Review Article

Econ. Environ. Geol. 2018; 51(5): 463-471

Published online October 31, 2018

https://doi.org/10.9719/EEG.2018.51.5.463

© THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY

Review on the Relative Sea-level Changes in the Yellow Sea during the Late Holocene

Sung-Ja Choi*

Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 124 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34132, Korea

Correspondence to : sjchoi@kigam.re.kr

Received: September 21, 2018; Revised: October 20, 2018; Accepted: October 27, 2018

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided original work is properly cited.

Abstract

In this paper, we review previous studies on the relative sea-level changes in the Yellow Sea during the Holocene to comprehensive understand the various research results. Currently, it is reported two theories : 1) the Holocene sea-level has never been higher than the present-day level; and 2) sea-level have reached highstand during mid-Holocene, followed by slow lowering to that of the present. The first theory yields a curve that is similar to a climate-change-related eustatic sea-level curve. However, in reality, most of the relative sea-level fluctuation resulted from land uplift or subsidence. The second theory yields a curve that is fairly coincident with a relative sea-level curve indicative of continental margins being located away from the ice sheets(i.e., far-field), and is considered as an effect of GIA(Glacio Isostatic Adjustment) and gravitational attraction. Based on detailed review of previous researches, we realized that they sourced the same papers, but obtained different results because they selectively chose and added the data. The data used to derive the second theory pertain to the northern Gunsan region, which is located within the western area of the Chugaryeong fault. Thus, we believe that the sea-level curve for the second theory is only representative of the area north of Gunsan, which is subject to GIA and tectonic deformation. Although the relative sea-level curve for the west coastal area is comparable to that for the far-field continental margin region, it is necessary to evaluate local tectonic activities as suggested by active seismicity in the west coastal area and the more than 400 faults currently existing in on the Korean Peninsula.

Keywords relative sea-level, eustatic sea-level, far-field area, glacio isostatic adjustment, tectonic deformation

한반도 서해안의 후기 홀로세 해수면 변동 곡선에 대한 검토

최성자*

한국지질자원연구원 국토지질연구본부 지질연구센터

요 약

Article

Review Article

Econ. Environ. Geol. 2018; 51(5): 463-471

Published online October 31, 2018 https://doi.org/10.9719/EEG.2018.51.5.463

Copyright © THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY.

Review on the Relative Sea-level Changes in the Yellow Sea during the Late Holocene

Sung-Ja Choi*

Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 124 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34132, Korea

Correspondence to:sjchoi@kigam.re.kr

Received: September 21, 2018; Revised: October 20, 2018; Accepted: October 27, 2018

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided original work is properly cited.

Abstract

In this paper, we review previous studies on the relative sea-level changes in the Yellow Sea during the Holocene to comprehensive understand the various research results. Currently, it is reported two theories : 1) the Holocene sea-level has never been higher than the present-day level; and 2) sea-level have reached highstand during mid-Holocene, followed by slow lowering to that of the present. The first theory yields a curve that is similar to a climate-change-related eustatic sea-level curve. However, in reality, most of the relative sea-level fluctuation resulted from land uplift or subsidence. The second theory yields a curve that is fairly coincident with a relative sea-level curve indicative of continental margins being located away from the ice sheets(i.e., far-field), and is considered as an effect of GIA(Glacio Isostatic Adjustment) and gravitational attraction. Based on detailed review of previous researches, we realized that they sourced the same papers, but obtained different results because they selectively chose and added the data. The data used to derive the second theory pertain to the northern Gunsan region, which is located within the western area of the Chugaryeong fault. Thus, we believe that the sea-level curve for the second theory is only representative of the area north of Gunsan, which is subject to GIA and tectonic deformation. Although the relative sea-level curve for the west coastal area is comparable to that for the far-field continental margin region, it is necessary to evaluate local tectonic activities as suggested by active seismicity in the west coastal area and the more than 400 faults currently existing in on the Korean Peninsula.

Keywords relative sea-level, eustatic sea-level, far-field area, glacio isostatic adjustment, tectonic deformation

한반도 서해안의 후기 홀로세 해수면 변동 곡선에 대한 검토

최성자*

한국지질자원연구원 국토지질연구본부 지질연구센터

Received: September 21, 2018; Revised: October 20, 2018; Accepted: October 27, 2018

요 약

    KSEEG
    Oct 29, 2024 Vol.57 No.5, pp. 473~664

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