Examine natures's creative handiwork, from the lava forged cliffs ma uka (uphill) of you, to the wave-battered Hōlei Sea Arch standing sentinel against the coastline.
Sea arches, characterized as erosional remnants of a once-continuous sea cliff, are found along many of the world's most rugged coastlines. These wondrous features, formed by the persistent and relentless powers of wind, wave, sand and rock, have intrigued people for millennia.
Here, these dynamic forces converge on a lava-layered coastline. Together they pound, fracture, and carve sea caves out of the very lava foundation you are standing on. Wave refraction subsequently erodes the headland of neighboring sea caves to form sea arches. Once established, sea arches continue to erode while buttressing the steep, vertical cliffs from which they originated. Given time and gravity, that bridge will collapse, and leave behind a column of rocks known as a sea stack.
Gaze up and down the coastline. Do you see other arches or sea stacks offshore? Would you ave a better chance of viewing them along the 500-700 year-old coastline that continues in front of you, or along the newly established coastline behind you?
Do not be fooled into walking out onto the deceptively inviting bridge that connects them. Given time and gravity, that support will
collapse, and leave behind a column of rocks known as a stack
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