• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.35-63
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• 1989

Geochemical characteristics of the Guryongsan (Ogcheon) uraniferous black slate show that this is an analogue to the conventional Chattanooga and Alum shales in occurrences. Whereas, its highest enrichment ratio in metals including uranium, among others, is explained by the cyclic sedimentation of the black muds and quartz-rich silts, and the uniform depositional condition with some what higher pH condition compared to the conditions of the known occurrences. The cyclic sedimentation, caused by the periodic open and close of the silled basin, has brought about the flush-out) of the uranium depleted water and the recharge with the new metal-rich sea water, which consequently contributed to the high concentration of metals in mud. The metal-rich marine black muds, which mostly occur in the early to middle Palaeozoic times, is attributed by the geologic conditions which related to the atmospheric oxygen contents, and these are scarcely met in the late Precambrian and/or with the onset of Palaeozoic era in the geologic evolution of the earth.