Hyeong-Tae Jou

Crustal structure of the continental margin of Korea in the East Sea (Japan Sea) from deep seismic sounding data : evidence for rifting affected by the hotter than normal mantle

Abstract Despite the various opening models of the southwestern part of the East Sea (Japan Sea) between the Korean Peninsula and the Japan Arc, the continental margin of the Korean Peninsula remains unknown in crustal structure. As a result, continental rifting and subsequent seafloor spreading processes to explain the opening of the East Sea have not been adequately addressed. We investigated crustal and sedimentary velocity structures across the Korean margin into the adjacent Ulleung Basin from multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection and ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) data. The Ulleung Basin shows crustal velocity structure typical of oceanic although its crustal thickness of about 10 km is greater than normal. The continental margin documents rapid transition from continental to oceanic crust, exhibiting a remarkable decrease in crustal thickness accompanied by shallowing of Moho over a distance of about 50 km. The crustal model of the margin is characterized by a high-velocity (up to 7.4 km/s) lower crustal (HVLC) layer that is thicker than 10 km under the slope base and pinches out seawards. The HVLC layer is interpreted as magmatic underplating emplaced during continental rifting in response to high upper mantle temperature. The acoustic basement of the slope base shows an igneous stratigraphy developed by massive volcanic eruption. These features suggest that the evolution of the Korean margin can be explained by the processes occurring at volcanic rifted margins. Global earthquake tomography supports our interpretation by defining the abnormally hot upper mantle across the Korean margin and in the Ulleung Basin.

Impact of activator type on the immobilisation of lead in fly ash-based geopolymer.

Immobilisation of heavy metals in geopolymers has attracted attention as a potential means of treating toxic wastes. Lead is known to be effectively immobilised in a geopolymer matrix, but detailed explanation for the mechanisms involved and the specific chemical form of lead are not fully understood. To reveal the effect of the activator types on the immobilisation of lead in geopolymers, 0.5 and 1.0wt% lead in the form of lead nitrate was mixed with fly ash and alkaline activators. Different alkaline activators (either combined sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate or sodium aluminate) were used to achieve the target Si:Al ratios 2.0 and 5.0 in geopolymers. Zeolite was formed in aluminate-activated geopolymers having a Si:Al ratio of 2.0, but the zeolite crystallization was suppressed as lead content increased. No specific crystalline phase of lead was detected by X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction or FT-IR spectrometry. In fact, double Cs corrected TEM analysis revealed that lead was evenly distributed with no evidence of formation of a specific lead compound. A sequential extraction procedure for fractionation of lead showed that lead did not exist as an exchangeable ion in geopolymers, regardless of activator type used. Aluminate activation is shown to be superior in the immobilisation of lead because about 99% of extracted lead existed in the oxidizing and residual fractions.

Seabed classification from acoustic profiling data using the similarity index

We introduce the similarity index (SI) for the classification of the sea floor from acoustic profiling data. The essential part of our approach is the singular value decomposition of the data to extract a signal coherent trace-to-trace using the Karhunen-Loeve transform. SI is defined as the percentage of the energy of the coherent part contained in the bottom return signals. Important aspects of SI are that it is easily computed and that it represents the textural roughness of the sea floor as a function of grain size, hardness, and a degree of sediment sorting. In a real data example, we classified a section of the sea floor off Cheju Island south of the Korean Peninsula and compared the result with the sedimentology defined from direct sediment sampling and side scan sonar records. The comparison shows that SI can efficiently discriminate the bottom properties by delineating sediment-type boundaries and transition zones in more detail. Therefore, we propose that SI is an effective parameter for geoacoustic modeling.

Caldera structure of submarine Volcano #1 on the Tonga Arc at 21°09'S, southwestern Pacific: Analysis of multichannel seismic profiling

Volcano #1 is a large submarine stratovolcano with a summit caldera in the south central part of the Tonga Arc. We collected and analyzed multichannel seismic profiles in conjunction with magnetic data from Volcano #1 to investigate the structure of the intracaldera fill and processes of caldera formation. The intracaldera fill, exhibiting stratified units with a maximum thickness of 2 km, consists of at least four seismic units and a thick wedge of landslide debris derived from the caldera wall. The structural caldera floor, deepening toward the northwestern rim, suggests asymmetric collapse in the initial stage, which, in turn, appears to have contributed to the creation of a caldera elongated to the northwest by enhancing gravitational instability along the northwestern caldera boundary. Occasional, but repeated, eruptions resulted in a thick accumulation of the intracaldera fill and further subsidence in the mode of piston collapse. Magnetization lows are well-defined along the structural rim of the caldera that is interpreted as the inner principal ring fault. The magnetization lows indicate sites of submarine hydrothermal vents that caused an alteration of magnetic minerals. Faults recognized on the outer slope of the volcano are interpreted to be involved in hydrothermal fluid circulation.

Seismic reflection imaging of Quaternary faulting offshore the southeastern Korean Peninsula

The Yangsan Fault System (YFS) is a dominating tectonic structure in the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula. The YFS consists of NNE-striking dextral strike-slip faults that are traced to the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. We acquired high-resolution seismic profiles offshore the southeastern Korean Peninsula to investigate how the YFS extends offshore and constrain the age of fault activity using stratigraphic interpretation. The seismic profiles image near-vertical faults trending NE to NNE that constitute a fault zone similar to a duplex structure at a releasing bend of a right-lateral strike-slip fault. The faults are interpreted as an offshore extension of the Ilgwang fault that is a member of the YFS. Stratigraphic interpretation of seismic profiles indicates that the offshore faults were activated repeatedly in the Pliocene and Quaternary. The right-lateral activity of the Ilgwang fault is consistent with the current stress regime in and around the southeastern Korean Peninsula that dictates the P-axis direction in the E-W or ENE-WSW since the Pliocene.

