Permo-Triassic high-pressure metamorphism in the central western Korean Peninsula, and its link to Paleo-Tethyan Ocean closure: Key issues revisited

Permo-Triassic high-pressure (HP) mafic granulites, together with the Bibong retrogressed eclogite, preserved along the central western Korean Peninsula provide important insights into the Late Permian to Triassic collisional orogeny in northeast Asia. The metamorphic pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) paths of these rocks, however, remain poorly constrained and even overestimated, owing to outdated geothermobarometers and inaccurate isopleth techniques. Here we evaluate the metamorphic P–T conditions of Triassic HP mafic granulites including those in Baekdong, Sinri and Daepan and the Bibong Triassic retrogressed eclogite in the Hongseong area, and the Permo-Triassic Samgot mafic granulite in the Imjingang Belt of the central western Korean Peninsula through the application of modern phase equilibria techniques. The Baekdong and Samgot mafic granulites and the Bibong retrogressed eclogite yield a range of 12.0–16.0 kbar and 800–900 °C, representing HP granulite facies conditions. The Sinri and Daepan granulites from the Hongseong area show relatively lower grade metamorphic conditions between HP granulite and normal granulite facies, and are characterized by sub-isothermal decompression during exhumation. The similarities in the metamorphic ages and the post-collisional igneous activity from the central western Korean Peninsula indicate that the Triassic ages represent the retrograde stage of the metamorphic P–T paths. In contrast, the Late Permian metamorphic ages, which are older than protolith ages of the post-collisional igneous rocks, correspond to the possible prograde stage of metamorphism. The P–T–t paths presented in this paper, together with the metamorphic ages and post-orogenic igneous events reported from these areas suggest trace of the subduction, accretion and exhumation history, and indicate a tectonic linkage among the northeast Asian continents during the Paleo-Tethyan Ocean closure.