The Hakcheon-Chogok Megaturbidite in the Miocene Pohang-Youngduk Basin, SE Korea: high-gradient slope failure probably triggered by a giant tsunami wave

Abstract

In ancient records, discrimination of specific triggering events from sediment gravity flow deposits is very difficult, due to multiple interactions between triggering events and similar sedimentary characteristics. For this study, we introduce the Hakcheon-Chogok Megaturbidite (HCM) in the Miocene Pohang-Youngduk Basin (PYB), providing an opportunity to differentiate the triggering events. This megaturbidite is over 70 m thick in the proximal part and less than 4 m thick in the distal part. The diachronous stratigraphic position and distinct coarser sediments than those of the underlying and overlying successions suggest a large-scale slope failure of the fine-grained foreset (more than 2 km³). The occurrence of exotic granitic boulders, originating from the basement rock, more than 1 km west of the present fan-apex, is indicative of extreme sea-level run-up. The dispersal pattern and paleocurrent direction suggest that the HCM flowed to the northeast, irrespective of the local depositional slope which show a radial distribution from the fan-apex. The distribution pattern almost perpendicular to the strike of the NW-SE trending transfer fault suggests that the HCM was triggered by a reflection flow of giant tsunami wave, resulting in a large-scale failure of high-gradient (> 15° in slope angle) fandelta slope.