Neungpadae is a tafoni cluster at a large scale, developed along a rocky coast which formed a land-tied island. Its name means ‘a rocky island that surpasses waves’, referring to the waves hitting the rocks.
(Land-tied island: an offshore island connected to the land by the extended sandbar)
In the past, it was a sunken rock off the Munam coast. Later, sandbar was developed on the rear of the rock where the actions of waves got weak and extended to the land to form a land-tied island.
However, since the Munam-2ri port was built along the southern boundary of the Neungpadae, a new town has been formed on the sandbar area. As a result, the original form of a land-tied island has been lost.
The word tafoni means to honeycomb-shaped holes collectively made on rocks by salt weathering.
The whole area of the Neungpadae is composed of two mica granite; it has been developed into a tafoni cluster at a large scale as phenocrysts were removed from the granite by weathering and salt crystals in the rock grew.
(Phenocryst: a large crystal contained in a rock)