Chapter 9 Sea Level Oscillations and the Development of Rock Coasts

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter models the effects of middle and upper Pleistocene changes in sea level on the development of tidal rock coasts. It explores the wide erosional surfaces that are characteristic of the offshore and cliff top areas of many coasts. Classic models describe the formation of wide erosional surfaces by submarine erosion, while the sea level is stable. The model described in the chapter attributes the development of extensive coastal platforms to wave erosion within intertidal zones that have oscillated within a wide range of elevations. According to the model, very wide erosional surfaces can be cut only during periods of rapidly rising sea level or possibly during an extremely long period of sea-level stability. The model provides a general indication of the effects of wave erosion and changes in the Pleistocene sea level on weak rocks in vigorous wave environments, where mechanical wave action is dominant.