I’m posting this as a record of the photo and location.
Photographs
This is Red Cliff as seen from land.
Looking the other way, you can see the island of Kamishima.
Signboard
Sekiheki (Red Cliff) -赤壁-
The Sekiheki Lookout Point can be reached by a short footpath.
This magnificent cliff face is a cross-section of a volcano that erupted during the initial formation of the Dozen caldera, between 6.3 to 5.3 million years ago.
Sekiheki is one of the most visually striking spots in the Oki Islands, where the red and black rock is set against the green hillside and blue sea. Tide pools host bright yellow algae, while storm runoff sometimes forms a waterfall that spills over the cliff face, casting rainbows. In the evening, you can see the rocks glow red in the sunsets.
There are two ways to enjoy the Red Cliff and Chiburijima Island’s dramatic coastline. One is from the observation point located on top of the cliff, which overlooks wide sections of the coast and ocean. The other is close up from sea level, aboard one-hour boat cruise.
Sekiheki (Red Cliff) Pyroclastic Cone -赤壁の火砕丘-
Red Splashes of Lava
This cliff is a cross-section of a small volcano (pyroclastic cone) that once erupted here.
The reason for the cliff’s vibrant red color is the way in which the former volcano erupted. As the lava erupted in a spray-like form, the iron content inside the lava came into contact with air while it was still very hot, causing it to oxidize and turn re.
Lava continued to erupt in this way, piling up in red layers that formed a striped pattern in the resulting rock.
The black rock here is the same basalt as the red rock, but unlike its red counterpart, it did not spray into the air and oxidize.
The white rock that runs vertically through the cliff face is a different type of volcanic rock called trachyte, which later penetrated through the magma’s old path (volcanic vent).
Sekiheki and the Caldera
The Dozen Islands form a depression terrain known as a caldera, originating from volcanoes that were active 6.3 to 5.3 million years ago. The volcano that formed Sekiheki was one of the volcanoes that erupted around the outer edge of the eruption area, during the earlier period of the caldera’s formation.
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