10.

11 Rock Coasts
WJ Stephenson, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
ME Dickson, University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland, New Zealand
AS Trenhaile, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.11.1 Introduction 289

10.11.2 Processes 290
10.11.2.1 Sea Level 291
10.11.2.2 The Role of Tides 291
10.11.2.3 Waves 291
10.11.2.3.1 Wave quarrying 291
10.11.2.3.2 Abrasion 292
10.11.2.4 Weathering 292
10.11.2.4.1 Salt weathering 293
10.11.2.4.2 Wetting and drying 293
10.11.2.5 Biology 293
10.11.2.6 Mass Movement 294
10.11.3 Rocky Coast Landforms 295
10.11.3.1 Relict, Composite, and Plunging Sea-Cliffs 296
10.11.3.2 Shore Platforms 297
10.11.3.2.1 Near-horizontal platforms 298
10.11.3.2.2 Sloping platforms 299
10.11.3.3 Inheritance 300
10.11.4 Rock Coast Modeling 300
10.11.4.1 Coastal Profiles 300
10.11.4.2 Plan Shape 302
10.11.5 Conclusions 303
References 303

Abstract

Rock coasts constitute the majority of the worlds shorelines and result from erosive processes. Rates of erosion vary from
almost nil to tens of meters per year. Cliff and shore platforms are the most common landform types but even these display
significant variations in morphology depending on sea-level history, tidal range, the relative contributions of marine and
subaerial processes, and geological properties of the rock. Smaller scale features such as stacks and arches are important
elements and contribute significantly to landscape values and subsequently, tourism economies. The evolutionary history of
rock coasts is difficult to reconstruct because of their erosional origin but modeling has revealed much about how such
coastlines have developed over the latter part of the Pleistocene and Holocene, and it has also provided important insights
into the modeling of these coasts to modern sea-level and coastal processes.

10.11.1 Introduction
Rock coasts are ubiquitous along the worlds coast lines, oc-
curring at all latitudes and in all morphogenetic environ-
ments. Rock coasts can be defined as those that are composed
of consolidated material (rock) of varying strength (Suna-
mura, 1992). The strength of material forming rock coasts can
vary enormously from very hard granite to soft materials such
as clay and consolidated gravels. The common distinction
between hard and soft rock coasts is thus misleading, because
Stephenson, W.J., Dickson, M.E., Trenhaile, A.S., 2013. Rock coasts. In:
Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on
Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal
Geomorphology, pp. 289307.
rock strength occurs along a very wide continuum. Sea cliffs
are the most characteristic landforms along the rocky shore-
lines. According to Emery and Kuhn (1982), cliffs, including
those cut into hard and soft rocks, as well as cohesive clays and
sands, occur along about 80% of the worlds coasts (Figure 1),
although little work has been done to substantiate this figure.
Rock coasts may also be composed of shore platforms that
either slope (411) or lie close to horizontal. Shore platforms
are commonly front cliffs but in some cases platforms are
backed by beaches and sand dunes. Unlike coasts composed
of accumulations of sediment, rock coasts are almost entirely
erosional in origin and consequently reconstructing the evo-
lutionary history of rock coast landforms presents significant
challenges to earth scientists. Furthermore the erosional origin
of rock coasts also presents significant management challenges

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00284-0 289

290 Rock Coasts
Figure 1 Distribution of cliffed coasts around the world. Adapted from Emery, K.O., Kuhn, G.G., 1982. Sea cliffs: their processes, profiles, and
classification. Geological Society of America Bulletin 93, 644654, with permission from Geological Society of America.
as rock coasts lack the capacity to recover from erosive events
in the way beaches or other sedimentary environments return
sediment to their form. Paradoxically the scenic value attached
to rock coasts owes its origin to that same suite of erosional
processes, so management and conservation requires main-
taining erosive processes that are not attractive in most coastal
management strategies.
