경상북도 포항시 장기지역의 제3기 장기분지에는 제 3기 장기층군의 상부현무암질응회암이 넓게 분포하고 있으며, 그 가운데에 연일현무암이 단속적으로 산출되고 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 이들 현무암질암의 산상과 암상의 조사를 통하여 그 형성과정을 밝히는데 있다. 야외조사 결과 본역의 현무암질암은 다음과 같이 크게 4가지 특징적인 암상으로 구분된다: (1) sideromelane shard hyaloclastite, (2) pillow breccia, (3) entablature-jointed basalt, 그리고 (4) in situ breccia. 본역에서 관찰되는 현무암질암의 여러 특징에 의하면 장기지역의 장기분지에 분포하는 상부현무암질응회암은 hyaloclastite에 해당하며. 현무암질 용암의 수저분출 후 일어난 비폭발성 급랭 파쇄작용에 의해서 형성된 것으로 추론된다.
A basaltic tuff formation (Upper Basaltic Tuff of the Janggi Group) occurs in close association with basalt (Yeonil Basalt) at the Tertiary Janggi basin. The purpose of this paper is to describe the occurrence of the basaltic tuff and associated basalt and to determine their mode of formation. The basaltic rocks of the study area show few distinct lithofacies, all of which are originated from the interaction of basaltic magma with external water. The four lithofacies include (1) sideromelane shard hyaloclastite, (2) pillow breccia, (3) entablature-jointed basalt, and (4) in-situ breccia. The sideromelane shard hyaloclastite constitutes most of the Upper Basaltic Tuff and has a gradual contact with the pillow breccia. The pillow breccia consists of a poorly sorted mixture of isolated and broken pillows, and small basalt globules and fragments engulfed in a volcanic matrix of sideromelane shard hyaloclastite. The entablature-jointed basalt occurs as a small body within the hyaloclastite. It is characterized by irregularly-curved joints known as entablature. The in-situ breccia occurs as a marginal facies of entablature-jointed basalt, and its width varies from 10 to 30m. The result of this study indicates that the basaltic tuff and associated basalts of the study area were produced by the volcanic activity of same period and the basaltic tuff was formed by subaqueous eruption of basaltic lava followed by nonexplosive quench fragmentation.
