Tectonic implications of the very fast cooling shown by concordant

230-228 Ma 40Ar/39Ar laser probe hornblende and biotite single grain

ages in the Hongseong area

Koenraad de Jong 1*, Gilles Ruffet 2

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, 599 Gwnangno,

Gwanak-gu, 151-747 Seoul, Republic of Korea

E-mail: keuntie@yahoo.com
2

CNRS (CNRS/INSU) UMR 6118, Gosciences Rennes, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France and

Universit de Rennes I, Gosciences Rennes, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France

This is the original English typescript with the original illustrations from which
the published Korean paper was translated, which appeared in Journal of the
Geological Society of Korea (inserted at the back of this PDF):
Journal of the Geological Society of Korea, v. 50, no. 5, p. 611-626, (October
2014)
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.14770/jgsk.2014.50.5.611

Submitted:
Modified:
Accepted:

2014, October 6
2014, October 6
2014, October 10

ISSN 0435-4036 (Print)

ISSN 2288-7377 (Online)

Abstract
We obtained identical 40Ar/39Ar (pseudo)plateau ages of 230.11.0 and 229.81.0 Ma (1) on
two hornblendes from garnet-bearing corona-textured amphibolites in the Hongseong area.
These ages are concordant with the 228.11.0 Ma plateau age of biotite in the slightly older
amphibolite. The concordant ages of hornblende and biotite, minerals with very different
closure temperatures, show that the samples cooled very rapidly, probably in the order of 100150C/Ma. The efficiency of cooling is further underlined by the near-coincidence of these
40

Ar/39Ar ages with 243-229 Ma (error 2-4%, average: 234.5 Ma) zircon U-Pb ages in the

Gyeonggi Massif and the Hongseong belt, reported in the literature.

Very fast cooling rates require a fundamental tectonic control. Consequently, we
discuss our data in the context of a relatively short-lived, tectonically induced, magmatic and
metamorphic pulse that affected the crust in Korea in the Late Triassic. This could have been
post-collisional delamination of the lower crust and uppermost mantle, and/or oceanic slab
break-off to which the 237-219 Ma mantle-sourced potassic Mg-rich magmatic rocks that are
widespread in Korea, also points.

Keywords:
Geochronology, 40Ar/39Ar laser probe, very fast cooling, Triassic, Korean Peninsula

1. Introduction
Many mountain belts formed by crustal thickening since the Paleoproterozoic were later in
their tectonic evolution affected by horizontal crustal extension and intruded by mantlesourced potassic Mg-rich magmatic rocks (e.g., Ligeois and Black, 1987; von Blanckenburg
and Davies, 1995; Brown and Dallmeyer, 1996; Platt et al., 1998; Grbacea and Frisch, 1998;
Turner et al., 1999; Ledru et al., 2001; Bodorkos et al., 2002; Schulmann et al., 2008; Dilek
et al., 2009; Molnar and Stock, 2009; von Raumer et al., 2014). Such magmatism typically
evolves over a short time, amongst others in post-collisional settings where an elevated
orogen may undergo reduction of lithospheric thickness due to convective thinning (Platt et
al., 1998; Molnar and Stock, 2009), thermo-mechanical removal of lower crust and
uppermost mantle (delamination) (Grbacea and Frisch, 1998; Turner et al., 1999), or breakoff of the dense oceanic part of subducted slabs and separation from stuck buoyant
continental portions (Ligeois and Black, 1987; von Blanckenburg and Davies, 1995; Brown
and Dallmeyer, 1996; Ledru et al., 2001; Schulmann et al., 2008; Dilek et al., 2009).
Although not limited to continental collision belts and the architecture of the Korean tectonic
system being yet far from clear, the Late Triassic magmatism in Korea is usually interpreted
as due to a change of tectonic regime subsequent to plate collision from compressional to
tensional (Williams et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2011a), often linked to asthenospheric upwelling
induced by lithospheric delamination (Choi et al., 2009), or oceanic slab break-off (Seo et al.,
2010; Oh, 2012; Choi, 2014). Crustal thinning in the Korean Peninsula is suggested by rare
ductile normal faulting in the top of the Gyeonggi Massif (Kim et al., 2000; Han et al., 2013)
and by metamorphic gaps in a pile with rocks with a downward increasing metamorphic
grade in the Imjingang Belt (Ree et al., 1996).
The consequence of replacement of lithosphere by hot asthenospheric mantle by any
of these processes is a steepening of the lithosphere geotherm, leading to mid-crustal felsic
and mafic plutonism (Bodorkos et al., 2002). The effect of such perturbed thermal regimes is
significant heating of the lower crust and creation of a thermal anomaly that propagates
upwards into the middle and upper crust (e.g. Bakker et al., 1989; Loosveld and Etheridge,
1990; van Wees et al., 1992; Bodorkos et al., 2002). Advection of voluminous magmas has
the potential to raise temperatures in the middle crust very quickly (Loosveld and Etheridge,
1990; Bodorkos et al., 2002). Such mechanisms could thus create temperatures in the range of
700900C at depths of only 20-30 km, typical for high-temperature/lowmedium-pressure
metamorphism.
The high temperatures attained during these processes in the lower and middle crust
limit the value of most low and medium temperature chronometers, like the 40Ar/39Ar system,

for the dating of peak and near-peak metamorphism and the following exhumation.
Exceptions are rapidly evolving high-grade metamorphic terranes and tectonic systems, for
which isotopic dating often yielded a small range of ages for mineral geochronometers that
have very different closure temperatures (e.g. Dallmeyer et al., 1986; Dokka et al., 1986;
Goodwin and Renne, 1991; Baldwin et al., 1993, 2004; Brown and Dallmeyer, 1996; Platt et
al., 1998; Charles et al., 2012; Cubley et al., 2013a, b; Daoudene et al., 2013). Numerical
modeling implies that very rapid cooling (>100 C/Ma) is linked to tectonic processes like
extension or gravity spreading (e.g. van Wees et al., 1992; Rey et al., 2009), instead of
exhumation principally by erosion.
The current paper contributes to that discussion by supplying the first high-quality
40