Rock coasts are also at the center of several key debates in
coastal geomorphology. For example, Cruslock et al. (2010)
considered shore platforms in different genetic settings to
demonstrate equifinality. The environmental significance of
boulder deposits are beginning to be better understood by the
examination of cliff top deposits (Hansom et al., 2008) and
viewed more critically through the consideration of geological
settings (Stephenson and Naylor, 2011a, b; Knight and Bur-
ningham, 2011). Large boulders deposited on cliff tops or far
inland beyond the reach of normal sea conditions have previ-
ously been attributed to tsunami (Bryant et al., 1992, 1996;
Young et al., 1996). Work on rock coasts is illustrating how
boulders and even megaclasts can in fact be attributed to (the
work of) extreme storm events (e.g., Hall et al., 2006, 2008;
Etienne and Paris, 2010; Switzer and Burston, 2010). Thus de-
bates over the role of tsunami as an agent of change of coastal
landscapes are becoming better understood and the role of
storm waves is better recognized. What is yet to be understood
is whether these high magnitudelow frequency events make a
significant contribution to long-term rock coast development.
Today there are still many challenges to understanding the re-
sponse of rock coasts to contemporary processes across a variety
of scales and to interpreting the long term response, or evo-
lution, of these coasts (Naylor et al., 2010).
In this chapter, we review these debates in rock coast
geomorphology and provide an overview of the role of dif-
ferent process and geological frameworks that lead to rock
coast landforms. The evolutionary pathways that rock coasts
take are explored through the use of models. In Sec-
tion 10.11.2 we discuss the processes that drive rock coast
landform development. Sea level is the fundamental
determinant of where coast lines occur, so it is first necessary
to examine the role of changing sea levels in the evolution of
rock coasts. Closely associated with sea-level changes are tides,
because these determine the vertical range within which rock
coasts develop, and, to a certain degree, rock coast morph-
ology. The traditional role of waves and weathering are ex-
plored. In addition, the roles of biological processes are also
considered. Section 10.11.3 reviews how geological and
lithological frameworks determine landform morphology.
Different rock coast landforms are presented and explained
within a geological framework. Reconstructing the evolution-
ary history of rock coasts is problematic because of an ero-
sional origin, so that modeling is currently the best approach
to understand how rock coasts have evolved and how they
might evolve into the future. Consequently Section 10.11.4
reviews modeling efforts that bring together our current state
of understanding of how rock coasts develop.
10.11.2 Processes
Rock coasts are exposed to a wide range of processes that are
unique in terms of geomorphic process response systems, es-
pecially when compared to other coastal systems. In addition
to marine processes such as wave impact, quarrying, and
abrasion, subaerial processes may reduce rock strength and in
some settings can be the dominant process set. Subaerial
processes include the full range of physical and chemical
weathering processes and the relative significance of any par-
ticular one (e.g., wetting and drying, salt weathering, heating
and cooling, solution) is variable in time and space. In add-
ition to marine and subaerial processes, biological activity is
also important. Included here are not only erosion processes
but also bioprotection that can act to reduce the efficiency
of physical processes and construction where organisms con-
struct reefs or accumulate sediment. Where rock coasts are
wholly or partly composed of cliffs, mass movement is an
important process that causes cliff erosion and retreat.

10.11.2.1 Sea Level
Sea level is the primary control of coast evolution as it is the
basic spatial and temporal frame of reference upon which
processes responsible for shoreline development occur. Rock
coasts evolve slower than sedimentary coasts because of the
greater resistance of their material composition, but as a
consequence there is a much greater potential for rock coasts
to be preserved in the landscape after sea-level changes. This
has two important implications. First, many rock coasts may
not change rapidly enough to record all sea-level variations,
particularly short term Holocene variations. Second, some
rock coasts may have undergone more than one episode of
development when sea-level reoccupies a similar elevation, or
tectonic processes lift submerged shorelines to coincide with a
contemporary sea level. The challenge for scientists investi-
gating rock coasts is to recognize the impact of multiple sea
levels occupying rock coasts and identify the morphologies
that have been inherited from earlier sea-level histories.
Patterns of Quaternary sea-level change (2.5 Ma present)
are generally known although the details of sea-level durations
and elevations at specific sites are not (Pirazzoli, 1991). Sea-
level change since the last two glacial periods are of most sig-
nificance to rock coast development although some rock coasts
may be inherited from sea levels dating back to the Tertiary,
652.5 Ma ago (Trenhaile, 1989). It is likely that highly resist-
ant rock coasts have retained some degree of inheritance from
the last interglacial at approximately 125 ka (Trenhaile, 2002).
