Heat flow in the Republic of Korea

[1] We report 111 new heat flow data in the Republic of Korea and combine these with previously reported 248 heat flow data to construct the heat flow map of the Republic of Korea. The mean geothermal gradient of the Republic of Korea is 25.1°C/km; mean heat flow of the Republic of Korea is 60 ± 11 mW/m². The southeastern part, the central western part, and the northeastern part of the Republic of Korea show high heat flow values. In terms of the lithology, heat flow is 71 ± 2 mW/m² for the area of sedimentary rock, 68 ± 2 mW/m² for the sedimentary/volcanic rock area, 67 ± 1 mW/m² for the plutonic rock area, and 62 ± 2 mW/m² for the metamorphic rock area. In the geological time sequence, heat flow is 78 ± 5 mW/m² for the Cenozoic strata, 68 ± 1 mW/m² for the Mesozoic, 65 ± 3 mW/m² for the Paleozoic strata, 67 ± 8 mW/m² for the Proterozoic strata, and 62 ± 2 mW/m² for the Archean strata. In the aspect of the Moho depth, the shallow Moho depth area tends to have higher heat flow values than the area of the thick crust.