Integrated passive and active seismic profiling for detection of buried faults: a case study at the north end of the Miryang Fault in the Geoncheon Valley, southeastern Korean Peninsula

Abstract

We present the results of seismic profiling aimed to characterize the structure of shallow formation in the Geoncheon Valley (GCV), an area we interpreted as the north tip of the Miryang Fault This profile was deployed in the GCV, near the City of Gyeongju, Republic of Korea. The Miryang Fault is one of the major faults of the Yangsan Fault System in the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin, the southeastern Korean Peninsula. Despite local earthquake records showing scattered micro-seismicity along the trace of Miryang Fault, other geophysical and geological information is rare. The location of the GCV is tectonically critical: it is on the major stratigraphic boundary in the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin: the Hayang Group (dominantly sedimentary rocks) to the north and Yucheon Group (volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks) to the south. The surface expression of the Miryang Fault in this area is difficult to define by geomorphology since the surface is covered by highly altered cultivated farmlands. We tackle this problem by conducting seismic profiling. On a 1,200-m long linear profile, we deployed a dense array using 3-component seismic sensors and acquired both passive and active seismic data. The passive seismic data acquisition lasted about 12 days. At the end of the deployment period directly before withdrawing the array, an active survey using a sledgehammer source was also conducted. The integrated seismic cross-section displays significant segmentation in the texture of the seismic image, the sediment-bedrock interface is between less than 10 meters to slightly greater than 20 meters with a general trend of dipping to the southeast. The preliminary seismic results suggest that it is likely the Miryang Fault terminates inside the GCV, and the type of tip damage zone appears to be a group of horsetail splays.