; Ratschbacheret al., 2003). In the western Qinling, on the other hand, the emplace-ment of the granitoid precursors of the mylonite is dated at 211 Maby the U–Pb zircon method (Reischmann et al., 1990; Wang et al.,2003). Marine sediments of indubitable Triassic age are well devel-oped along the northwestern margin of the SCB, but thin eastwardand are represented mainly by littoral and subaerial facies on thenortheastern margin (Yang et al., 1986). Northerly-derived Triassicclastics, with a westward younging trend, overlie Late Permian–Early Triassic carbonate sequences in the northern margin of SCB(Jiang et al., 1979; Jiangsu Bureau of Geology, 1984; Sichuan Bureauof Geology, 1991). These geological observations and inferences arereadily explained if the Paleo-Tethys ocean had already closed in east-ernmost China due to collision, but remained open to the west untilLate Triassic or Early Jurassic time.

From the foregoing, it is clear that paleomagnetism has alreadymade a dramatic contribution to the tectonics of China and easternAsia. However, our understanding is far from complete. New testablehypotheses and relevant paleomagnetic, geological, and geophysicaldata from eastern China in general and Korean Peninsula in particularare needed to improve and refine the tectonic models, which is one ofthe goals for this paper.

3. What happened in Korean Peninsula during the Triassic: newobservations and interpretations

3.1. New evidence for Sino-Korean Craton

Which continental block does Korean Peninsula belong: North orSouth China? As mentioned, this question is intensely debated. Argu-ments supporting both positions are common in the literature (e.g., Xuet al., 1992; Uno et al., 2004; Oh et al., 2006; Wan, 2011). TheKorean Peninsula of the SKC is traditionally assured based on the closesimilarity of the Paleozoic stratigraphic sequences. In particular, the

SS

S

N

NN

PresentJ2 K1

Dabie-Sulu UHP belt

40°N

20°N

0°

20°S

te Permian through Cretaceous (modified from Huang et al., 2008). Solid black and redassic, J, Jurassic, K, Cretaceous; 1 = Early, 2 = Middle 3 = Late.

Table 2Tectonic and sedimentary events of Eastern China and Korea: a correlation.

Period Sulu–Yellow Sea Area Korean Peninsula

Middle–Jurassic Early Yanshanian Stage Daebo orogeny, plutonismLatest Triassic-EarlyJurassic

Qinling–Dabie suturing Daedong sedimentation

Mid-LateTriassic

Orogeny in Sulu–Yangtzeterrain

Eclogite arrived at Gyeonggimassif

Early LateTriassic

Exhumation–extrusionorogeny

Songnim orogeny

Middle Triassic Early UHP metamorphism Upper Suanbo sedimentationEarly Triassic Continental subduction Lower Suanbo sedimentationEarliest Triassic Collision of Yangtze and SKC (?Continued) Pyeongan Synthem


well-known mid-Paleozoic hiatus prevails in both north China and theKorean Peninsula. Several workers, on the other hand, have advocatedthe Korean Peninsula was formerly close to the SCB. Cluzel et al.(1991) and Uno et al. (2004) claim that the surface geology and paleo-magnetic signatures of part of the Korean Peninsula have SCB affinities.Li (1994) also suggested that the Honam shear zone could be the east-ern boundary of the SCB, inferring that much of the Korean Peninsulais part of the SCB. The idea that theKorean Peninsula as a Triassic assem-blage once far-separated microplate was also suggested by Sengor andNatal'in (1996), and modified by Lee et al. (1997).

We recall that the Paleozoic stratigraphy of the Pyongyang Basinof North Korea is unequivocally North China in nature (Lee, 1987).The remarkable mid-Paleozoic hiatus of the Sino-Korean Craton isalso developed even in the Metamorphic Okcheon trough, though itis less typical (Table 1).

New isotopic ages have thrown some light on this debate. Amongthe Precambrian age data for the basement of the Korean Peninsula,recently reported 1.85 Ga isotope dates are prevalent over the base-ment of Korea (Cho, 2009; Song et al., 2009). These isotope datesare regional (rather than localized events) and strongly suggest thatthe Precambrian basement of Korean Peninsula is continuous withthat of the North China. From various parts of the Korean Peninsula,Archean rocks have also been identified, which can be linked to theNCB. The Proterozoic 2.1–1.9 Ga interval in Korea is characterized bygneiss and granite genesis. The peak of the genesis in ca 2.1 Ga iscalled the Sangri revolution in South Korea and Jeungsan movementin North Korea. Another episodic tectonism–magmatism in ca 1.8 Gais called the Machonryong orogeny commonly over the whole KoreanPeninsula; the same event in the north China region is called theLuliang movement, which unified the entire NCB's basement (Yanget al., 1986). No coeval events are found in the SCB. Thus, magmatismages prove an integral Precambrian basement of the SKC. We showlater in our refined tectonic model that the Korean Peninsula appearsto be a sustained promontory of SKC since the Proterozoic.

Paleomagnetic data from Korea and NCB and SCB also allow us tore-examine the question of tectonic affiliation of Korea. As shown inTable 3 and Fig. 3, the pre-Jurassic paleomagnetic poles for Koreaare all different from each other, which make it difficult to comparethe coeval poles from the NCB and SCB. At first glance, Triassic and Ju-rassic paleomagnetic poles for Korea published prior to 1994(Shibuya et al., 1988; Kim and Van der Voo, 1990; Kim et al., 1992)

Table 1Stratigraphic correlation of the metamorphosed Okcheon Trough (MOT) and the Tae-baeksan basin, both in the Okcheon trough. Tectonisms (shown in bold) were commonthroughout the whole trough. The Daebo orogeny and Jaeryeonggang orogeny areshown here only for reference. Modified after Chang and Park (2008).