More recently Trenhaile (2010a) has endeavored to examine the
role of relative sea-level rise during the Holocene, and this is
considered further in Section 10.11.4.
10.11.2.2 The Role of Tides
If sea level determines where and for how long coastal processes
act on shorelines, tides determine the vertical range within
which those processes operate. Even the location of supratidal
processes are partially determined by tidal range. Globally, rock
coast morphologies develop in all tidal environments and
vertical ranges. In addition, rock coast landforms develop in
lakes where tides are absent (Matthews et al., 1986; Allan et al.,
2002; Trenhaile, 2004a; Aarseth and Fossen, 2004). Lake levels
can fluctuate both naturally and from management inter-
vention (as in the case of hydropower generation) but whether
these fluctuations mimic tides with a geomorphic consequence
for lacustrine rock coasts remains unclear.
Tidal range has been identified as a primary control of
gross morphology of shore platforms. Trenhaile (1999) re-
viewed the published data on shore platform gradient and
tidal range for a variety of coasts around the world. He found
that there is a strong positive relationship between these
variables (r2 0.85), with steeper sloping platforms occurring
in areas with the highest tidal ranges, including in the Bay of
Fundy in eastern Canada and the Severn Estuary in south
western Britain. In addition, tidal range and type (diurnal,
semidiurnal, or mixed) determine how and where wave energy
is distributed within the vertical range of the tide and the
horizontal extent of the shore profile. Fluctuations in baro-
metric pressure, wind, and wave set up can also change the
vertical range within which wave forces are expended.
Rock Coasts 291
10.11.2.3 Waves
Waves impacting on rock coasts impart a variety of forces, but
understanding the erosional efficiency of these forces still re-
quires a great deal of empirical research. Until recently there
have been relatively few field studies reported in the literature.
Undoubtedly waves erode rock coasts and transport the wea-
thered and unconsolidated debris, but the precise quantifi-
cation of the relationship between wave forces and rock
resistance, as expressed by Sunamura (1992, 1994), remains
elusive. Sunamura proposed that rock coast erosion occurs
when the erosive force of waves exceeds the resisting force of
rock. The challenge that remains is to accurately quantify both
forces. Waves can erode by (1) directly expending a force (water
hammer) by hydraulic quarrying of jointed blocks, or (2) by
abrasion when waves mobilize loose sediment against bedrock.
Our understanding of wave processes on shore platforms
has been hampered by a lack of field investigations. In recent
times the number of field investigations has grown and new
data reveal that the hydrodynamics of waves across shore
platforms are as complex as the surf zones of beaches. Work by
Stephenson and Kirk (2000a) considered how energy was
transformed across platforms, noting the highly dissipative
nature of the platforms they studied. Taylor (2003) was the
first to record wave energy in the infragravity band on shore
platforms. Farrell et al. (2009) demonstrated that the wave
breaking criterion of 0.42 h (water depth) for inner surf zone
root-mean-squared wave height (Hrms) proposed by Thornton
and Guza (1982) applied to the platform they studied in
Portugal. Prior to Taylor (2003) no attention had been given
to infragravity energy or consideration of the geomorphic
consequence of such energy for rock coasts. This has changed
recently with a number of published studies examining wave
transformations and energy dissipation across shore platforms
(Ogawa et al., 2011; Ogawa et al., 2012; Beetham and Kench,
2011; Marshall and Stephenson, 2011). Unsurprisingly, infra-
gravity energy is present on shore platforms during rising and
high tides when the platform acts to modulate incident wave
energy in a similar way as the surf zones of beaches excite
infragravity motions. It remains to be seen what, if any, con-
sequence there is for the geomorphic evolution of rock coasts
as a result of infragravity energy.
10.11.2.3.1 Wave quarrying
Wave quarrying is thought to be the most important erosive
process on shore platforms in the storm wave environment of
the northern hemisphere (Trenhaile, 1980, 1987). Quarrying
is the breaking free and removal of rock fragments by shock
pressures from breaking waves, water hammer, and the com-
pression of air in rock joints. Although shock pressures and
water hammer are generated by breaking waves, both breaking
and broken waves can cause compression of air in joints. Air is
compressed in joints and bedding planes as water rushes in,
followed by a sudden explosive release as the water recedes
(Trenhaile, 1987). Robinson (1977a, b) proposed that
quarrying becomes more effective when sand is washed into
cracks and keeps them open. He called this process wedging.
