Presentation by Eunseo Choi.
Understanding the Southern Korean Peninsula Stress Field: Towards an Integrated "Mantle-to-Surface" Framework for Intraplate Stress Modeling
Understanding the origins of stress responsible for seismicity in "stable" continental interiors, such as the Southern Korean Peninsula (SKP), remains a significant geodynamic challenge due to the lack of clear and dominant drivers like relative plate motions. In this talk, I introduce a series of recent studies on the relative contributions of crustal and deep-mantle heterogeneities to this region's stress field. Based on GNSS-derived deformation rates following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and 3-D numerical simulations using the ASPECT code, our research demonstrates that while variations in lithospheric thickness are an important factor, the regional east–west compressive stress regime is primarily driven by the negative buoyancy of the stagnant Pacific slab coupled with rheologically weak subduction interfaces at the Japan and Ryukyu trenches. The talk concludes by placing these regional studies into a broader context. Drawing on comparative studies of the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), we outline the transition toward an integrated "Mantle-to-Surface" framework. This "everything" model aims to integrate deep mantle flow with transient surface loadings to provide a self-consistent physical basis for understanding intraplate stress heterogeneity and associated seismic hazards.