Right-lateral strike-slip movement of the South Korea Plateau associated with the opening of the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

Multi-channel seismic profiles and swath bathymetric data were used to investigate the tectonic evolution of the South Korea Plateau (SKP) associated with the opening of the East Sea (Japan Sea). The SKP is a deformed fragment of continental crust with numerous horsts and sediment-filled grabens. Three sedimentary units in the plateau were identified, which consist of the lower sequence (Unit I) interpreted as syn-rifting deposition during the early to middle Miocene, and the middle and upper sequences (Units II and III) considered as post-rifting deposition since the late Miocene. The fault system in the SKP includes the South Korea Plateau Fault (SKPF) trending NNW-SSE and smaller en echelon normal faults oriented NE-SW. We interpreted the information to postulate that the formation of the SKPF is the result of divergent right-lateral strike-slip movement in the SKP. This study suggests that the dextral movement of the SKP was induced by WSW-ward propagation of the spreading center located in the Japan Basin from the early to middle Miocene times.

Improvement of Alignment Accuracy in Electron Tomography

We developed an improved method for tilt series alignment with fiducial markers in electron tomography. Based on previous works regarding alignment, we adapted the Levenberg-Marquardt method to solve the nonlinear least squares problem by incorporating a new formula for the alignment model. We also suggested a new method to estimate the initial value for inversion with higher accuracy. The proposed approach was applied to geopolymers. A better alignment of the tilt series was achieved than that by IMOD S/W. The initial value estimation provided both stability and a good rate of convergence since the new method uses all marker positions, including those partly covering the tilt images.

Comparison of wavelet estimation methods

Wavelet estimation is a very important task in seismic data processing and analysis such as deterministic deconvolution, seismic-to-well tie, and seismic inversion, among others. We investigated the wavelets estimated from four different methods: (1) the wavelet estimated from the seafloor signal; (2) the wavelet estimated fully from well-log data; (3) the wavelet estimated using seismic and well-log data; and (4) the wavelet estimated from sparse-spike deconvolution. The wavelets estimated from 2-D seismic data using the four methods are quite comparable to one another. The results of the deconvolution and inversion of the 2-D seismic data using the four wavelets show that the wavelet estimated from the seafloor signal can be as effective as those estimated from the more rigorous methods.

Neotectonics of the Eastern Korean Margin Inferred from Back-arc Rifting Structure

Earthquakes occur frequently in the continental shelf and slope area of the Korean Peninsula in the East Sea (Japan Sea) although they are mostly not large in magnitude. This area constitutes the eastern Korean margin, marking a transitional structure from rifted continental crust to oceanic crust that resulted from lithospheric extension into breakup in a back-arc. We reviewed how the crustal structure of the eastern Korean margin was emplaced to understand its correlation with the present seismicity. Back-arc extension that caused rifting and breakup at the Korean margin took place sequentially from the northern to southern parts in the Late Oligocene through the Early Miocene. The stress regime of the Korean margin switched from extension to compression in the Middle Miocene, resulting from the collision of the Philippine Sea Plate with the Japan Arc. The structural lineations at the Korean margin inherited from backarc rifting and breakup are interpreted to be prone to earthquakes by showing a close spatial correlation with ongoing seismicity. The changing geometry of the estimated locus of breakup at the Korean margin that follows a curvilinear path appears to induce diverse focal mechanisms of the earthquakes under the present compressive stress field.

Late Pleistocene sequence architecture on the geostrophic current-dominated southwest margin of the Ulleung Basin, East Sea

High-resolution multichannel seismic data were collected to identify depositional sequences on the southwestern shelf of the Ulleung Basin, where a unidirectional ocean current is dominant at water depths exceeding 130 m. Four aggradational stratigraphic sequences with a 100,000-year cycle were recognized since marine isotope stage (MIS) 10. These sequences consist only of lowstand systems tracts (LSTs) and falling-stage systems tracts (FSSTs). Prograding wedge-shaped deposits are present in the LSTs near the shelf break. Oblique progradational clinoforms of forced regressive deposits are present in the FSSTs on the outer continental shelf. Each FSST has non-uniform forced regressional stratal geometries, reflecting that the origins of sediments in each depositional sequence changed when sea level was falling. Slump deposits are characteristically developed in the upper layer of the FSSTs, and this was used as evidence to distinguish the sequence boundaries. The subsidence rates around the shelf break reached as much as 0.6 mm/year since MIS 10, which contributed to the well-preserved depositional sequence. During the Quaternary sea-level change, the water depth in the Korea Strait declined and the intensity of the Tsushima Current flowing near the bottom of the inner continental shelf increased. This resulted in greater erosion of sediments that were delivered to the outer continental shelf, which was the main cause of sediment deposition on the deep, low-angled outer shelf. Therefore, a depositional sequence formation model that consists of only FSSTs and LSTs, excluding highstand systems tracts (HSTs) and transgressive systems tracts (TSTs), best explains the depositional sequence beneath this shelf margin dominated by a geostrophic current.