The Rural Development Administration (RDA) has named the soil on South Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets.

The administration named the soil “Dokdotong” to distuinguish it from the earth on Ulleung Island, which lies to the west of the islets in the east sea. Soil from both Ulleung and Dokdo were previously understood to be similar, but the administration said that surveys conducted since 2009 have found differences.

Dokdo’s sandy earth was created through the weathering of volcanic rocks. Plants can grow on the islets where the soil is at least 20 centimeters thick. The easternmost islets are uniquely layered by only topsoil and bedrock. Ordinarily, a layer of subsoil resides between the two.

The administration is planning to select wild flowers and medicinal herbs to grow on the islets.