Period Metamorphosed Okcheon Trough Taebaeksan Basin

L Cretaceous Jaeryeonggang Orogeny Jaeryeonggang OrogenyU Jurassic- Dabokni Fm No sedimentationL CretaceousM Jurassic Daebo Orogeny Daebo OrogenyU Triassic- No sedimentation Daedong synthemL JurassicM-U Triassic Songnim Orogeny Songnim OrogenyL-M Triassic Hwanggangni Fm etc. (U Suanbo

Synthem)No sedimentation

Sangnaeri Fm etc. (L SuanboSynthem)

No sedimentation

Permo- Bibong Fm etc. Pyeong'an SynthemCarboniferousDevonian Daehyangsan Fm No sedimentationSilurian Ungyori, Midongsan Fms? No sedimentation

(Hoedongni Fm nowdoubted)

Ordovician Changni Fm Joseon SynthemCambrian Hyangsanri Dolomite Joseon Synthem

Period: L, M, U stand for Lower, Middle, and Upper, respectively.

are indeed somewhat similar to coeval ones from SCB, and this wasperhaps the reason that led some workers to suggest that Korea andSCB may have behaved as a single tectonic block since the Triassic(Kim et al., 1992; Gilder et al., 1995). A study of Middle and Late Car-boniferous rock by Lee et al. (1996) added support to this hypothesisbecause the Carboniferous poles for Korea and the SCB are also inagreement (Table 3).

We argue, however, that all these poles that apparently corre-spond to the SCB poles were derived from rocks within the Okcheonzone, which is known to be a site of severe deformation in the Meso-zoic (see below). In fact, in a re-study of the same rocks Doh et al.(1997; p. 1228) concluded that the Carboniferous results by Lee etal. (1996) were Cretaceous remagnetization.

Although detailed structural analysis and mapping are still insuffi-cient to unravel the kinematic history of the Okcheon foldbelt and as-sess its effects on these paleomagnetic poles, we think that theproximity of these poles to the SCB poles is a coincidence. If oneleaves out the poles derived from the Okcheon zone (marked withstars in Table 3) and merely retain those poles derived from areasbordering the Okcheon zone (data without asterisk sign in Table 3),a striking feature between the Korean and NCB poles emerges: theLate Carboniferous, Late Permian, Early Triassic, and Early–Late Juras-sic poles for Korea are systematically displaced some 30° eastwardswith respect to the coeval poles of the NCB. Indeed, a declinationaldeviation of about 30° of the Cretaceous rocks in the GyeongsangBasin has been previously recognized (Zhao et al., 1999; Park et al.,2005) and most recently confirmed by a detailed magnetostrati-graphic study of the Cretaceous strata in the Gyeongsang Basin (Leeet al., 2011). Combining paleomagnetic rotations with results from re-cent stratigraphic, radiometric, and geochemical studies, we find thata clockwise rotational event (28.5±6.3°) of the Korean Peninsulawith respect to North China and Eurasia has occurred between 115and 67 Ma. As shown in Fig. 3, a 28.5° clockwise rotation about a ver-tical or near-vertical axis brings the Korean poles into general coinci-dence with the coeval poles for the NCB. This suggests that the LatePaleozoic and Mesozoic poles for Korea may all have undergone theCretaceous-aged clockwise rotation (Zhao et al., 1999; Park et al.,2005; Lee et al., 2011). Korea and the NCB therefore may have beenpart of the same continental landmass since at least Late Carbonifer-ous times, probably even from the Early Paleozoic.

Furthermore, the rotated (or corrected) poles (Fig. 3) show alarge apparent polar wander motion of Korea between the EarlyTriassic and Late Jurassic, replicating those found in the paleomag-netic results from the NCB (Fig. 2). Late Jurassic paleomagneticpoles for the NCB, SCB, and Korea are statistically indistinguishable,reinforcing the hypothesis that the accretion of NCB and SCB wasfinished at this time (Zhao and Coe, 1987; Gilder and Courtillot, 1997;Lee et al., 2011). Thus, the NCB–Korea connection is not only consistentwith the majority of geological observations, suggesting affinitiesbetween the two regions, but is also consistent with the collisionaltectonic history of the eastern Asian margin derived from paleomag-netic data.

Table 3Selected Paleozoic and Mesozoic poles for Korea and North and South China Blocks (NCB and SCB).

Korea Corrected ** NCB SCB

Age Long/Lat A95 Ref Long/Lat Long/Lat A95 Ref Long/Lat A95 Ref

C3 335.0°E/44.6°N 6.9° [1] 5.1°E/29.1°N 354.8°E/44.1°N 18.6° [5] 227.1°E/19.1°N 16.1° [6]*226.8°E/12.2°N 15.5° [2] 10.2°E/33.3°N 16.7° [12] 229.1°E/47.5°N 9.6° [14]*147.6°E/−5.7°N 6.9° [7] 11.9°E/30.0°N 5.0° [5]*220.2°E/−15.3°N 13.0° [8]

N=3, 6.3°E/36.0°N 16° TS N=2, 227.9°E/33.3°N TSP2 311.9°E/58.7°N 4.1° [1] 357.3°E/48.2°N 357.5°E/49.1°N 6.9° [9] 242.5°E/52.9°N 7.2° [9]

*231.0°E/5.7°N 16.7° [8] 355.1°E/50.3°N 5.7° [13] 247.7°E/53.4°N 4.0° [14]*203.1°E/9.4°N 19.7° [2] 353.1°E/50.1°N 5.0° [14]*127.5°E/40.6°N 8.5° [7]

N=3, 355.2°E/49.8°N 2.4° TS N=2, 245.1°E/53.2°N TST1 306.1°E/63.2°N 12.6° [1] 358.3°E/53.4°N 357.4°E/57.9°N 4.8° [9] 218.4°E/45.6°N 6.5° [9]

*209.1°E/22.6°N 10.4° [8] 353.7°E/56.9°N 4.6° [13] 217.2°E/41.1°N 4.9° [14]*215.9°E/33.5°N 16.3° [10] 351.1°E/63.7°N 14.5° [15] 212.6°E/42.7°N 6.0° [17]*179.0°E/24.6°N 4.7° [10] 355.3°E/56.1°N 4.5 [21]

N=4, 354.5°E/58.7°N 4.2° TS N=3, 216.0°E/43.2°N 4.9° TSJ1-3 199.3°E/59.5°N 12.8° [10] 189.0°E/81.1°N 222.8°E/74.4°N 5.9° [11] 211.4°E/74.9°N 10.3° [11]

207.7°E/67.6°N 2.5° [3] 102.0°E/88.9°N 229.7°E/76.8°N 5.6° [13] 207.1°E/81.8°N 6.9° [18]230.2°E/54.1°N 4.1° [4] 273.5°E/73.9°N 302.5°E/81.5°N 5.5° [16] 236.0°E/64.7°N 11.0° [22]

234.8°E/76.4°N 5.1° [17] 216.3°E/66.4°N 3.9° [19]198.2°E/73.5°N 6.3° [20]221.8°E/79.9°N 5.3° [17]