Wave quarrying is limited in extent over a shore platform,
since maximum pressures occur at or near the mean water
292 Rock Coasts
level whose position on a shore platform and in front of a cliff
is controlled by the tide and wave set up (Trenhaile, 1987).
The effectiveness of quarrying has been assessed largely on
the basis of morphological evidence such as fresh block scars
and angular blocks on platforms and in front of cliffs. Few
studies have attempted to determine the effectiveness of
quarrying using field data. This is largely because of the
difficulty of working in a very dynamic environment and
problems with the availability of suitable instrumentation.
Trenhaile and Kanyaya (2007) measured waves on platforms
in the macrotidal Bay of Fundy on the Atlantic coast of North
America and the micromesotidal coast of Gaspe, Quebec, and
concluded that calculated wave stresses are capable of re-
moving large rock blocks from the platform in this area. In-
stantaneous recordings of block removal are required to
improve our knowledge of this process but since it most often
occurs under during storm conditions, it is difficult to obtain
real time observations. Cruslock et al. (2010) used a block scar
inventory to illustrate the removal of blocks on the Swedish
and Faro Island coasts in the Baltic Sea. Systematic repeat
surveys revealed the removal of blocks over a 4-year period.
Naylor and Stephenson (2010) used repeated photography
following storms to demonstrate the removal of blocks from a
platform surface on the Glamorgan coast in South Wales. Hall
et al. (2006), Hansom et al. (2008), and Hall et al. (2008)
used a combination of historical photography, mapping,
dating, and modeling to show the effectiveness of wave
quarrying on cliffs and cliff tops in the British Isles. Blocks
deposited at the 15 m elevation on The Grind of the Navir on
the Shetland Islands, Scotland, have been quarried from the
cliff face during annual-frequency storms. Atlantic storm
waves have also been demonstrated as effective generators of
cliff top storm deposits by Suanez et al. (2009). Along the
coast of Banneg Island located in the archipelago of Mole`ne,
in Brittany, France, wave quarrying has liberated blocks that
were subsequently deposited on top of cliffs.
Boulders and megaclasts strewn along rock coasts on shore
platforms and cliff tops are frequently cited as evidence for the
occurrence of tsunami (Noormets et al., 2002, 2004; Scheffers
et al., 2005; Scheffers and Scheffers, 2006; Morton et al.,
2006). However such evidence remains controversial (Felton
and Crook, 2003; Switzer and Burston, 2010) and in light of
recent work illustrating the ability of storm waves to deposit
boulders on cliff tops the role of tsunami is being questioned
(Hall et al., 2006; Hansom et al., 2008; Hall et al., 2008; Paris
et al., 2011). Nevertheless, there are examples of very large
boulders located on cliff tops that are incapable of being
transported by storm waves, and tsunami remain the only
plausible explanation (e.g., Goto et al., 2010). Thus, both
storm waves and tsunami are responsible for wave quarrying,
but their relative contribution to long-term rock coast evo-
lution remains unclear.
10.11.2.3.2 Abrasion
Abrasion has been identified as an important erosive process,
particularly on shore platforms (Sunamura, 1976; Robinson
1977a, b, c; Kennedy and Beban, 2005; Blanco-Chao et al.,
2007). Abrasion operates where sediments that are as hard or
harder than the underlying bedrock accumulate and are
moved by wave action. Trenhaile (1987, p.25) defined
abrasion as the result of sweeping, rolling, or dragging of
rocks and sand across gently sloping rock surfaces, or the
throwing of coarse material against steep surfaces. Abrasion
relies on the presence of sediment and sufficient wave energy
to move it, and it generally occurs in a narrow zone, the extent
of which is controlled by the character of the tide and wave
environment, and the accumulated sediment. Conversely,
Sunamura (1976) noted that large or very thick accumulations
of sediment can prevent abrasion by acting in a protective
manner. Robinson (1977a, b, c) found that abrasion occurred
on a shore platform in northeastern England at a height of
10 cm above a beach at a cliff foot and extended 14.5 cm
below the beach. Waves moved sediment at a depth of 5 cm
and as deep as 13.5 cm under the largest waves (Robinson,
1977c). Robinson (1977a, b, c) found that abrasion was more
effective during winter when storms are of greater magnitude
and frequency. Abrasion rates in this setting were as high as
4.5 cm yr1. Blanco-Chao et al. (2007) demonstrated how
abrasion was effective on shore platforms where the landward
margin of the platform was buried by deposits of fluvio-nival
and periglacial slope deposits. Sediments, liberated from the
slope deposits by erosion were made available in the upper
part of the tidal range as abrasive tools. In this zone, abrasion
rates were between 0.13 and 1.8 mm yr1. These rates are
similar to those measured with microerosion meters, reported
from other shore platforms where abrasion is absent (Ste-
phenson and Finlayson, 2009).