39

Ar/ Ar single grain laser probe data on biotite (228 Ma) and hornblende (230 Ma) from

amphibolites in the Hongseong area along the western margin of the Gyeonggi Massif.
Instead of trying to date peak conditions using U-bearing accessory minerals, we focused on
40

Ar/39Ar laser-probe step-heating dating of single grains of fabric-forming minerals formed

during retrograde recrystallization and exhumation. This approach helps to meet a major
geochronological challenge of obtaining age estimates for the duration and speed of tectonic
and metamorphic processes in the Korean orogenic system - information that is currently
essentially lacking. In a companion paper, de Jong et al. (2014) revealed concordant 233-230
Ma 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb ages for metamorphic muscovite and titanite from greenschist facies
metapelites in Anmyeon Island (Fig. 1), located about 50 km to the west of the Hongseong
area, which are concordant to the age of a syenite intruding these rocks. This shows that the
late Triassic metamorphic and magmatic event has strongly affected rocks at structurally
different levels, underlining the speed of the processes involved.

2. Regional Geology
Much of Korea consists of Precambrian continental crust that was extracted from the mantle
around ~2.7 Ga, with major additions at ~2.5 Ga (Lee and Cho, 2012), which is subdivided
into three terranes, from North to South: the Nangrim, Gyeonggi and Yeongnam Massifs (Fig.
1). They mainly comprise Paleoproterozoic (2.3-1.8 Ga) high-grade gneiss and supracrustal
rocks, forming stable cratonal continental platforms after ~1.9-1.8 Ga (Lee and Cho, 2012)
until at least the early Paleozoic. The Gyeonggi Massif mainly comprises middle
Paleoproterozoic (1.931.83 Ga) in part high-grade gneiss and variably metamorphic
metasediments (e.g., Lee and Cho, 2012; Lee et al., 2014) and minor Neoproterozoic (0.90.75 Ga) magmatic and sedimentary rocks in its western and central parts (Lee et al., 2003;

Kim et al., 2008; Oh et al., 2009) and, at least partly Paleozoic orthogneiss, metasediments,
including marble, as well as metabasites, felsic rocks, lens-shaped bodies of highly
serpentinized ultramafic rocks (Weolhyeonri complex; Kim and Kee, 2010; Kim et al., 2011b,
c).
The three gneiss terranes are separated by two belts of multiple-deformed and
metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks of late Neoproterozoic to middle and late
Palaeozoic age: the Imjingang and Ogcheon Belts (Fig. 1; e.g., Kim, 2005; Lim et al., 2005;
Cho et al., 2007, 2013a; Kee, 2011; Choi et al., 2012; Lee and Cho, 2012; Chough, 2013;
Choi, 2014). Multiply deformed middle Paleozoic greenschist facies metamorphic turbidites,
which are comparable to similar series in the Imjingang Belt (Taean Formation; So et al.,
2013, en references therein), crop out discontinuously along the western margin, and
structurally uppermost part, of the Gyeonggi Massif (Fig. 1). All this material has been
variously reworked in the Late Triassic (Kee, 2011; Kim et al., 2011; Lee and Cho, 2012; Oh,
2012). Especially rocks of the Gyeonggi Massif, including the strongly retrogressed highpressure granulites in the Hongseong area, and the Imjingang Belt, recrystallized under syntectonic medium-pressure, medium- to high-temperature Barrovian type conditions (T=
500800 C; P= <1.2 GPa: Cho et al., 2007), are significantly affected by Triassic
metamorphism revealed by 253215 Ma isotopic ages of U-bearing accessory minerals (e.g.
Cho et al., 2005; Oh et al., 2006b; J.M. Kim et al., 2008; S.W. Kim et al., 2006, 2008; Kim et
al., 2009; Suzuki, 2009; Yi and Cho, 2009; Kee, 2011; Lee et al., 2014; Yengkhom et al.,
2014). Rocks of the Ogcheon Metamorphic Belt (Fig. 1) are also affected by several phases of
superimposed deformation and metamorphism, but at lower temperature and pressure (T=
500-650C; P= 0.4-0.8 GPa: Cho and Kim, 2005). Subsequently, rocks were regionally
retrogressed and hydrated at still lower temperature and pressure (T=350-500C; P=0.1-0.5
GPa: Cho and Kim, 2005) during their exhumation. The isotopic mineral ages vary from ~290
to ~160 Ma (errors of 10-15%), which is similar to range of ages in the top of the southern
Gyeonggi Massif below the belt (e.g. Cliff et al., 1985; Cheong et al., 2003; Oh et al., 2004;
Kim, 2005; Kim et al., 2007). The older ages have been interpreted by cooling following the
first phase of Permo-Triassic metamorphism (Oh et al., 2004; Kim et al., 2007), whereas ages
between 200 and 160 Ma may point to reequilibration and partial recrystallization during the
second phase of metamorphism (Cliff et al., 1985; Kim et al., 2007).
The Imjingang and Ogcheon Belts have been regarded as major tectonic boundaries,
and sometimes as suture zone (Ree et al., 1996; Chough et al., 2000; Cho et al., 2007, 2013).
Some of the above-mentioned serpentinites along the Gyeonggi Massifs western margin in
the Hongseong area, where our samples were taken (Fig. 2), are associated with rare bodies of
strongly retrogressed mafic granulite with exceptional omphacite relics in some garnet