213.7°E/61.1°N 16.4° N=3 243.6°E/83.9°N N=4, 239.2°E/78.6°N 8.3° TS N=6, 217.3°E/73.9°N 6.6° TS

NCB = North China Block, SCB = South China Block. Lat, Long: latitude and longitude of the north-seeking pole positions; A95: radius of 95% confidence circle of the pole. Age: O,Ordovician; C, Carboniferous, P, Permian, T, Triassic, J, Jurassic; 1 = Early, 2 =Middle 3= Late. Ref: [1] Doh and Piper (1994), [2] Lee et al. (1997), [3] Park et al. (2005), [4] Uno et al.(2004), [5] Wu (1988), [6] Lin et al. (1985), [7] Shibuya et al. (1988), [8] Kim et al. (1992), [9] Zhao et al. (1996), [10] Kim and Van der Voo (1990), [11] Gilder and Courtillot (1997),[12] Huang et al. (2001), [13] Yang et al. (1998), [14] Huang et al. (2008), [15] Li et al. (2004), [16] Uno and Huang (2003), [17] Yang and Besse (2001), [18] Morinaga and Liu(2004), [19] Zhu et al. (1998), [20] Han et al. (2009), [21] Huang et al. (2005), [22] Yokoyama et al. (2001), TS, This Study. Colored data are plotted in Fig. 3. * Paleomagneticpoles derived from the Okchon zone.**: Obtained by applying the 28.5° correction to the corresponding declination reduced at the Taegu area and then recalculate the pole.


3.2. Yellow Sea Transform Fault (YSTF)

The Sulu orogen abruptly terminates at the eastern tip of theShandong Peninsula, suggesting a cut-off possibly by a transcurrentfault to allow the Late Paleozoic convergence of SCB neatly confinedto its west. For this reason, the Yellow-Sea Transform Fault (YSTF)was proposed by Chang (2000) to accommodate the fact that theUHP metamorphic belt of the Dabie–Sulu zone of China does not ex-tend to the Korean Peninsula (Chang, 2000; Chang and Park, 2001).The YSTF is a hypothetical dextral transcurrent fault drawn rectangu-lar southward from the eastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula. Asshown in Fig. 4, the YSTF is located between the SCB in the YellowSea area and the Korean Peninsula (Chang, 2000). If indeed Korea istectonically connected to the SKC, the eastern plate boundary be-tween SCB and the Korean Peninsula of the SKC must lie somewhere

Fig. 3. Equal-area projection of paleomagnetic poles (A) without and (B) with 95% confidensition of an unrotated KOR polar path with respect to the NCB and SCB polar paths. The bla

in the Yellow Sea area. It is our opinion that YSTF was such a plateboundary (Chang, 2000). An en echelon fault zone termed ‘the westmarginal fault zone of the Korean Peninsula (WMF)’ in which faultpieces are arranged en echelon each dipping ca 60° to the west(Hao et al., 2005) (see Fig. 4) is the current manifestation of the fos-silized YSTF (Hao et al., 2005, 2007). The ca 60° eastward vergenceof the WMF could simply reflect a crustal migration caused by com-pressions from the west to have disrupted and dislocated the YSTFto become the WMF. The attitude of the WMF suggests that theYSTF was changed into an eastward thrust fault during the Songnimorogeny decoupled by the coeval Akiyoshi subduction–collisionalzone in Middle–Late Triassic.

As protracted in Fig. 4, the YSTF could effectively block the Dabie–Sulu orogen with UHP metamorphites to the west and not extend toanywhere in the Korean Peninsula. The fact that abundant Mesozoic

ce circles for the North and South China Blocks and Korea (Table 3), displaying the po-ck squares KOR curves in (B) are plotted adjusted for the 28.5° clockwise rotation.

Fig. 4.Map showing the Yellow Sea Transform Fault (YSTF) in its supposed original position (A) and its present relics Western marginal faults (WMF) as detected by gravity anom-aly studies (B). The WMF is a reverse-fault zone near the west coast of South Korea. The dislocation from YSTF to WMF shows a ca 30° clockwise rotation of SCB. The dislocation issupposed to be a composite result of the eastward lateral extrusion of the northern part of the South China block done under the context of a clockwise rotation of SCB during theTriassic Indosinian orogeny. The Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic Okcheon trough (formerly called ‘geosyncline’) was a basin complex divided into the Taebaeksan Basin (T.b.) and themetamorphosed Okcheon trough (MOT) inclusive of the Hwanggangni basin (H.b., gray shaded). Arrows within South Korea symbolize a conjectural sinistral block movement toopen the Hwanggangni basin in the Early Triassic.


gold deposits are found in the Shandong Peninsula and are abruptlyabsent in the Korean Peninsula to the east is another testimony thatthe YSTF played a key role in causing such a discontinuity (Lu et al.,1996). On the other hand, the YSTF serves as a plate boundary be-tween the SCB and Korean Peninsula, which is a part of the SKC.Such adjacency and interactions would leave certain ‘Yangtze-like’features and signatures over the Korean Peninsula, particularly inthe western part. As we will examine in subsequent sections, the Pa-leozoic YSTF not only facilitated the consumption of the easternmostPaleo-Tethys and the convergence of the SCB, but also exempted theKorean Peninsula from the continental subduction of the SCB. It alsoaccommodates the increasingly well-documented Sino-Korean integ-rity of the Korean Peninsula (Song, 2001; Song et al., 2009; Wan,2011), discussed above.

It is worth to emphasize that unraveling the tectonic history ofthe Korean Peninsula is indeed a formidable task, which requiresextensive knowledge and understanding of a vast amount ofboth geologic and geophysical data. The discovery of the YSTF isa case in point. Geologic evidence was the original basis of recog-nizing the YSTF (Chang, 2000), which has provided the crucial role

in guiding geophysical investigation and interpretation (e.g., Haoet al., 2007).

3.3. Origin and nature of the Okcheon Trough

Among the crustal blocks (massifs) composing the Korean Penin-sula, the Gyeonggi and the Yeongnam massifs and the OkcheonTrough in-between compose the southern part of the peninsula(Fig. 1). The Okcheon Trough that crosses the medial Korean Peninsu-la diagonally from northeast to southwest is formerly called theOkcheon ‘depression’ or ‘geosyncline’ (Kobayashi, 1953). It comprisesthe Paleozoic–Early Mesozoic sedimentary basins with depositionalenvironment being marine in the Paleozoic and terrestrial in theEarly Mesozoic. The trough remains as a SW–NE trending tectonicbelt after Mesozoic orogenies and can be divided into two crustalblocks: the Taebaeksan basin and the distinctly mobile, metamor-phosed Okcheon trough (MOT, see Fig. 1 and Table 1). The geologicrecord in the southwestern MOT is critical as it preserves geologic in-formation of the Yangtze Craton to the west of the YSTF. In particular,the Hwanggangni basin of the MOT deserves more focused attention,

image of Fig.�4


because it records the Early Triassic rifting, an extensional event priorto the Middle–Late Triassic Songnim orogeny.