The significance of abrasion to shore platform develop-
ment is unclear. Given that abrasion is a spatially and tem-
porally discrete process, and works most effectively only where
and when abrasive sediments accumulate, typically at the
landward margin of shore platforms, then large parts of shore
platforms are apparently eroded by other processes. Never-
theless, abrasion is significant in many areas because of rela-
tively high erosion rates (where they occur) and the landward
migration of the cliff-foot zone as shore platforms develop.
Conversely, many shore platforms have developed in the
complete absence of abrasive materials.
10.11.2.4 Weathering
Coasts are perhaps the ideal weathering environment because
of a plentiful supply of salts, water, temperature extremes, and
bare rock surfaces. Although both physical and chemical
weathering processes and biological activity occur, consider-
ation of weathering usually focuses on (1) wetting and drying,
(2) solution, and (3) salt weathering. Many rock types are
susceptible to chemical dissolution as well as physical fatigue
from repeated wetting and drying by tides and aided by salt
water. In warmer environments wetting and drying can be
important while on higher latitude coasts freeze-thaw may be
more significant. The relative contribution of each type of
weathering depends upon the suite of environmental con-
ditions, so that the importance of each will be different spa-
tially and temporally. Seasonal variations are likely to be
important in temperate environments. The suite of weathering
processes is also responsible for a number of micromeso scale
landforms such as tafoni (Figure 2), pits, and model/karren
(on limestone).

Figure 2 Honeycomb (tafoni) weathering. Vernier calipers are
230 mm long.
10.11.2.4.1 Salt weathering
Cooke and Smalley (1968) identified three mechanisms by
which salt causes weathering: (1) pressures exerted by crystals as
they grow from solution, (2) pressures exerted by expanding
salt crystals due to heating, and (3) pressures from volume
changes induced by hydration. Furthermore, three variables
control the effectiveness of salt weathering: (1) the nature of the
salts and their solutions, (2) the properties of the affected
materials, and (3) the nature of the environment in which salts
may cause the materials to disintegrate (Cooke, 1979). Cooke
and Smalley (1968) noted that the degree of saturation of the
solution is important, as is the duration of exposure of the bed
materials to supersaturated conditions. The capacity to absorb
water, porosity, microporosity, the rate at which solutions
penetrate rocks and tensile strength, are all properties of rock
that control the effectiveness of salt weathering (Cooke, 1979).
Using laboratory experiments, Goudie et al. (1970) found that
igneous rocks were little affected by salts, whereas chalk, lime-
stone, and sandstones broke down rapidly after repeated im-
mersion in saline solutions. Cooke and Smalley (1968)
proposed that the growth of crystals from solution is important
in humid coastal deserts, where dissolved salts are abundant.
Salt weathering operating on rock coasts in warmer temperate
environments is probably a significant weathering agent, but
little work has been conducted to establish the relative contri-
bution of individual weathering processes relative to others on
coastal rock coasts. A number of laboratory or simulation
studies have examined the relative roles of salts and other
weathering processes. Jerwood et al. (1990a, b) in a series of
experiments using groups of chalk cubes immersed in water
and different salt solutions showed how different salts impacted
differently on freeze thaw weathering, for example. Sodium
chloride enhanced freeze thaw while magnesium sulfate in-
hibited freezing and subsequent rock fatigue. How the results of
laboratory experiments apply to field settings remains unclear
(Tingstad, 2008). The significance of salt weathering is difficult
to determine, particularly when wetting and drying is also oc-
curring simultaneously.
