Wave-cut Platform

From Beachapedia

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Wave-cut Platform (English)
波食台 (日本語)
Plataforma de onda de corte (Español)

A wave-cut platform is formed where a seacliff is eroded by marine action, meaning waves, resulting in the deposition of cliff material and formation of a bedrock area where erosion occurred. If sea level rises rapidly this area will be covered with water. If sea level recedes, stands still or rises rather slowly as it is in the present, a platform may become exposed. Many of California’s beaches are a result of this process. The platform can be covered with a thin veneer of sand giving the appearance of a completely sandy beach yet it is not.