Correlation of Upper Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanogenic deposits of Korea and their depositional settings

The Upper Mesozoic deposits of the northern and southern parts of the Korea n Peninsula significantly differ from each other. The Upper Jurassic-Neocom ian deposits of North Korea are represented by the differentiated volcanics and tuffaceous-terrigenous rocks. In the south, they are composed of the d iscretely distributed continental terrigenous sediments. The upper Nauteriv ian-middle Albian deposits bear features in common throughout the Korean Pe ninsula. They are of the continental terrigenous type (with several cycles of sedimentation), and their thickness sharply increases in the southern pa rt of the Korean Peninsula, where, in addition, basaltoids of the intraplat e type occur. In North Korea, the upper Albian-Upper Cretaceous deposits ar e represented by continental terrigenous rocks of a limited distribution ra nge, whereas in South Korea, by a thick volcanogenic-plutonic basic-to-acid rock series. Settings of the Late Mesozoic sedimentation in the Korea-Japa n region are reconstructed. In the Late Jurassic-Neocomian, the lateral str uctural succession included: (1) the North Korean marginal volcanogenic bel t, (2) a system of fore-are troughs (South Korea and Inner zone of Japan), and (3) deep-sea trench (the boundary between Inner and Outer zones of Japa n). Subduction setting also existed at the late Albian-Late Cretaceous stag e, however the lateral succession of structures (including the Korean-Japan ese volcanic belt) was displaced toward the paleo-Pacific. The late Hauteri vian-middle Albian period was marked by cessation of subduction, by intense crustal compression in the continental margin, and by formation of intermo ntane depressions bounded by faults.