A Review on the Stratigraphy, Depositional Period, and Basin Evolution of the Bansong Group

The Mesozoic Bansong Group, distributed along the NE-SW thrust fault zone of the Okcheon Fold Belt in the Danyang-Yeongwol-Jeongseon areas, contains important information on the two Mosozoic orogenic cycles in the Koran Peninsula, the Permian-Triassic Songrim Orogeny and the Jurassic Daebo Orogeny. This study aims to review previous studies on the stratigraphy, depositional period, and basin evolution of the Bansong Group and to suggest future research directions. The perspective on the implication of the Bansong Group in the context of the tectonic evolution of the Korean Peninsula is largely divided into two points of view. The traditional view assumes that it was deposited as a product of the post-collisional Songrim Orogeny and then subsequently deformed by the Daebo Orogeny. This interpretation is based on the stratigraphic, paleontologic, and structural geologic research carried out in the Danyang Coalfield area. On the other hand, recent research regards the Bansong Group as a product of syn-orogenic sedimentation during the Daebo Orogeny. This alternative view is based on the zircon U-Pb ages of pyroclastic rocks distributed in the Yeongwol area and their structural position. However, both models cannot comprehensively explain the paleontological and geochronological data derived from Bansong Group sediments. This suggests the need for a new basin evolution model integrated from multidisciplinary data obtained through sedimentology, structural geology, geochronology, petrology, and geochemistry studies.