Wave-cut platform
Also called: Shore platform, Abrasion platform · Topic: Landforms and their Evolution: Rivers, Groundwater, Glaciers, Waves and Wind · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 2 "Shaping of the Earth's Surface"; Class 11, Ch 6 "Landforms and their Evolution"
Meaning
A wave-cut platform is a flat or gently sloping rock surface at the foot of a sea cliff. Waves cut a notch at the base of the cliff, the rock above falls, and the cliff moves back inland. The rock floor it leaves behind is the platform. It keeps getting wider as the cliff keeps moving back. A platform that lies above the average height of the waves is called a wave-cut terrace. Such terraces can show that the land has risen or the sea has fallen.
Example
At low tide, wide rocky wave-cut platforms show up at the foot of the chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters on the south coast of England.
Don't confuse with
- River terrace: this is a step on the side of a river valley. It marks an old floodplain that was left behind when the river cut down. Waves play no part in it.
- Pediment: this is a gently sloping rock floor at the foot of desert mountains. It is cut by streams and sheet floods, not by sea waves.
Related concepts
- Emergent coast
- Submergent coast
- Ria coast
- Longshore current
- Coastal erosion
- Sea cliff
- Sea cave
- Sea arch
- Sea stack