Comments on “Detrital zircon geochronology and Nd isotope geochemistry of the basal succession of the Taebaeksan Basin, South Korea: Implications for the Gondwana linkage of the Sino-Korean (North China) Block during the Neoproterozoic–early Cambrian” by

• Contrasting detrital zircon age spectra in Cambrian sandstones, Taebaeksan Basin
• ca. 500 Ma detrital zircon populations and juvenile whole-rock Nd signatures
• Arc-related materials in Lower-Middle Cambrian sandstones, Taebaeksan Basin
• “Neoproterozoic–early Cambrian” in Lee et al. (2016) is misleading.

Lee et al. [Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 441 (2016) 770–786] reported significant contrasts in detrital zircon age distributions and Nd isotopic compositions of Cambrian sandstones in the Taebaeksan Basin, Korea. Zircon populations at ~ 500 Ma, defined by concordant or nearly concordant ages, were also documented in four samples, but wrongly discarded. As a consequence, some discussions on the provenance, Nd isotope geochemistry and paleogeography remain equivocal. We suggest an alternative interpretation that ~ 500 Ma detrital zircon populations and juvenile whole-rock Nd signatures are well accounted for by the influx of active- or retro-arc materials into Middle Cambrian Taebaeksan Basin. In addition, the “Neoproterozoic–early Cambrian” in the title is misleading because the lowermost strata overlying the Precambrian basement are generally known to be Lower Cambrian in the Sino-Korean Block.

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