The sedimentary developments of the Okcheon Trough were re-markably dissimilar for the MOT and Taebaeksan basin thoughthey underwent common tectonic episodes (Table 1). The MOTwas relatively unstable throughout its sedimentary history andtectonized intensely, its stratigraphy is partly obscure due to struc-tural complexity and lack of fossils. An axial (longitudinal) fault di-vided the MOT into two lengthy blocks: the northwest (unstable)part and the southeast stable part (small dashed ‘t’ in Fig. 4),which has a Paleozoic sequence similar to that of the Taebaeksanbasin.

In the Taebaeksan basin, the Yeongweol block subsided deeplyto yield the so-called Yeongweol-type sedimentary sequence ofan offshore facies (distinguished from the neritic, Duwibong-typesequence of the other areas) in the Cambrian. The Cambrian–Ordovician sequence and biofacies of the Taebaeksan basin ofSouth Korea, and the Pyeongnam basin of North Korea, are verysimilar, suggesting a common tectonics and seaway within theSKC. Kobayashi (1953) was of the view that “the faunal aspect ofSouth Korea is intermediate between those of the Hwanghobasin (N China) as well as the Yangtze basin (S China)” but “theTaebaeksan basin occupied the northeastern part of the Yangtzebasin.” His Yangtze basin was in fact meaning the Yangtze bio-province, not the Yangtze Craton per se. Based on the Ordovicianfossils, Kobayashi realized that the Okcheon Trough had a commonseaway with the Hwangho province, which was connected withNorth America and the Arctic region and had a common seawaywith the Yangtze province that was connected with Europe andAustralia (Kobayashi, 1953).

We therefore interpret that the Okcheon Trough was an aulaco-gen, a rift failed to become ocean but was opened to the PaleoTethyanOcean. The occurrence of the cosmopolitan Cambrian taxa Glyptag-nostus reticulatus in the Yeongweol area of the Taebaeksan basinand Archaeocyatha in the Hyangsanri dolomite in the MOT witnessseaways to the PaleoTethys Ocean (Chang, 1985).

Fig. 5. Outcrop photos of the Hwanggangni Formation, the upper part of the basin-fill of theof this formation is constrained as straddling the Early and the Middle Triassic. This formatiohas dark-gray sandy-silty matrix scattered with light-gray colored cobbles and pebbles of Oseen in the extreme elongation of the pebbles. The texture suggests its rapid and repeatedHwanggangni village, South Korea).

3.4. Early Triassic non-marinewildflysch sedimentation in theHwanggangnibasin and implication for the uplifted Yangtze Craton

The Hwanggangni basin (‘H.b.’ in Fig. 4) is a rift within the MOT.Geologic record indicates an ephemeral extensional condition forthe basin prior to the Middle–Late Triassic compressive Songnimorogeny in Korea. The basin-fill of the Hwanggangni basin (theSuanbo Synthem, or Suanbo sedimentation) is so far the only Earlyand Middle Triassic strata in Korea (Table 2). It is a non-marinewildflysch-like rift-fill subdivided into two parts: the lower part(Sangnaeri Formation, Munjuri Formation, Seochangni Formation,and Gyemyeongsan Formation) notably contains metavolcaniteslabs (sliced blocks) of ca 750 Ma (i.e., Late Proterozoic) interspersedin the sandy clastic sediments. The upper part is a debris-flow depositcalled ‘the pebble-bearing phyllitic rocks’ (represented by theHwanggangni Formation), which no longer contains the mega-slabsof Late Proterozoic age. The total thickness of the synthem (the rift-fill of the Hwanggangni basin) may reach one thousand or more me-ters but the complicated deformation history makes the accurate de-termination of the thickness difficult. The depositional age of thesynthem spans the Early and Middle Triassic epochs: post-Pyeongan(Permian–Earliest Triassic?) and pre-Daedong (Late Triassic–MiddleJurassic) sedimentation. The metamorphic age of the matrix in theMunjuri Formation is 219 Ma by Rb–Sr dating (Cliff et al., 1985).This age has been used to constrain the upper age limit of the SuanboSynthem.

The succeeded sedimentation of the upper part of the synthemwas of pebbly and cobble sandstones and conglomerates (Fig. 5).The unsorted sedimentary texture of the synthem suggests rapid sed-imentation; and the metamorphism (to amphibolite facies in maxi-mum) and the ductile deformation are well manifested in theextremely elongation of the pebbles, suggesting an exceptionallyhigh geothermal gradient that ruled the basin-filling.

What is the source of these ca 750 Ma slabs? First, we note thatthe post Yangtze–Cathaysia collisional Sinian volcanic rocks with0.85–0.75 Ga protolith age often occur in the Jinninian (ca 0.85 Ga)

Hwanggangni Basin in the Metamorphosed Okcheon Trough (Table 1). The geologic agen of terrestrial debris-flow deposit is otherwise called 'pebble-bearing phyllitic rocks’. Itrdovician limestone and quartzite. The rock is sharply folded and highly deformed asslump depositions. The hammer’s head is for scale (Photos taken by KH Chang near

image of Fig.�5


zone of the SCB (Wang, 1985; Yang et al., 1986; Goodwin, 1996), sug-gesting that these relatively young rocks could have been carried toKorea from the SCB. When the Yangtze part of SCB was thickenedand uplifted by the earliest Triassic Sulu collision in the west of theYSTF, the uplifted Yangtze could be the source area of the derivedslabs while the Gyeonggi massif was lowland owing to the Paleozoicpeneplanation. The newly born source terrain of the Yangtze Cratondispatched the detached mega-slices of the Proterozoic volcanicrocks to be gravitationally sliding or slumping toward the Hwang-gangni basin, which was then rifted.

