Quaternary mud deposits on the Korean shelf—processes, facies, stratigraphy: an introduction and future challenges

Abstract

On the Korean and adjacent Chinese epicontinental shelves of the Yellow Sea, a variety of mud deposits occur that all formed during the late Quaternary. The available evidence suggests that they were generated by different processes in different water depths and at different times. Over the last three decades, numerous studies have revealed the large-scale features and stratigraphic evolution histories of some of these mud deposits, but the nature of the deposits as such and, in particular, the factors controlling their deposition are still poorly understood. This has led to long-standing debates especially on the origin or provenance of the fine-grained sediments, but also on discrepancies concerning stratigraphic interpretations. To provide potential solutions to some of these issues, the international workshop “Quaternary Shelf Mud: Processes, Facies, and Stratigraphy” was held from 1–4 September 2014 at the Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon, Republic of Korea. At the workshop, recent progress in various research fields using newly acquired datasets was presented. Although dealing with an essentially regional issue, the results of the Korean studies have undoubtedly yielded new insights into shelf mud deposition, many aspects of which should also be of interest to the international scientific community. This special issue of Geo-Marine Letters comprises selected contributions to the workshop, the focus lying on extensive, newly acquired datasets from the continental shelf bordering the west (southeastern Yellow Sea) and east (southern East Sea) coasts of the Korean Peninsula, and involving the Heuksan mud belt and mud deposits off the Nakdong delta, respectively. These contributions are complemented by a state-of-the-art overview of key mud depocenters worldwide. In spite of some progress and new interpretations elaborated in this special issue, some aspects still remain to be solved as future challenges.