10.11.2.4.2 Wetting and drying
The intertidal location and proximity to sea spray of many rock
coast landforms facilitates repeated wetting and drying.
Rock Coasts 293
Figure 3 Water Morphology of water layer weathering morphology
of shallow pans surrounded by raised rims. The location of the raised
rims is determined by the occurrence of joints.
Sedimentary rocks such as shales and mudstones are particu-
larly susceptible to this form of weathering because the clay
minerals found in them expand on wetting and shrink on
drying (Yatsu, 1988). The observation that rock surfaces on
shore platforms undergo swelling when measured with a
microerosion meter has been linked with wetting and drying
(Kirk, 1977; Stephenson and Kirk, 2001; Stephenson et al.,
2004; Kanyaya and Trenhaile, 2005; Trenaile, 2006; Porter and
Trenhaile, 2007; Porter et al., 2010a, b, c) and is consequently
thought to contribute to rock stress, weakening, and eventual
erosion.
Wetting and drying is well recognized on shore platforms
where flat surfaces allow water to pool. In this particular situ-
ation the process has been termed water layer weathering. It
can operate wherever sea water can accumulate and evaporate.
Water layer weathering was first recognized by Bartrum and
Turner (1928). The physical process of water layer weathering
remains to be fully explained but most researchers consider it
important in addition to wetting and drying, salt weathering,
chemical weathering, and the movement of solutions through
rock capillaries (Trenhaile, 1987). Kanyaya and Trenhaile
(2005) and Trenhaile et al. (2006) used tidal simulators to
replicate real time wetting and drying conditions on more than
1000 cores comprising different rock types in a series of la-
boratory experiments. Their results showed that wetting and
drying worked more effectively on coarse grained rock (sand-
stone) when salt water was used compared to wetting and
drying with fresh water. However the opposite result occurred
in finer grained rocks (basalt and argillites), with more erosion
occurring during wetting and drying using fresh water than salt
water. The processes of water layer weathering produces a dis-
tinct morphology where shallow pools are surrounded by
raised rims associated with joints (Figure 3). The raised rims
around the pool occur along joints and retain water in the joint.
The rims undergo fewer wetting and drying cycles than the
pools which consequently weather and lower more quickly.
10.11.2.5 Biology
A common definition of bioerosion is the removal of lithic
substrate by the direct action of organisms (Neumann, 1966).
294 Rock Coasts
A bewildering array of organisms are capable of eroding
bedrock on rock coasts and these operate from above the
spring high tide line that is regularly splashed, but not sub-
merged by ocean water (the supratidal zone), to depths that
are permanently submerged (the subtidal zone). On rock
shores microboring occurs as a result of cyanobacteria and
chlorophytes, and other boring activity is carried out by in-
vertebrates including sponges and mollusca such as chinton,
gastropods, and bivalves.
Rates of bioerosion vary enormously from microns to
meters per year, depending on the type and population
densities of the organisms responsible. Erosion is achieved
through grazing, chemical reaction to secretions, and boring.
Grazing gastropods feed by scraping the rock surface with their
radula to ingest the rock and digest the endolithic algae con-
tained in the rock (Figure 4). Grazing on chalk platforms
along the English Channel by limpets (Patella modelli) con-
tributed between 12 and 35% of the annual lowering rate of
2.3 mm yr1 (Andrews and Williams, 2000). Trudgill (1976)
measured rates of boring organisms on Aldabra Atoll, part of
Figure 4 Grazing track of a limpet. The limpet has traversed from
left to right of the images scrapping the rock surface to remove and
ingest the rock. Endolithic algae are digested and the rock excreted.