porphyroblasts, recording pressures and temperatures of 1.652.1 GPa and 775850C

(Bibong and Baekdong bodies (Fig. 2): Oh et al., 2005; S.W. Kim et al., 2006; Zhai et al.,
2007; Kwon et al., 2009), acquired during the Triassic (Guo et al., 2005; S.W. Kim et al.,
2006). For these reasons, Kim et al. (2011b, c) do no longer regard these rocks as part of the
Gyeonggi Massif, but defined this complex area as the Hongseong suture and argued that it
was the site of prolonged subduction followed by some kind of plate collision in terminal
Paleozoic to earliest Mesozoic time. However, for other authors these high-pressure
metamorphic rocks are associated with Neoproterozoic (770742 Ma) intrusive rocks (Oh et
al., 2005; S.W. Kim et al., 2006, 2008) and part of Gyeonggi, possibly as MORB-like basalt
or gabbro in a back-arc basin (Oh et al., 2009). Moreover, Park et al. (2013) suggested that
the precursor of the mafic Bibong eclogite intruded Paleoproterozoic gneisses, which, judging
from 803 24 Ma old ages in cores of zircon (S.W. Kim et al., 2006b) may have belonged to
the continental margin of the Gyeonggi Massif in the Neoproterozoic. The eastern contact of
the Weolhyeonri complex with this so-called Yugu orthogneiss complex is tectonic (Fig. 2;
Kim et al., 2011b, c). Consequently, all these terranes are often regarded as possible eastward
extension of the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt in China, though in
often sharply conflicting models (e.g. Ree et al., 1996; Lee and Cho, 2003; Oh et al., 2005,
2006a, 2009; Kim et al., 2006b, 2008, 2011b; Zhai et al., 2007; Kwon et al., 2009; Oh, 2012;
Chough et al., 2013; Choi, 2014; Lee et al., 2014; Yengkhom et al., 2014).
Late Triassic (Carnian to early Norian) magmatism is widespread and affects all major
tectonic terranes (Fig. 1). This gabbromonzonite and syenitegranite suite has yielded 237 to
219 Ma isotopic ages, with part of this medium- and high-K calc-alkaline magmatic suite
having shoshonitic affinity (Oh et al., 2006b; Jeong et al., 2008; Peng et al., 2008; Choi et al.,
2009; Williams et al., 2009; Seo et al., 2010; Kee, 2011; Kim et al., 2011a). The Daedong
Supergroup (Bansong, Nampo and Gimpo groups) is deposited in the late Early to earliest
Middle Jurassic (187172 Ma; Han et al., 2006; Jeon et al., 2007). The most prominent
peak in age probability diagrams for detrital zircons corresponds to the Paleoproterozoic age
range found in the Gyeonggi Massif, and prominent peaks in the Early Permian, Late Triassic
Early-Middle Jurassic, and very subordinate Archean, Neoproterozoic and middle Paleozoic
peaks (Jeon et al., 2007), suggesting that most rock type currently cropping put were already
at erosional level in the Jurassic.

3. Polyphase tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Gyeonggi Massif

The Gyeonggi Massif (Fig. 1) is a poly-metamorphic terrane. The Paleoproterozoic rocks
experienced two superimposed tectono-metamorphic cycles: M1 under lower granulite-facies
to high-grade conditions of Paleoproterozoic age (1.93-1.85 Ga) and a second and weaker one
(M2) probably of Permo-Triassic age that is characterized by reheating during
decompression (Cho et al., 1996; Cho et al., 2013b; Lee et al., 2000; Lee and Cho, 2003; Oh
et al., 2006a; Lee et al., 2014; Yengkhom et al., 2014). During the second tectonometamorphic cycle decompression occurred. This is shown by the formation of cordierite in
some gneisses in symplectitic coronas around older garnet, or in the garnet-embedding
matrix, which suggests metamorphic conditions of 0.50.35 GPa at 700750C (Cho et al.,
2013b; Lee et al., 2014). These conditions agree with the absence of significant or widespread
dehydration melting of biotite and partial melting during this event. Biotite dehydration
reactions occur over a temperature interval that spans over 100C reflecting differences in Ti,
Mg and fluorine content of the various solid solutions in the mineral (see reviews by Chen
and Grapes, 2007 and Sawyer, 2008), and generally takes place below 850C at moderate
pressure. Local far more extreme metamorphic conditions are, however, recorded by rare
spinel granulites (T= >900C; P = 0.75 GPa) in the eastern Gyeonggi Massif (Odesan area)
that occur <2 km from hypersthene-bearing monzonite pluton (Oh et al., 2006a), isotopically
dated as Late Triassic (228.7 0.9 Ma, UPb on zircon; Jeong et al., 2008).
A compilation by Kee (2011) has revealed that a small number of zircon rims in the
Gyeonggi Massif have SHRIMP U-Pb ages of 237235 Ma (N=3, errors ~2%), whereas Oh et
al. (2006b) obtained 245 10 Ma on a spinel granulite, pointing to a Triassic metamorphic
overprint. Metamorphism during the M2 event must have occurred under at least in the upper
amphibolite facies conditions, giving rise to moderate but widespread anatexis. Upper
amphibolite and granulite facies conditions frequently provokes the growth of metamorphic
zircon as overgrowths around older zircon crystals in a wide range of rock types, likely due to
the release of zirconium from mineral phases that became unstable (Williams, 2001; Parrish
and Noble, 2003). Rocks in the Hongseong area, including those with eclogitic relics, show
widespread Triassic U-Pb zircon ages, often in rims, between 243 6 and 229 10 Ma,
averaging 234.5 Ma (Guo et al., 2005; S.W. Kim et al., 2006; Kim et al., 2008, 2011a, b;
Kee, 2011).

