Possible tectonic manifestations of the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt on the Korean Peninsula

During the Late Permian to Early Triassic, the collision of the North China block and Yangtze block resulted in the formation of the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt. In recent years, researchers have proposed a number of tectonic models for the manner of the eastward extension of this collision on the Korean Peninsula; however, each of them has its limitation. In this paper, a model of eastward extension of the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt on the Korean Peninsula is constructed according to the relationships of tectonic activities between the Imjingang belt and Okchon belt on the peninsula and the Dabie orogenic belt, combined with the available data of metamorphic geology and geochronology. It is inferred that a relatively complete Mesozoic orogenic belt formed from the Imjingang belt to the Okcheon belt, which is just the eastward extension of the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt on the Korean Peninsula, and the “Kyonggi Massif” has not been in existence and should be redefined as the “Central Orogen”. In this case, the information from the Lingnan block similar to that of the North China plate may be caused by the exotic tectonic slice detached from the northern Korean Peninsula in the late stage of orogeny.