Temperature and Timing of the Mylonitization of the Leucocratic Granite in the Northeastern Flank of the Taebaeksan Basin

Abstract

The Mesozoic leucocratic granite in the northeastern margin of the Taebaeksan Basin was transformed to protomylonite and mylonite. Mylonitic foliations generally strike to NWWNW and dip to NE with the development of a sinistral strike-slip (top-to-the-northwest) shear sense. Grain-size reduction of feldspar in the mylonitized leucocratic granite occurred due to fracturing, myrmekite formation and neocrystallization of albitic plagioclase along the shear fractures of K-feldspar porphyroclasts. As the deformation proceeded, compositional layering consisting of feldspar-, quartz-and/or muscovite-rich layers developed in the mylonite. In the feldspar-rich layer, fine-grained albitic plagioclase and interstitial K-feldspar were deformed dominantly by granular flow. On the other hand, quartz-rich layers containing core-mantle and quartz ribbons structures were deformed by dislocation creep. Based on calculations from conventional two-feldspar and ternary feldspar geothermometers, mylonitization temperatures of the leucocratic granite range from 360 to 450 o C. It thus indicates that the mylonitization has occurred under greenschist-facies conditions. Based on the geochemical features and previous chronological data, the leucocratic granite was emplaced during the Middle Jurassic at volcanic arc setting associated with crustal thickening. And then the mylonitization of the granite occurred during the late Middle to Late Jurassic (150-165 Ma). Therefore, the mylonitization of the Jurassic granitoids in the Taebaeksan Basin was closely related to the development of the Honam shear zone.