Jeju Island: A Final Assessment

Jeju Island: The Physical Geography

Many landscapes inhabit Jeju Island. For this final blog, I would like to focus on the coastal landscape of the island. With Jeju being surrounded by water on all sides, the different varieties of beaches exhibit a beauty all their own. The forms and processes that have formed Jeju Island, mainly the coastal landscapes are: volcanic eruption (which also formed the island), chemical weathering through salt (chemical alteration or decomposition of rocks and minerals), and physical weathering (disintegration of rocks and minerals by a physical or mechanical process) by wind and waves have contributed to the landscapes on the island.

As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, the once erupted Mt. Hallasan is the tallest mountain in Korea. At 1,950 meters (6,397 feet), it holds over 1,800 plant species and 4,000 animal species. On top of Mt. Hallasan, there is a crater lake called Baeknokdam: meaning White Deer Lake. While there are legends behind the origin of the name, wild deer inhabit a large portion of Hallasan National Park and can be seen drinking water from the lake; which is the main reason the waters are protected. Baeknokdam is considered one of the holiest places on Jeju Island.

As you move away from the mountainside, the beautiful beaches have made the island a popular honeymoon destination. The natural formation of the island creates beautiful views. In the picture below, calm spilling breakers (slow dissipating waves that create gentle waves) reach the bottom of the sea cliffs (a high, steep rocky formation found on the edges of the land on the coast). The force of the waves striking against rocks form wave-cut notches (narrow flat area often found at the base of a sea cliff that are created by the action of the waves). With the continuation of this kind of physical weathering, the top part of the rock will become too heavy to receive support from the bottom resulting in it to break apart.



Here is a sea cliff with spilling breakers coming to the shore

The efforts to slow down the breakdown of coastal landscapes have resulted in the construction of sea walls and revetments (sloping structures placed on banks to absorb the energy of incoming water). Although they are not always successful, revetments and sea walls have been a proven method to stop on shore erosion.



Revetment process on Jeju Island

Also, there are other efforts of Jeju Islanders to preserve the natural beauty that they enjoy. They are still in a battle to stop the construction of a United States Naval Base. Jeju Islanders want to preserve the land and keep peace on the island by not getting involved in political issues that would arise from having a naval base placed there.

A political cartoon protesting the building of the U.S. Navy base.

Another project that is in the works is the construction of a large-scale resort and hotel. This project is another thing that the Jeju Islanders are fighting to prevent. They are against any more hotels and resorts being built on Jeju Island as they have already deteriorated the coast. The design for the hotel was proposed in 2011, the date of construction has still not been released. The picture below is a rendering of what the resort may look like. There is also a link below of the eventual construction process.



Digital Rendering of Jeju Hills Resort

http://tinyurl.com/cwxd37s   

From the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture

 Jeju Island: A Hypothesis

Based on the current trend of weathering and possible construction in the future, here are my hypothesis of where Jeju Island will be in the next 1,000, 10,000, and 1,000,000 years.

Jeju Island in 1,000 Years

I think that new construction (the Naval base and hotel) will have occurred, bringing more people to the island than the land and water table can support. There will continue to be issues over land and what is protected. Some stretches of land that were once protected will be up for grabs to make more room for the people coming to the island, mainly tourists and military personnel. This will lead to erosion along the shore and more attempts at revetments and sea walls against the growing population and the erosion of the shore from typhoons (a mature tropical cyclone that develops in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean).


A typhoon hitting Korea in 2012. Jeju Island is circled in yellow.

Jeju Island in 10,000 Years



Sea stack on Udo-Island near Jeju Island.

 

Over the years leading up to this point, sea level change will have occurred.  The sea level rise will drastically change the coastline. Wave-cut notches that were once receding will break, creating sea stacks (a land form consisting of steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near the coast, isolated by erosion) jutting out from the mainland. If the construction continues, deforestation will occur and a decrease in biodiversity. The 1,800 plant species and 4,000 animal species will drastically decline. Due to the continuous chemical weathering, the basalt cliffs will form a more round shape and exhibit a smoother surface. The salt weathering will also cause the A’a (stony rough lava) lava surface to become smoother.




A'a lava formation

Jeju Island in 1,000,000 Years

The bigger wave-cut notches will continue to fall, especially since eventually buildings will have been built there for some time now. The weight of not only the rock, but the building as well will cause it to fall. Since it is an island with limited land mass and fresh water the population will try to preserve the land as long as possible with revetments, seawalls, and beach nourishment. However, these are not processes that can be done forever. Eventually the land will die off and there will be a mass exodus back to the mainland for more space. With those two construction projects in the works, it will only bring Jeju to overpopulation and eventual demise.

In the long run, if big construction projects are in the works for Jeju Island it does not bode well for the sustainability of the island. Yes, Jeju Island is a beautiful place and deserves to be admired. However, nothing will take the admiration away faster than overpopulating a space that it already strained to capacity for livable space. Hopefully these construction projects can be stopped before any more of the island is torn apart to support an already thriving tourism system.

An example of beach erosion

 

Sources

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgcPJZw1NgzVSaZzcWFLSh0ZOml8kOsSoJHbM8xtWy1ogfX2eatZhosfoquV9HYNRrC7wEl7tH9yw_srYCp-pMHQtP2tPKw-ac6A4hQNKX1T6jAhD5PVa_6G83_XbPl_6XlZoTAB3cb9A/s1600/007.jpg

http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/photogallery/images/beach9.jpg

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Photoglossary/aa_large.jpg

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/681478main_BolavinMODISFull.jpg

http://wikimapia.org/18436980/Baeknokdam 

http://culturesofresistance.org/files/images/south-korea-2.img_assist_custom.jpg

http://www.archello.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/header_detail_large/story/media/1_1991.jpg

http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Landscapes/KarCoast/KarCoast.html