4. 40Ar/ 39Ar geochronology

4.1 Hongseong area
Two amphibolites from the Hongseong area along the Gyeonggi massifs western margin
(Fig. 2) were dated through biotite and hornblende analyses. A remarkable suite of rocks
crops out in this area: (1) strongly deformed and migmatised Neoproterozoic intrusive rocks
(Deokjeongri gneisses); Oh et al., 2005; S.W. Kim et al., 2006, 2008), and (2) at least partly
Paleozoic orthogneiss, meta-sediments, including marble, as well as metabasites, felsic rocks,
and highly serpentinized ultramafic rocks (Weolhyeonri complex; S.W. Kim et al., 2006,
2008, 2011b, c; Kim and Kee, 2010).

4.2 Sample descriptions

4.2.1 JK02
Foliated biotite-bearing amphibolite JK02 (Fig. 2; 3637'20.17"N; 12646'26.68"E)
forms a fragment wrapped by the well-developed main foliation of the surrounding tonalitic
gneiss (Deokjeongri Gneiss Formation; the SHRIMP U-Pb zircons intrusion age is 815-850
Ma, errors 1-1.5%, Kee, 2011). Sampled minerals are relatively large inclusion-free black
amphibole, and large biotite crystals present as aggregates of a few grains, which are
distinctly larger than the matrix. Local partial melting is manifest at the contact between
gneisses and amphibolite. The gneisses themselves show anatexis localized in shear zones
that deflect the main foliation, and also as irregular veins and patches along the main
foliation. Irregular veins of fine-grained essentially undeformed light pink granitic rocks cut
the shear zones, the main foliation, and earlier partial melt zones. Kee (2011) obtained ages of
234 2 and 235 8 Ma metamorphic rims of some zircons.
4.2.2 JK04B
Foliated garnet-bearing corona-textured amphibolite JK 04B (Fig. 2; (3637'17.11"N;
12646'57.70"E) is associated with a several metres long garnetite fragment that occurs in
layered marbles that also contain boudinaged amphibolite bands. The rocks occur in the
Deogjeongri Gneiss Formation, but lithology-wise are more like the Weolhyeonri Complex.
We therefore assign JK 04B, tentatively, to the Weolhyeonri Complex. The amphibolite
contains relics of clinopyroxene and feldspar, with amphibole rimming 2-3 mm diameter
garnet. Different generations of decimetre-centimetre thick feldspar-rich veins cut the
structure without apparent deformation. Diffuse and discontinuous 1-2 cm thick feldspar-rich

veins that are parallel to the main foliation in layered amphibolites also reveal localized
anatexis.

4.3. Analytical Procedure

Following thorough ultrasonic rinsing in distilled water single mineral grains, obtained by
handpicking the 0.3-2.0 mm size fraction of crushed rock under a binocular zoom
microscope, were wrapped in Al foil envelopes (11 mm 11 mm 0.5 mm), which were
stacked in an irradiation can, with neutron flux monitors inserted after every 8 to 10 samples.
Samples and standards (Amphibole Hb3gr; age: 1081.0 0.11% Ma; Renne et al., 2010,
2011) were co-irradiated with Cd-shielding for 298 hours at the McMaster reactor (Hamilton,
Canada, location 8E) with a J/h of 5.86 x 10-6 h-1. The sample arrangement allowed
monitoring of the neutron flux gradient with a precision of 0.2%. Mineral grains were
40

Ar/39Ar step-heated with a Synrad CO2 continuous laser at Geosciences Rennes, following

the procedure outlined by Ruffet et al. (1991, 1995). Blanks were performed routinely at the
start of an experiment and repeated typically after each third run, and subtracted from the
subsequent sample gas fractions. Isotopic analyses were performed on a MAP215 noble gas
mass spectrometer. The five argon isotopes and the background baselines were measured in
eleven cycles, in peak-jumping mode. All isotopic measurements are corrected for mass
discrimination and atmospheric argon contamination, following Lee et al. (2006) and Mark et
al. (2011), as well as K, Ca and Cl isotopic interferences. Decay constants used: Renne et al.
(2011). Apparent age errors are plotted at the 1 level and do not include the errors on the
40

Ar*/39ArK ratio and age of the monitor and decay constant. Plateau ages were calculated if

70% or more of the 39ArK was released in at least three or more contiguous steps, the apparent
ages of which agreeing to within 1 of the integrated age of the plateau segment. The errors
on the 40Ar*/39ArK ratio and age of the monitor and decay constant are included in the final
calculation of the error margins on the pseudo-plateau age or on apparent ages individually
cited. The 40Ar/39Ar analytical data are listed in Table 1, and shown as age spectra in Fig. 3.