3.5. Allochthons on Gyeonggi Massif

Similar Early Triassic allochthons (ca 750 Ma protolith) are alsofound in the Hongseong area of the Gyeonggi block, which supportthe rift-related event. We briefly view the following geologic observa-tions and inferences:

Weolhyeonri bimodal metavolcanites. The Weolhyeonri bimodalvolcanites (basalt, basaltic andesite, andesite, trachyandesite anddacite) were erupted through intra-continental rift in ca 760 Ma(Koh et al., 2005; Oh et al., 2009). These are comparable withthe bimodal Neoproterozoic volcanites in the Munjuri and Seo-changni Formations of within-plate rift origin. Because these vol-canic rocks also have Paleozoic radiometric dates (ca 440 Ma),Kim and Kee (2010) have envisioned a 420–370 Ma metamor-phism for these biomodal volcanites (see also Kim et al., 2011a).However, as Faure et al. (2009) pointed out, these Paleozoicdates are reminiscent of the post-Jinningian magmatism and thePaleozoic intra-continental collisional events, which overprintedthe ca 760 Ma signature (Faure et al., 2009).Hongseong eclogite-bearing rocks. This rock group apparently over-lies the above-described ‘bimodal metavolcanites’ unconformably.Views are divided among different workers, but it is now generallyclear that both groups are allochthonous on the Gyeonggi massif(1864 Ma and older). The Hongseong eclogite-bearing rocks ap-pear to have been derived from the exhumed metamorphites ofthe Sulu subduction zone. According to some authors (e.g., Oh etal., 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009; Zhai et al., 2007), the Hongseong gra-nitic gneiss (U–Pb zircon dates 812–822 Ma and 235 Ma, respec-tively) contains tectonically emplaced lenses of (1) Bibongeclogite (887 Ma protolith, 231 Ma; U–Pb zircon dates), (2) meta-basite (eclogite-bearing garnet granulite; 225 Ma, Sm–Nd date),and (3) ultramafic rocks (serpentinite and hartzburgite). A recentstudy by Kim et al. (2011b) correlated these rocks with forearcserpentinite mélange. The ultramafic rocks are scattered in theHongseong granitic gneiss, in the Weolhyeonri Formation, andon the Gyeonggi massif, leading to various and diverse interpreta-tions for the geologic settings of the metabasite protolith.

The protolith of the Bibong eclogite (887 Ma), together with otherprotoliths of metabasites and ultramafic rocks, were tectonicallyemplaced in the Hongseong granitic gneiss (812–822 Ma) with asharp ductile shear zone (Zhai et al., 2007). The 887 Ma and 817 Maages of the Hongseong complex represent their Jinningian-relatedmagmatisms after the collision of the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks.Their HP metamorphism (eclogite facies; 225–235 Ma) suggests thatthe Hongseong complex was ultimately derived from the exhumedmetamorphites of the Sulu subduction zone.

The Weolhyeonri rocks differ from the Binbong-association in thatthe former was rift-erupted bimodal volcanites and did not suffersubduction metamorphism whereas the latter apparently did. Thesetwo rock groups differ in types and origins, but their superpositionalrelationship is certain. It is thus suggested that the Weolhyeonri

rocks with ca 750 Ma bimodal metavolcanites was emplaced earlierthan the Binbong-association, though both were emplaced prior tothe intrusion of the Triassic granite and also prior to the Daedong sed-imentation that began in the latest stage of Late Triassic (Table 1).

It should be mentioned here that several authors have advocatedthe Imjingang belt in central Korea as a strong candidate for the east-ward extension of the Qinling–Dabie–Sulu collisional belt of China(e.g., Chough et al., 2000; Metcalfe, 2006). The discovery of Triassiceclogites in the Hongseong area of south-western Gyeonggi Massif(e.g., Oh et al., 2006) was used to argue that the area is part of the Ko-rean collision belt, which is tectonically equivalent to the Dabie–Sulucollision belt located between the North and South China Blocks (Ohet al., 2006, 2009). Yin and Nie (1993) also invented an imaginary in-dent of the SCB in the Korean Peninsula bounded by the Honam shearzone and the Imjingang zone. To modify and improve it, Rhee (inChough et al., 2000) contrived the South Korean Tectonic Line(SKTL) as a substitute of the Honam shear zone in Yin and Nie(1993). Both studies presupposed the Imjingang zone as the exten-sion of the Sulu UHP metamorphic belt.

However, recent investigations in Korea clearly show that theImjingang belt is not a suture zone (e.g., Zhai et al., 2007). These in-vestigations show that the Imjingang belt is a Paleozoic intraconti-nental aulacogen formed by the opening of the Paleo-TethyanOcean. It is merely a tectonic zone and dies out to the east in aboutthe midway of the peninsula (Fig. 1). As mentioned, the Cambro-Ordovican succession in Korea (Joseon synthem, see Table 1) is typi-cally separated by the ‘Great Hiatus’ of Late Ordovician throughEarly Carboniferous from the overlying Late Paleozoic Pyongan Super-group. Thus, there is no boundary in the geology that correspondswith the Imjingang suture inferred by the above authors and drawnby Metcalfe (2006).

Taken together, the Yangtze-derived, kilometer-scale, Neoproter-ozoic (ca 750 Ma) bimodal volcanic rock bodies, which have deposit-ed in the Early Triassic sediments in the Hwanggangni basin of Korea,provides critical information on their source area formed in the westof the YSTF (Chang, 2000, 2008). The Early Triassic age of the forma-tions that bear the Neoproterozoic allochthons was stratigraphicallyidentified by one of us (Chang, 1995) and recently supported by iso-tope dating results (Park et al., 2011). Because those allochthons sug-gest a newly uplifted source terrain from which they derived, acollision-caused end-Permian–Early Triassic crustal upheaval due toa crustal shortening-thickening of the northeastern SCB is postulated,the topic of next section below.

4. New view on the relation of the Sulu continental collision andits influence to the Korean Peninsula

4.1. Shortened and uplifted Yangtze Craton: the Yellow Sea Promontory(YSP)

Integrating the key observations of Korean geology and paleomag-netic evidence mentioned above, we argue that in the northern pe-riphery of the SCB, the eastern part of the Yangtze Craton did collidewith the SKC indentationally in the Early Triassic to form the YellowSea Promontory (YSP) (Chang, 2000). The YSP is bounded to thewest by the Dabie Shan collisional zone and to the east by the YSTF.As a consequence of the Early Triassic collision, the eastern YangtzeCraton or YSP was compressed in north–south direction that resultedin a crustal shortening and uplift in the Early Triassic. This upheavalformed a source area in the west of the YSTF to supply sedimentarymaterial toward the east and contributed the formation of the EarlyTriassic wildflysch of the Korean Peninsula, as mentioned above.

