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Physiography and Late Quaternary Sedimentation

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Oceanography of the East Sea (Japan Sea)

Abstract

The East Sea (Japan Sea) is a semi-enclosed back-arc basin or marginal sea connecting with the Pacific Ocean through four shallow straits. There are three deep basins (the Ulleung, Japan and Yamato basins) separated by submarine topographic highs (the Korea Plateau, Oki Bank and Yamato Rise). The deep-water seafloor of the East Sea beyond the coastal and shelf regions is generally covered by fine-grained sediments which have been deposited by various pelagic and hemipelagic processes, such as pelagic settling, aeolian transport, and lateral transport by surface currents, river plumes, and mid- or bottom-water nepheloid layers. The oceanographic condition and pelagic and hemipelagic sedimentation pattern in the East Sea have undergone considerable variations due to Quaternary global climate changes, resulting in characteristic cyclic alternations of dark and light layers in the deep-water sediments. Along the margins of the East Sea, slope failures, mass movements and mass-flow deposits occur extensively in the uppermost (late Quaternary) sedimentary sequences. The slope failures and mass movements have been generated by various factors, such as earthquakes, sea-level changes, gas-hydrate dissociation and high sedimentation rate. The complex geomorphology of the eastern coast of Korea seems to have originated from the interaction of tectonic history of uplift, bedrock of panoramic lithologies and ages, and wave-dominated, micro-tidal hydrodynamic conditions. A number of sedimentary environments, such as beaches, lagoons, marine terraces, coastal dunes, river (or stream) mouth spits, rocky headlands and cliffs, can be found in the coastal land area. In the nearshore zone, submerged sand bars, channels (buried or active), tombolos and sea stacks are notable geomorphic features.

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Acknowledgments

This is partly supported by the project of ‘International Ocean Discovery Program’ funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Korea), and the project funded by the Korea Meteorological Industry Promotion Agency. The authors thank a reviewer for improving the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korean Seas Geosystem Research Unit, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Ansan, 426-744, Republic of Korea

    Sang Hoon Lee & Jun-Yong Park

  2. Petroleum and Marine Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon, 305-350, Republic of Korea

    Jang Jun Bahk

  3. Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Pohang Branch, Pohang, Republic of Korea

    Seong-Pil Kim

Authors
  1. Sang Hoon Lee
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  2. Jang Jun Bahk
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  3. Seong-Pil Kim
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  4. Jun-Yong Park
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sang Hoon Lee .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Oceanography School of Earth & Environmental Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Kyung-Il Chang

  2. Marine Production Management, Pukyong National University, Busan, Korea (Republic of)

    Chang-Ik Zhang

  3. Department of Radio Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea (Republic of)

    Chul Park

  4. Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Tech., Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry Division, Ansan, Korea (Republic of)

    Dong-Jin Kang

  5. Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Tech., Deep-Sea & Seabed Resources Research Cen, Ansan, Korea (Republic of)

    Se-Jong Ju

  6. Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Tech., Korean Seas Geosystem Research Unit, Ansan, Korea (Republic of)

    Sang-Hoon Lee

  7. University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA

    Mark Wimbush

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Lee, S.H., Bahk, J.J., Kim, SP., Park, JY. (2016). Physiography and Late Quaternary Sedimentation. In: Chang, KI., et al. Oceanography of the East Sea (Japan Sea). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22720-7_16

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