4.4 Results
4.4.1 JK02
40

Ar/39Ar step-heating dating of JK 02 yielded a saddle-shaped age spectrum for

hornblende, the lower flat part of which defines a plateau age of 230.1 1.0 Ma (81.6% 39Ar
release), which is concordant to the 228.1 1.0 Ma plateau age (79.0% 39Ar release) obtained

on biotite (Fig. 3; Table 1).

4.4.3 JK04B
We separated a dark brownish green relatively inclusion-free hornblende crystal up to 5
mm long that is part of the linear fabric of the rock. Laser step-heating yielded a saddleshaped 40Ar/39Ar age spectrum, the lower flat part of which defines a pseudo-plateau age of
229.8 1.0 Ma (47.3% 39Ar release; Fig. 3; Table 1), which is fully concordant with the 228.1
1.0 Ma and 230.1 1.0 Ma plateau ages of biotite and hornblende from amphibolite JK02.

5. Interpretation
We obtained concordant 230.1, 229.8 (hornblende) and 228.1 Ma (biotite)

40

Ar/39Ar

(pseudo)plateau ages. This shows that rocks in the Hongseong area have been cooled rapidly
during the Carnian (earliest Late Triassic) according to the most recent international
chronostratigraphic chart of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (Cohen et al.,
2013). But how fast did these rocks cool?
Values for the closure temperatures for the minerals we dated that are usually quoted in
the literature are: ~500C for amphibole (Harrison, 1981; Baldwin et al., 1990) and ~300C
for biotite (e.g. Purdy and Jger, 1976; Harrison et al., 1985) for moderate cooling rates.
However, isotopic closure does not only depend on temperature but also on the chemistry of a
mineral (e.g., Fe/Mg ratio, halogen content), diffusion geometry, grain size, and finally the
cooling rate (e.g., Harrison et al., 1985; Baldwin et al., 1993; Lister and Baldwin, 1996; Villa,
1998). In rapidly cooled geological systems the above generally used values are likely to be
significantly higher (Harrison, 1981; Baldwin et al. 1993; Lister and Baldwin, 1996). Because
we dated biotite grains of 0.5-1 mm diameter, we use a value of 360C for an elevated
cooling rate calculated using the activation energy and Do/a2 parameters of Grove and
Harrison (1996). The closure temperature for amphibole is even more difficult to estimate.
Harrison (1981) predicted that the closure temperature for hornblende should be between
500C and 580C for cooling rates between 10 and 500C/Ma, using an effective diffusion
radius of 80 m, and diffusion parameters he obtained from isothermal-hydrothermal

40

Ar*

loss experiments. In addition to the effect of cooling rate and the size of diffusion domains,
Dahl (1996) used the concept that volume diffusion in a mineral relates to the openness of its
lattice, indicated by the percentage of open space in a unit cell (ionic porosity). On the basis
of natural hornblende compositions he suggested a closure temperature range of 520600C,
calculated for an effective diffusion radius of 80 m and a cooling rate of 200C/Ma. This

temperature range has been revised upward to 550650 C by Villa (1998) using
experimental data in the literature. In the light of the 0.5-1 mm diameter of the hornblende
grains dated we adopt the higher value of 650C.
The concordant 230.1 1.0, 229.8 1.0 Ma (hornblende) and 228.1 1.0 Ma (biotite)
40

Ar/39Ar (pseudo)plateau ages we obtained are almost identical within uncertainty with the

234-235 Ma UPb ages (errors 1-3 %,) of metamorphic rims on zircons in adjacent
Deokjeongri gneisses (Kee, 2011). The latter are similar to the average 234.5 Ma U-Pb zircon
(rim)age (range: 243 6 and 229 10 Ma; Guo et al. 2005; S.W. Kim et al. 2006, 2008,
2011a, b; Kee, 2011) of various rocks in the Hongseong area, and to SHRIMP U-Pb zircon
rim ages of 237235 in the Gyeonggi Massif (Kee, 2011). Oh et al. (2006a) obtained 245 Ma
with 4 % error on zircon from the spinel granulite in the Odesan area. The temperature
during M2 was probably around 700750C, but locally likely as high as 900950C for the
spinel granulite. Combined with the fact that the UThPb closure temperature of unaltered
zircon is very high (well over 900C; Ireland and Williams, 2003), this means that the zircon
rim dates reported in the literature should be regarded as formation ages. Thus, cooling from
the metamorphic conditions during the M2 overprint to the 40Ar/39Ar closure temperature for
amphibole was completed in about 5 Ma, taking an average age for M2 of 235 Ma and a
temperature of 750C. Using the 40Ar/39Ar hornblende age and a temperature estimate for M2
on the basis of the Odesan granulite (245 Ma at 950C), despite its large error, suggests that
cooling took 15 Ma. Taken together this shows cooling rates in the order of 20-60C/Ma,
applying the closure temperature of 650C for amphibole, as discussed previously. A
subsequent very rapid temperature decrease is suggested by the synchronous closure of the
KAr isotopic system of hornblende and biotite (228230 Ma). Using the 2 Ma difference
between the average values of the hornblende and biotite single grain dates gives a cooling
rate in the order of 150C/Ma, using the closure temperatures estimates mentioned above.
Using the lowest estimate for hornblende closure in the K-Ar system (500C) would still
imply a cooling rate of about 100C/Ma.
Rates of post-metamorphic cooling are controlled primarily by exhumation
mechanisms. Terranes exhumed by erosion record slow cooling, whereas tectonic exhumation
leads to rapid cooling (e.g. Dallmeyer et al., 1986; Dokka et al., 1986; Baldwin et al., 1993,
2004; Brown and Dallmeyer, 1996; Platt et al., 1998; Charles et al., 2012; Cubley et al.,
2013a, b; Daoudene et al., 2013). Many of these examples of very rapidly cooled rocks are
from metamorphic core complexes. Metamorphic core complexes are crustal-scale features
that formed by exhumation of thick ductilely deformed medium- to high-grade metamorphic
rocks associated with partially molten middle to lower continental crust from beneath
overlying relatively thin, highly extended and significantly lower-grade or unmetamorphosed

