Izumi Mountains

A mountain range stretching 50 km from east to west on the border between Osaka and Wakayama prefectures. It starts in the east at Kimi Pass, which borders the Kongo Mountains, and is followed by mountains such as the main peak Mt. Iwawaki (897m), Mt. Mikuni (886m), and Mt. Katsuragi (858m), and as it goes west it gets lower and reaches the Kitan Strait. The strata are the Izumi Sandstone Formation of the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era, and are made up of alternating layers of conglomerate, sandstone, and shale. The summit is a plateau with a flat surface of an uplifted peneplain, and is blessed with a great view. The eastern part has been incorporated into the Kongo-Ikoma-Kisen Quasi-National Park, and tourism development is underway. The southern slope of the mountain range is a fault scarp, which corresponds to the Median Tectonic Line along the Kino River. The northern slope is gentle, but there are two rows of mountains, giving the area a deep mountainous terrain. For this reason, it was chosen as a sacred site for medieval Shugendo (mountaineering asceticism), and temples such as Iwawaki-ji Temple and Shippo-ryuji Temple were built there. Transportation lines that cross the mountain range use mountain passes, with the Nankai Electric Railway Koya Line passing through Kimi Pass, the JR Hanwa Line passing through Yamanaka Pass, and the Nankai Electric Railway Nankai Main Line passing through Kyoshi Pass. In addition to forest resources such as cedar and pine, Izumi Sandstone is also used for stone materials such as monuments.

[Juichi Inoki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大阪府・和歌山県境に東西に連なる延長約50キロメートルの山脈。東は金剛(こんごう)山地と境する紀見(きみ)峠に始まり、主峰の岩湧(いわわき)山（897メートル）、三国山（886メートル）、葛城(かつらぎ)山（858メートル）などの山々が続き、西に行くにしたがって低くなり、紀淡(きたん)海峡に至る。地層は中生代白亜紀の和泉砂岩層で、礫岩(れきがん)、砂岩、頁岩(けつがん)の互層からなる。山頂は隆起準平原の平坦(へいたん)面を残して高原状をなし、展望に恵まれ、東部は金剛生駒紀泉(こんごういこまきせん)国定公園に編入され、観光開発が進んでいる。山脈の南斜面は断層崖(がい)で、紀ノ川に沿う中央構造線に該当する。北斜面はなだらかだが、2列の前山列があり、山深い地形をなす。そのため中世修験道(しゅげんどう)の霊場に選ばれ、岩湧寺、七宝滝寺(しっぽうりゅうじ)などの建立をみた。山脈を横断する交通線は峠道を利用し、紀見峠を南海電鉄高野(こうや)線、山中峠をJR阪和線、孝子(きょうし)峠を南海電鉄南海本線が通る。産物に杉、松などの森林資源のほか、山麓(さんろく)ではミカンの栽培が盛ん。また和泉砂岩は碑石など石材に用いられる。

［位野木壽一］

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