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Western boundary fault systems of Ulleung Back-arc Basin: further evidence of pull-apart opening

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Abstract

Single and multichannel reflection profiles from the Ulleung Basin and the eastern Korean continental margin reveal that the acoustic basement is cut by two major N-S trending fault systems: (1) the Hupo and Yangsan faults in the continental shelf and the southeastern Korean Peninsula and (2) the Ulleung fault along the western margin of the Ulleung Basin. The right-stepping Hupo-Yangsan fault system experienced coeval dextral strike-slip deformation in the Early Miocene with a lateral displacement of about 35 km. This fault movement resulted in pull-apart opening of the Pohang-Youngduk Basin. The Ulleung Fault is expressed as a steep (> 30°) and relatively smooth basement escarpment along the present base of slope. In the southwestern margin of the Ulleung Basin, the fault merges with the Tsushima Fault. This fault is interpreted as part of the western boundary fault system resulting from an extensile shear deformation during the back-are opening of the East Sea (Sea of Japan) during Early Miocen time. The fault kinematics of these fault systems supports the hypothesis that the East Sea formed as a result of pull-apart opening accompanied by a southward drift of the SW Japanese Arc. During the major opening of the Ulleung Basin, the SW Japanese Arc apparently migrated 250–300 km southward, detached from the east Asian continent. This latter block movement induced major dextral shear deformation along the Ulleung Fault which, in turn, triggered secondary shear deformation in the juxtaposed Hupo-Yangsan fault system within the rigid continental crust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography, Cheju National University, 690-756, Cheju, Korea

    S. H. Yoon

  2. Korea Petroleum Development Corporation, 431-711, Anyang, Korea

    S. J. Park

  3. Department of Oceanography, Seoul National University, 151-742, Seoul, Korea

    S. K. Chough

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  1. S. H. Yoon
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  2. S. J. Park
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  3. S. K. Chough
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Yoon, S.H., Park, S.J. & Chough, S.K. Western boundary fault systems of Ulleung Back-arc Basin: further evidence of pull-apart opening. Geosci J 1, 75–88 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02910479

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