upper crustal rocks along low-angle normal faults (detachments) (e.g. Vanderhaeghe et al.,
2003; Rey et al., 2009). Metamorphic core complexes have been documented in areas marked
by crustal extension interpreted as the result of gravitational collapse of a previously
thickened crust, like the North American Cordillera (e.g. Norlander et al., 2002;
Vanderhaeghe et al., 2003; Kruckenberg et al., 2008; Rey et al., 2009; Cubley et al., 2013a,
b), the eastern Mediterranean (Cyclades, western Turkey-Aegean) (Thomson et al., 2009;
Dilek et al., 2009), the Variscan Orogen of Europe (Brown and Dallmeyer, 1996; Ledru et al.,
2001), and the central part of eastern Asia (Charles et al., 2012; Daoudene et al., 2013).
Results of thermo-mechanical modelling of the evolution of some metamorphic core
complexes (e.g. Rey et al., 2009) show very rapid cooling (>100C/Ma) following nearisothermal decompression under high-temperature conditions. As we will discuss below this
evolution is related to mantle dynamics.

6. Discussion
Oh et al. (2006a) indicated that the Late Triassic hypersthene-bearing monzonite pluton alone
may not have been a sufficient heat source to produce the temperature conditions for granulite
metamorphism (T= >900C; P = 0.75 GPa) in the Odesan area in the eastern Gyeonggi
Massif. They suggested that regional heating may result from the intrusion of large maficultramafic complexes at a deeper level. The Late Triassic regional metamorphism in Korea is
also too extensive to be only related to the granitoids intrusions. This suggests that the
fundamental thermal anomaly induced by the convective thinning of the lithosphere was
ultimately responsible for both the metamorphism and magmatism. Brown (2007) indicated
that some granulites in low-pressure high-temperature belts that show near-isobaric cooling
paths, could be the result of mid-crustal magmatic accretion in arc or rift settings. Coexistence
of hercynitic low-Zn spinel (ZnO=1.6-2.6 for the Odesan rocks (Oh et al. 2006a)) and quartz
is one of the criteria for ultrahigh temperature metamorphism (Brown, 2007; Harley, 2008;
Kelsey, 2008). These authors showed that one of the ways to create such extreme
metamorphic conditions is to add heat by advection in the form of basaltic melts or diapiric
emplacement of asthenosphere. This may be the result of delamination of the thickened
lithospheric root and/or slab break-off. The lithospheric thinning induced by such processes
provokes a massive increase in the geothermal gradient and high heat flow (e.g. Bodorkos et
al., 2002). The previously mentioned petrological data for M2 suggest a thermal gradient in
the order of 30-40C/km. Such values correspond to thermal conditions found in the
hyperthermal basin of Europe (Cermak, 1993; e.g., Tyrrhenian Sea, western Turkey-Aegean,
and the Pannonian Basin in the Alpine-Carpathian collision belt) that are formed in response

to roll back and detachment of slabs (Edwards and Grasemann, 2009). Much of the NeogeneQuaternary potassic volcanism of the Mediterranean region (Keller 1983; Peccerillo, 2005;
Bianchini et al., 2008) occurs in areas underlain by detached slabs (Spakman, 1990; Wortel
and Spakman, 1992). The characteristics of this magmatism, namely the high-K calc-alkaline
signature with subordinate amount of shoshonitic components and its generation from
subduction-modified (metasomatised) crust or lithosphericasthenospheric mantle, are shared
with the Late Triassic plutons in Korea. Interestingly, the Late Triassic M2 metamorphic
event in the Gyeonggi Massif is also recorded as a metamorphic event in the tectonically
overlying middle Paleozoic greenschist facies Taean meta-sediments on Anmyeon Island.
Han (2014) and de Jong et al. (2014) reported a concordant titanite U-Pb age of 233 and a
muscovite 40Ar/39Ar age of 230 Ma in greenschist facies metamorphic rocks (T< 450C), on
this island located about 50 km to the west of the Hongseong area. Syenitic magmatism on
Anmyeondo is of the same age (Han, 2014). These authors concluded that ca. 233-230 Maaged metamorphism and magmatism, including intrusion of mafic dykes, took place after the
area was folded and was due to the combined advective and conductive asthenospheric heat
transport associated with post-collisional delamination of the lower crust and uppermost
mantle, and/or oceanic slab break-off. In combination with the age data provided in the
present paper, this points to a relatively short lived, tectonically induced, magmatic and
metamorphic pulse after contractional deformation that had influence on deeper and more
superficial levels of the crust in Korea in the Late Triassic.
Two collision belts in Europe that show the short-lived pulse-like magmatic and
metamorphic

