Abstract

Even after the Gyeongju earthquake and the Pohang earthquake, hundreds of aftershocks and micro-earthquakes are still occurring in the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula. These phenomena mean that the stress is constantly working, implying that another huge earthquake may occur in the future. Therefore, the gravity field interpretation method was used to analyze the deep geological structure of the Pohang-Ulsan region in the southeastern Korean Peninsula. First, a gravity survey was performed to collect the insufficient data and to calculate the detailed Bouguer gravity anomaly in the study area. Based on the gravity anomaly data, the location, direction, and maximum depth of deep fault lines were analyzed using the inversion methods “Curvature analysis” and “Euler deconvolution method”. As a result, it is interpreted that at least six fault lines(C1~C6) exist in deep depth. The deep fault line C1 is well correlated to the Yeonil Tectonic Line(YTL), suggesting that YTL is extended up to about 4000m deep. The deep fault line C2 consists of several segment faults and well correlated to the fault lines on the surface. Inferred fault lines C3, C4, and C5 have an NW-SE direction, which is parallel to the Ulsan fault. The deep fault line C6 has the direction of NE-SW, and it is interpreted that the eastern boundary fault of Eoil Basin is extended to the deep. Comparing the inferred fault lines with the distribution of micro-earthquakes, the location of the deep fault line C1 is well correlated to the hypocenter of micro-earthquakes. This implies that faults in deep depth are related to the recent earthquakes in the southeastern Korean Peninsula.

Keywords Southeastern Korean Peninsula, deep geological structure, gravity anomaly, gravity field interpretation, deep fault lines