We suggest an Early Triassic tectonic event has allowed the post-Jinningian (ca 750 Ma)metavolcanic slabs to detach from the YangtzeCraton, slump over the Gyeonggi massif, and deposit in the Early Tri-assic Hwanggangni basin. The Early Triassic age of the event is


obvious, as the allochthons were preserved in the Early Triassic de-posits only (not in the Mid-Late Triassic formations). Thus, thisevent was related to the subduction of the SCB and occurred beforethe exhumation–extrusion events of the UHP metamorphites in theSulu zone (Zhang et al., 2009).

Noteworthy is the YSP's upheaval relative to the low-lying KoreanPeninsula (as evidenced by the rifted Hwanggangni basin); such a to-pographic contrast should allow a special transportation (slumping orgravitational sliding) across the denuded Gyeonggi massif for theslabs to be finally settled at the rift (Hwanggangni basin) (Fig. 5).The subsequent deposition in the Hwanggangni basin, i.e., the‘pebble-bearing phyllitic rocks’ (Hwanggangni Formation, seeFig. 5), reflects either the uplifted YSP was soon eroded away, or atransportation obstacle was formed in the Gyeonggi massif due toan infected or transmitted crustal disturbance.

4.2. Refined tectonic model: eastward extrusion of the YSP and rotatingSCB and the Songnim orogeny

An important debate in the Triassic tectonics of eastern Asia con-cerns the nature of Indosinian orogeny (or movement). The conceptsof the Indosinian and the Yanshanian ‘movements’ in Eastern Asiaduring the Mesozoic, empirically established by the classical worksof the past, are now known respectively that the Indosinian orogeny(Triassic tectonics) was caused by the suturing of the Sino-KoreanCraton and the South China Block, and the Yanshanian orogeny(Jurassic–Cretaceous tectonics) was caused by the subduction of theoceanic plate under the eastern margin of Asia (Cao and Kim, 1997).The Indosinian tectonism in East and Southeast Asia was given localnames such as the Songnim orogeny (Korea) and the Akiyoshi oroge-ny (Japan); both were referred to be of Middle–Late Triassic age. TheJurassic Daebo orogeny of Korea is regarded as the earlier phase of theYanshanian tectonism (Table 2). As mentioned, the UHP metamor-phism of the Sulu zone reached its peak in ca 226–230 Ma (late Mid-dle Triassic) but generally ranges ca 240–210 Ma (Middle Triassic toearly Late Triassic) according to numerous reports (e.g., Eide andLiou, 2000). The metamorphism-related exhumation appears torange from Mid-Triassic to early Late Triassic, though reported rapidcooling in the Dabie–Sulu zone ranges from Middle Triassic to the Ju-rassic (Eide and Liou, 2000). The known exhumation rate of5–10 km/Myr (Zhang et al., 2009) requires 10–20 Myrs for the crust100 km thick to exhume. According to Li et al. (2009), HP–UHP meta-morphism was succeeded by the extrusion (squeezing) of the meta-morphic bodies in the Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic interval inthe Dabie UHPmetamorphic belt. They interpreted a two-stage extru-sion: syn-collisional upward extrusion and late-collisional eastwardextrusion. Since the Dabie–Sulu zone was the eastern part of thePaleo-Tethys consumption zone, the suturing exhumation–extrusionshould be directed to the east.

The entire Korean Peninsula experienced the Songnim orogeny(Middle–Late Triassic), which is represented by the angular uncon-formity below the Daedong strata. The Songnim orogeny was initiallyrecognized in the geological structure of the Pyeongyang coalfield ofNorth Korea. The Paleozoic strata there were intensively deformedby the orogeny. In southern Korea, the degree of Triassic metamor-phism in the MOT and the Gyeonggi massif increases toward thenorthwest, suggesting that the Songnim orogeny has its tectonicsource area in the Sulu zone.

Stratigraphically, the Songnim orogeny is constrained between thetermination of the Hwanggangni deposition (earlyMiddle Triassic) andthe beginning of the Daedong sedimentation (late Late Triassic)(Table1). The timespan(Mid-Triassic to early Late Triassic) correspondsto the interval covering theUHPmetamorphismand theassociatedearlyexhumation of the metamorphic belt (240–210 Ma) in the Sulu zone(Ames et al., 1993; Zhang et al., 2009). Such temporal relationship

suggests a genetic relation of the Sulu-metamorphism–exhumationand the Songnim orogeny (Table 2).

As mentioned in the beginning of this paper, both paleomagneticand geologic evidence supports the hypothesis that the NCB andSCB were joined together into a stable tectonic unit during some in-terval between Late Permian–Early Triassic and Jurassic time. Accord-ing to the paleomagnetic study by Zhao and Coe (1987), the initialcollision (Late Permian) of SCB and SKC took place at the Dabie–Sulu transitional area, and their suturing (Triassic–Early Jurassic)was coeval with a total 67° clockwise rotation of the SCB. In particu-lar, most of the clockwise rotational motion took place in Late Triassic(Huang and Opdyke, 1996; Li and Powell, 2001; Liu and Yao, 2002;Wang et al., 2003; Huang et al., 2008).

We consider the clockwise rotation of the SCB likely began afterEarly Triassic, quite possibly in the Mid-Triassic time when subduc-tion stopped and the exhumation began. The ductile zones formedduring the exhumation of the UHP metamorphites might have freedand facilitated the SCB's clockwise rotation. The clockwise rotation,in turn, pushed the Korean Peninsula. A protrusive part of SCB is envi-sioned to play as the compressive agent to cause the Songnimorogeny.

Thus, we propose that the Songnim orogeny was caused by theeastward compressions jointly contributed by (1) the post-metamorphic exhumation–extrusion of the Sulu orogen, and particu-larly by (2) the eastward extrusion of the YSP, and (3) by thecompressive vector of the clockwise rotation of the SCB. After thePaleo-Tethyan seaway in the west of the YSTF was finally closed, theTriassic Korean Peninsula as a promontory of the SKC was sandwichedby the composite of the Dabie–Sulu suture zone and YSP in the westand by the micro-continents in the east including the Hida block,which, according to Jahn et al. (2000), was geochemically akin to theCentral Asian marginal zone (or Central Asian Orogenic Belt, seeFig. 6). When the SCB was colliding against Korea in the Triassic(Songnim orogeny), the compression must have been forceful enoughto cause an eastward escape tectonics of the peninsula. But a coevalcounter collision by the Akitoshi orogeny that yielded the Sangunmetamorphic belt (Inner Zone of Southwest Japan) was against theHida block, which in turn was colliding against the Korean Peninsulato maintain the geodynamic balance (Fig. 6).

