Tracing the Precambrian tectonic history of East Asia from Neoproterozoic sedimentation and magmatism in the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

The Neoproterozoic metasedimentary successions and igneous suites in the central Korean Peninsula provide important insights into the tectonic evolution of East Asia. Here we report detailed detrital zircon UPb age data from the Neoproterozoic metasedimentary successions as well as geochemical data on the early Neoproterozoic rift-related plutonic rocks. Our results together with the available data from the central Korean Peninsula, lead to the following inferences. (1) Regional sedimentation in the early Neoproterozoic (ca. 1000–920 Ma) as a result of the late Paleoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic intracratonic rifting. (2) Arc magmatism in the southern periphery of the central Korean Peninsula in the early Neoproterozoic (ca. 913–895 Ma and ca. 865–770 Ma). (3) Back-arc magmatism in the inland area of the central Korean Peninsula in the early Neoproterozoic (ca. 888–852 Ma). (4) Magmatism and sedimentation in the early Neoproterozoic (ca. 765–720 Ma) due to early Neoproterozoic back-arc and intracratonic rifting. The early-Neoproterozoic geological and tectonic events in the central Korean Peninsula correlate with those in the southeastern part of the North China Craton. The spatial and temporal similarities and discrepancies in the early Neoproterozoic geological records of the Sino-Korean continent mark the tectonic evolution within a continental inland (the southeastern part of the North China Craton) and a continental margin (the central Korean Peninsula).