evolution

particularly

well

are

the

Betic-Rif

orogen

(westernmost

Mediterranean), and the Variscan orogen. Both belts show the development of granulites and
other high-temperature metamorphic rocks due to the advection of heat from the underlying
mantle, linked to slab detachment or delamination, which also produced K-Mg rich magmatic
rocks, following plate collision and associated high-pressure (eclogite) metamorphism. For
the Betic-Rif orogen Platt et al. (1998) established that the formation of granulites took less
than 2 Ma following an increase of temperatures in the deep crust by more than 100C, and
that the entire process including subsequent isothermal decompression took place in about 15
Ma. Decompression and cooling of the high-pressure granulitic rocks in the Bohemian Massif
(Variscan Belt) occurred within 10 Ma of the metamorphic peak (Schulmann et al., 2008).
Also other parts of the southern Variscan Orogen show fast cooling, in part in metamorphic
core complexes (Brown and Dallmeyer, 1996; Ledru et al., 2001).
Ductile normal faulting in rocks of the Korean Peninsula is rare, and has been
suggested in the top of the northern (Kim et al., 2000) and southern (Han et al., 2013)
boundaries of the Gyeonggi Massif. The Gyeonggi Shear Zone in the north (Juksung area)

has been dated at 226 1.0 Ma on the basis of a Rb-Sr muscovite whole-rock isochron
(Kim et al., 2000), whereas a mylonite zone in the south has been dated as 187.8 5.6 Ma by
the

40

Ar/39Ar method on syn-tectonic muscovite (Han et al., 2013). The latter authors

conclude that the extensional exhumation of the Gyeonggi Massif took place in the 226-188
Ma period. This would imply a much longer period that suggested by our 40Ar/39Ar ages, and
point rather to a slow process. Kim et al. (2000) suggested that non-metamorphic sedimentary
rocks of Daedong Supergroup present in the Juksung area (Gimpo Group), not well dated at
the time as Late Triassic to Early Jurassic on the basis of plant fossils, could have been
deposited in a basin formed at the same time as ductile extensional deformation in the deeper
level of the crust, instead of during the early stages of the Daebo compressional regime in an
intra-arc setting, the current interpretation (Han et al., 2006; Jeon et al., 2007). During
sampling in the Juksung area for

40

Ar/39Ar dating, we have found very-low grade

metamorphic sedimentary rocks, including conglomerate levels with large K-Fsp pebbles,
similar to the K-Fsp crystals present in the underlying Gyeonggi Massif, directly on top of
and in contact with the mylonites of the Gyeonggi Shear zone. These metasediments contain
brittle-ductile deformation structures that show the same sense of shear as in the mylonites of
the ductile shear zone immediately below. This may suggest that these sediments were
formed in extensional basins, as suggested by Kim et al., (2000) for the Gimpo Group, but
that due to the large extension values and rapid exhumation of the gneisses in the footwall
these sediments were affected by syn-tectonic metamorphism, as is described in many core
complexes. Assuming that the 226 Ma age obtained by these authors is correct, which is
currently being tested applying

40

Ar/39Ar to the mylonites and low-grade sediments, these

observations in the Juksung area agree with the fast exhumation of the rocks along the margin
of the Gyeonggi Massif in the Hongseong area. Moreover, a series of slighltly
metamorphosed conglomerate on Deokjeok Island in the West Sea, which is cut by a 225 3
Ma granitic dyke, have been speculated to have been deposited as post-orogenic sediments
deposited in an extensional basin (Kim et al., 2014). Such rocks too may have evolved in a
rapidly cooling core-comple-like extensional regime. This also implies that the 188 Ma
40

Ar/39Ar age for the mylonites in the southern margin of the Gyeonggi Massif obtained by

Han et al., (2013) does not refer to the same deformation phase. Isotopic ages in that part of
the Gyeonggi Massif and the Ogcheon Metamorphic Belt on top show a large spread
indicating a long and complicated tectonic and metamorphic history, which probably took
place in distinct phases. As a reminder of this, Han (2014) obtained single grain laser probe
40

Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 231 1.0 Ma and 180 1.0 Ma (1) on two generations of distinct

muscovite in the same outcrop of Taean meta-sediments on Anmyeon Island.

This overview showed that, although the best indicators for continental collision, high-

pressure metamorphic rocks, are rare in Korea, and their age controversial, the thermal
evolution reconstructed in a number of small target areas, in combination with the magmatic
evolution clearly show that post-collisional processes, which characterize collisional belts
world-wide, also occurred in the Peninsula in the Late Triassic.

7. Conclusions
We obtained identical 230.1 1.0, 229.8 1.0 Ma (hornblende) and 228.1 1.0 Ma (biotite)
(pseudo)plateau

40

Ar/39Ar ages from amphibolites in the Hongseong area, which are almost

concordant with UPb ages of metamorphic rims of zircons in the Gyeonggi Massif reported
in the literature. Taken together, these data indicate cooling from Late Triassic metamorphic
peak conditions of 750C, but locally maybe as high as 950C at 235 Ma (average zircon
age) to 650C (hornblende closure temperature for KAr) at 230 Ma. This indicates a
cooling rate of 20-60C/Ma. A subsequent very rapid temperature decrease (100-150C/Ma)
is shown by the synchronous closure of the KAr isotopic system of hornblende and biotite
(228230 Ma). Very rapid cooling points to tectonic exhumation mechanisms, with hightemperature, amphibolite facies decompression typically occurring in metamorphic core
complexes, which may be formed in previously tectonically thickened crust in collision
zones. The Late Triassic metamorphism and subsequent fast cooling are part of a relatively
short lived, tectonically induced, magmatic and metamorphic pulse that had influence on
deeper and more superficial levels of the crust in Korea after contractional deformation.
Ultimately, this metamorphism and magmatism maybe related to the combined advective and
conductive asthenospheric heat transport associated with post-collisional delamination of the
lower crust and uppermost mantle, and/or oceanic slab break-off.

Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National
Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-20110012900) to KdJ. KdJ thanks prof. OH Chang Whan for discussion during a post-sampling
excursion in the Hongseong area (Spring 2014). HAN Seokyoung and KIM Ju Hwan
contributed by translating the text into Korean.

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Table 1
40

Ar/39Ar analytical data of laser step heating of hornblende and biotite single grains from
amphibolites, Hongseong area.

JK02 Biotite

13 steps

Laser power
(mW)

Atm. Cont.
%

300

95.67

350

94.05

390

61.08

430

37

ArCa/39ArK

37

ArCa/39ArK
Error

%39ArK

0.11

0.

0.71

0.02

0.01

39.63

470

15.00

500

Ar*/39ArK
Error

Apparent age
(Ma)

Error
(Ma)

5.76

3.60

179.4

106.5

2.45

0.51

78.5

15.9

2.05

6.02

0.23

186.8

6.7

2.52

6.76

0.11

208.8

3.3

12.65

7.30

0.03

224.4

0.9

6.33

0.02

0.03

2.99

7.22

0.07

222.0

1.9

550

3.98

0.01

0.01

11.73

7.44

0.03

228.5

0.8

600

2.32

0.01

0.01

11.26

7.44

0.03

228.4

0. 9

650

2.81

0.01

0.01

9.58

7.44

0.03

228.3

0.9

700

2.25

0.01

0.01

13.93

7.44

0.02

228.3

0.6

760

2.19

4.71

7.38

0.07

226.5

2.2

850

2.33

4.9

7.33

0.08

225. 2

2.4

1111

1.24

22.87

7.41

0.02

227.5

0.6

JK02 Hornblende

10 steps

Laser power
(mW)

Atm. Cont.
%

ArCa/39ArK
Error

%39ArK

Ar*/39ArK
Error

Apparent age
(Ma)

Error
(Ma)

500

36.74

2.05

0.46

0.15

65.01

1.93

1406.0

29.0

700

37.35

1.09

0.10

0.59

7.44

0.30

228.3

8.7

850

13.88

2.74

0.07

0.76

6.29

0.23

194.9

6.8

950

5.37

4.30

0.07

2.37

7.87

0.14

240.6

3.9

1000

1.05

4.13

0.03

8.13

7.67

0.04

235.0

1.2

1040

0.77

4.04

0.01

52.50

7.51

0.02

230.4

0.5

1070

0.55

4.01

0.01

19.29

7.48

0.02

229.4

0.6

1130

0.97

4.14

0.01

9.80

7.51

0.03

230.2

0.9

1250

8.05

4.43

0.10

1.31

7.53

0.18

231.0

5.1

2222

5.72

4.86

0.03

5.10

8.06

0.04

246.2

1.2

ArCa/39ArK
Error

%39ArK

Ar*/39ArK
Error

Apparent age
(Ma)

Error
(Ma)

37

ArCa/39ArK

37

40

40

Ar*/39ArK

Ar*/39ArK

40

40

JK04B Hornblende

13 steps

Laser power
(mW)

Atm. Cont.
%

500

35.56

12.85

0.25

0.12

167.91

1.94

2525.3

15.8

650

45.83

19.36

0.18

0.20

51.80

0.88

1196.7

15.0

750

36.95

70.73

0.44

0.24

14.34

0.51

417.6

13.3

830

18.70

11.35

0.15

0.40

8.88

0.25

269.8

7.0

900

10.07

5.94

0.06

0.85

9.10

0.11

275.7

3.0

1000

2.02

4.07

0.01

5.47

7.90

0.02

241.8

0.5

1100

0.93

4.27

0.01

28.35

7.78

0.01

238.3

0. 4

1150

0.37

4.26

0.01

21.14

7.50

0.02

230.5

0.5

1200

0.46

4.29

0.01

14.74

7.50

0.02

230.3

0.5

1250

0.51

4.64

0.02

7.89

7.45

0.02

229.0

0.5

1320

2.43

5.70

0.02

3.56

7.47

0.03

229.1

0.9

1400

3.02

6.83

0.03

2.87

7.71

0.05

236.3

1.4

2222

9.92

6.95

0.01

14.18

7.74

0.03

237.2

0.7

37

ArCa/39ArK

37

40

Ar*/39ArK

40

J parameter

error J

Age monitor (Ma)

Age monitor (Ma)

Error

Mass Discrimination
(1+e)

Date Irradiation

1.81E-02

6.44E-05

1081

1.1891

1.007015

4/16/12

Figure 1. Simplified tectonic map of Korea.

Figure 2. Geologic sketch map of the Hongseong area with sample locations.
Modified after Kee (2011).

Figure 3. Laser step-heating age spectra of hornblende and biotite single grains JK02
and JK04B.