How is a wave-cut platform formed and developed?
(6 marks)Wave-cut platforms are gently sloping rocky platforms (usually 4o or less) at the base of a cliff formed as it retreats. Maximum erosion of a cliff face occurs at is base where wave pounding and other erosion processes such abrasion and hydraulic action result in the formation of a wave-cut notch. As continual under-cutting of the cliff occurs at the wave-cut notch it leads to the eventual collapse of part of the cliff. As the cliff retreats it leaves behind a rocky wave-cut platform. Wave-cut platforms are usually less than 0.5m in width. This is because as the wave-cut platform becomes wider there is a feedback mechanism which results in less erosion as the waves are now breaking further out to sea resulting in a reduction in cliff retreat and thus the platform ceases to grow. The widest wave-cut platforms are formed where there is rapid cliff retreat and where there is a large tidal-range. The surface of a wave-cut platform is rarely smooth due to waves cutting across the p