5. Discussion

Our new analyses and tectonic model are compatible with severaladditional geological constraints.

5.1. Plate boundaries of North and South China blocks and the role of theYSTF

As depicted in Fig. 6, our model requires the Dabie and Sulu zonesas well as the Tanlu fault (strictly restricted by the solid line in Fig. 1)as boundaries between NCB and SCB. The discovery of high-pressuremetamorphic belts in both Dabie Shan and Sulu area strongly sug-gests that the metamorphic assemblage in Sulu represents the contin-uation of the Dabie Shan suture zone. Geochronological studiesconducted in modern laboratories yield consistent Late Permian toEarly Mesozoic ages on these rocks, lending support to the prevailinginterpretation that this suture records the initial collisional event be-tween the North and South China blocks. The current definition ofTanlu fault is a broad zone with more than 30 faults documentedand its northward extension up to the frontier of the Sikhote Alinblock and the sea of Okhotsk (dashed line in Fig. 1) is still controver-sy. However, the south part (strictly between Tancheng and Lujiang)was considered as biogeographical and lithological boundary and tec-tonic boundary between the NCB and SCB by Kobayashi (1967) andUno and Huang (2003), respectively.

Fig. 6. East Asian tectonic situation in the Triassic. (A) In the Early Triassic, the last stage of NCB and SCB suturing in the Sulu zone, the convergence of the plates prevailed in thenorth–south direction. (B) When the Sulu UHP metamorphites exhumed in about the beginning of the Late Triassic, it triggered the eastward lateral extrusion (a sort of squeezing)of the north–south compressed part (Yangtze Craton) of the SCB in the Late Triassic time. Reinforced by SCB's clockwise rotation, the compressive impact toward the Korean Pen-insula was great enough to cause the Indosinian Songnim orogeny. The Akiyoshi orogenic zone in the Pacific margin likely counterbalanced the eastward impact toward the KoreanPeninsula. Thick black arrows denote suturing and intracontinental deformation. The larger arrow denotes eastward extrusion.


The dextral YSTF and WMF are the old and today's eastern bound-ary of the SCB with SKC, respectively. The YSTF and the efficient con-tinental subduction of the SCB under the Shandong SKC preclude thecontinuity of the Sulu suture zone and the Gyeonggi massif of the SKCand also exclude the possibility of the continental subduction of theSCB under the Gyeonggi massif.

5.2. The importance of the YSP

The existence of the Yellow Sea Promontory (YSP) in our model isfavored by several geologic investigations. Wan et al. (1996) believethe timing of the early phase of the Tanlu faulting as ca 250–208 Maand the initiation of the Early Triassic collision of SCB against NCB atthe Sulu zone was indentational to begin to deform the YSP, whichwas preexisted. Similarly, Faure et al. (2008) suggested the faultingbegan in the Mid- to Late Triassic. This timing is coincident with theexhumation of the subduction metamorphites in Sulu area. Accordingto Faure et al. (2008), the appearance of the indentation collision ofYSP postdates the real collision. It seems likely that the extensiveMiddle to Late Triassic exhumation made a room for the YSP's ad-vance to make the indentational collision, which caused the Songnimorogeny of Korea. Based on boundary deformation features, severalgeological investigations also favored the existence of an indentationzone east of the Qinling–Tanlu belt (Wang et al., 2003; Su et al.,2005). We also recall that ocean drilling results over the Yellow Seareveal that the thick Cenozoic sequences and some Jurassic and Creta-ceous volcanic rocks are exposed on the ocean floor. It appears certainthat the area now covered by the Yellow Sea was a land area in theMesozoic that underwent denudations and supplied erosion productsto the seafloor to the south.

The YSP underwent an indentational collision (Wan et al., 1996;Chang, 2000; Wan, 2011), which yielded an east-directed extrusionor escape tectonics over YSP and Korean Peninsula, the eastern ex-treme Paleo-Tethyan collision zone. The YSTF must have turned intoa reverse fault dipping to the west. Very probably, the eastward bulg-ing curvature of the Korean Peninsula was formed due to the same

escape tectonics (Chang and Park, 1977). The crustal extrusion, rota-tion, and uplift are common deformational styles within collisionzones of eastern Asia (Wang et al., 2003).

5.3. Sedimentary and structural responses to the eastward extrusion

A critical aspect of our new tectonic model is its prediction abouteastward extrusion. The recognition of the Early toMid-Triassic Hwang-gangni basin, an abrupt rift of rapid sedimentation, is essential for aproper understanding of the history of the MOT and Korean geology.The Early Triassic age of the formations that bears the Neoproterozoicallochthons has recently been supported by published isotopic data(Park et al., 2011). The J–M fault (Fig. 6) that facilitated the blockmove-ment between theMOT and the Taebaeksan basin extends to the south-east and finally conceals under the Cretaceous strata in the Gyeongsangbasin. That fault not only divides the Okcheon trough into two parts butalso had a transfer role to form the Hwanggangni basin (Chang, 1985).The Hwanggangni rifting was terminated by the post-Mid-TriassicSongnim orogeny, which is a compressive tectonic period, with muchof the energy intensively consumed in deforming the Hwanggangnibasin-fill. The kilometer-scale ca 750 Ma slabs and the surroundingfine-grained matrix (Early Triassic) in the Hwanggangni basin wereboth misinterpreted as Late Proterozoic autochthonous rocks by manyprevious researchers due to metamorphism and intense deformations(e.g., Cluzel et al., 1990). These high-metamorphic Neoproterozoic volca-nic rocks and the mild-metamorphic Triassic matrix were highly de-formed and metamorphosed together that the old volcanic rocks wouldbe misjudged as intrusive.

It is important to note that, just before Mid-Triassic, there was nomore supply of the Proterozoic-aged slabs in the Hwanggangni basin.The upper part of the Hwanggangni Formation was filled only withcobbles, pebbles and finer-grained clastics of both the SCB and SKCorigin. Kwon et al. (2007) also found a Jinningian age group of zircongrains from the Hwanggangni Formation. These geologic observationsare consistent with the notion that part of the clastics of the Hwang-gangni Formation was transported from the SCB and the gravitational

image of Fig.�6


sliding and slumping of the Proterozoic-aged slabs stopped beforeMid-Triassic (the onset of the Songnim orogeny).

The distribution of Korean granites also favors the idea that theSCB was still pushing eastward in Jurassic. Dextral mylonite zones(the Honam shear zone) are spread out from west to east in the Ko-rean Peninsula. As mentioned, the Korean Peninsula that totallybelongs to the Sino-Korean Craton had a highly thickened crustdue to the Indosinian crustal thickenings, under which the Daebogranites were formed anatectically. It is evidenced by the frequentoccurrences of the foliated granites of the Triassic, Jurassic andeven some Early Cretaceous granites in Korea, particularly in thewestern part of the peninsula. Repetitions of the ductile shearsare well manifested in the syn-kinematic granite bodies of diverseTriassic–Jurassic ages.

Recent studies on geologic structures in the eastern part of the Tae-baeksan Basin suggest that the sequence underwent four deformationalstages. D1 deformation event of unknown age generated NE-strikingductile shear zones with a reverse sense of slip between the Precambri-an massif and Early Paleozoic sequences. During the D2 deformation(Songrim orogeny) NE-trending folds and thrusts were generated withmostly a SE vergence. Then, D3 deformation (Daebo event) producedNE-trending folds and thrusts with a SE vergence. The entire sequenceexperienced final D4 deformation which caused E–W-trending foldsand faults probably during the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary Bulgugsaevent (Kim et al., 1992). The kinematics and age of D2 deformation(Songrim orogeny) are in agreement with an eastward thrust fault dur-ing the Songnim orogeny, indicating compressions from the west.

5.4. Origin and effects of the Songnim orogeny

The Mid- to early Late Triassic Sulu–Songnim orogeny was justafter UHP metamorphism (ca 230–210 Ma). The genetic relationshipof the Songnim and the Sulu orogenies raises an important question:how the longitudinal collision in the Sulu zone of China, could bringforth a latitudinal collision of the Songnim orogeny of Korea?

We regard that because the Sulu–Korean area was the eastern-extreme part of the Paleo-Tethyan consumption zone, the lateralforce of the Sulu collision was apt to direct eastward. Moreover, theYSP itself was to extrude only toward the east because of the south-ernmost Tanlu fault's role as a western wall or obstacle, as envisionedin Fig. 6. The reported 60° eastward vergence of the WMF faults re-cords the up-thrust SCB due to the Songnim orogeny.

In summary, both paleomagnetic and geologic constraints fromChina and Korea have revived and confirmed the belief that Koreawas part of SKC, and that collision process between the SKC and SCBwent several stages including an initial contact and subduction, rela-tive rotation, collision and suturing, intracontinental deformation andorogenesis, and post-collision extension. During the Late Permian–Early Triassic collision of the SKC and SCB, oceanic part of the SCB sub-ducted underneath the SKC at the Dabie–Sulu zones and wentthrough ultra-high-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. The clockwiserotation of the SCB likely began or resumed concomitantly with themid-Late Triassic commencement of the exhumation of the SuluUHP metamorphic belt. The large amount of clockwise rotation ofthe SCB relative to the SKC not only compressed the Korean Peninsu-la, but also facilitated the Songnim orogeny in Korea and formation ofthe YSTF/WMF east of Sulu in the Yellow Sea. Furthermore, the factthat high-grade coesite-bearing metamorphic rock have been foundin Dabie and Sulu but not in the Qinling Mountains is compatiblewith the notion that more convergence and continental deformationoccurred in the east than in the west.

6. Conclusion

Based on our analyses on regional structural, basin development,and paleomagnetic data, we propose a crustal extrusion and

detachment model for the continental collision and rotation betweenthe North and South China Blocks east of the Sulu region. Our ana-lyses demonstrate that:

The Yellow Sea Transform Fault was the eastern boundary of theSouth China Block and played a key role in accommodating thecollisional history of the North and South China Blocks in theireastern end. The YSTF allowed the Korean Peninsula exemptedfrom being involved in the N–S China collision.At some stage in theMid- to early Late Triassic exhumation phase ofthe ultra-high-pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt of the Sulu zone,the northern part of the SCB extruded eastward toward Korea. Theobserved SCB-derived Neoproterozoic-aged slabs embedded in theEarly Triassic clastic layers in theHwanggangni basin suggest the ex-istence of the uplifted source terrain of the SCB. Almost peneplanedeven surface of the Gyeonggi massif likely allowed gravitationalslumping and sliding of the SCB-derived slabs finally to be depositedin the rift.Paleomagnetic evidence is consistent with the notion that when thesubduction stopped and the exhumation of the Sulu UHP belt tobegin in Mid-Late Triassic, the ductile zones formed during the ex-humation of the UHP metamorphites might have facilitated theSCB's clockwise rotation, which in turn may have resulted in partof the SCB to extrude toward the Korean Peninsula and cause theSongnim orogeny in Korea.Korean Peninsulawas sandwiched between two compressive zones:eastward extruding of the YSP and the westward colliding of theHida block to make a geodynamic balance in the Indosinian phaseof plate tectonics of the west Pacific.The close similarity in basement ages, Paleozoic stratigraphy, andpaleomagnetic signatures is the reason why North China Block andKorean Peninsula have been and should continue to be referred toas the Sino-Korean Craton.

Acknowledgments

We thank Profs. M. Santosh andW. Xiao and the journal reviewersfor helpful reviews and constructive suggestions. We are grateful toProf. In-Chang Yu of Kyungpook National University and Prof. TianfengWan of China University of Geosciences for providing several useful ref-erences and maps for this work. We acknowledge with gratitude manyprevious investigations devoted to the studies of metamorphosed partof the Okcheon Trough for enabling this synthesis. Dr. Soobum Changof Oil Corporation of Korea and Jingen Dai of China University of Geos-ciences (Beijing) are thanked for helping with several figures for thispaper. This study has been supported by the US National Science Foun-dation grant EAR-0911331. This article is contribution no. 510 of the Pa-leomagnetism Laboratory and Center for the Study of Imaging andDynamics of the Earth (Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics,University of California, Santa Cruz). We are extremely thankful forthe continuous and dedicated support, guidance and editorial assistancefrom Gondwana Research Journal Manager Ms. Radha Ganesan.

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north and south china suturing in the east end: what happened in korean peninsula?

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