Figure 5 Durvillaea antarctica washed up on a beach with bedrock
attached. The block detached from a rock mass is 50 cm in the
long axis.
the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean and found that rates varied
from 0.9 cm yr1 to 4.5 cm yr1. Trenhaile (1987) presented a
summary of 42 investigations of bioerosion rates which range
from 30 to 50 mm in 3 to 4 weeks by algae on carbonates, to
1 m yr1 on limestone by boring sea urchin (Paracentrotus
lividus). Naylor et al. (2012) has been critical of geomorph-
ologists for not paying greater attention to the role of
bioerosion and when bioerosion has been considered it has
been in an oversimplified manner. They argue that erosion
rates reported as millimeters per year of downwearing fail to
disclose the complexity of bioerosion and advocate erosion
rates instead be reported as volume loss. Naylor et al. (2012)
also attempt to show how bioerosion at the scale of milli-
meters can influence erosion rates at larger scale and con-
cluded that bioerosion is cross-scalar, influencing erosion at
larger scales.
In contrast to agents causing erosion, biota on rock coasts
can also provide protection from other erosive processes
(Naylor and Viles, 2002; Naylor et al., 2002). Hills (1949)
modeling this protective role on platforms in Victoria, south-
eastern Australia, where the extensive covering of Hormosira
banksii (Neptunes necklace, sea grapes, or bubbleweed) pre-
vents erosion by mechanical or subaerial processes. Stephenson
and Kirk (1998) measured erosion rates on shore platforms and
found that winter rates were lower compared with summer. The
main reason for this was that cooler winter temperatures
allowed extensive covering of algae over the platform which
prevented drying, trapped sediment, and provided protection
from wave erosion. Bioprotection has not been widely studied
and the relative importance of it compared to bioerosion and
other erosion processes is unknown. Macroalgae (e.g., Durvil-
laea modelling, a common bull kelp) can dissipate wave energy
through mechanical movement and protect rock surfaces
against wave impact forces. The removal of macroalgae by
strong waves, however, often removes the rock to which they
were attached, resulting in block erosion (Figure 5).
Even less well understood than bioprotection is biocon-
struction on rock shores (coral reefs excluded). Encrustation of
rock surfaces by a variety of organisms such as barnacle and
vermetid worms provides additional protection to rock sur-
faces by the construction of sessile (fixed in one place) shells.
Naylor and Viles (2000) documented meter-scale reef building
on the seaward edge of shore platforms in southern Wales
(UK) by honeycomb worms (Sabellaria alveolata) that build
tubes by cementing sand grains together. These reefs may play
a role in dissipating wave energy by reducing the water depth
and forcing wave breaking.
10.11.2.6 Mass Movement
In addition to marine and weathering processes, sea cliffs are
subject to mass movement and other processes that drive
slope evolution. The type of mass movement occurring on
rock coasts (e.g., topple, fall, slide, avalanche, and flow) de-
pends on the climate, groundwater hydrology, and geological
and lithological framework of the coast (Trenhaile, 1987;
Sunamura, 1992; Hampton and Griggs, 2004). Understanding
the relative contributions of the subaerial, marine, and mass
movement processes that control sea cliff erosion is complex
as these processes vary regionally and commonly work

Figure 6 Cliff failure with associated rock fall in Blue Lias
limestone, Glamorgan, South Wales coast (UK).
together. Cliff erosion is commonly viewed as a result of
marine processes where waves undercut cliffs and reduce cliff
support until collapse occurs, and the fallen debris is sub-
sequently removed by waves to expose the cliff thereby re-
peating the cycle (Figure 6). However, sea cliffs can continue
to erode even when abandoned by the sea or in the absence of
undercutting because of mass wasting processes (Nott, 1990;
Lee and Clark, 2002). Consequently, coastal cliff profiles de-
cline in gradient. In many areas, cliff erosion is also a function
of the amount, mobility, and morphology of the sediment or
mass movement debris at its base, which determine the ac-
cessibility of the cliff face to wave attack. In addition, surface
and ground water also play parts in producing conditions for
cliff failure. Surface water running down cliff faces washes
material down slope. Groundwater causes loading and lubri-
cation in discontinuities, thus reducing the strength of rock
materials. Seepage of ground water at the cliff face can erode
material and weaken discontinuities. Water can also cause
weathering and dissolution, thereby further reducing rock
strength.
10.11.3 Rocky Coast Landforms
Worldwide, the morphology of sea cliffs is highly varied, re-
sulting from the complex interplay between different erosion
processes and the bedrock in which the cliffs have formed.
Moreover, many rocky coasts have evolved slowly and may
have partly inherited their morphology from processes oper-
ating under different climatic conditions. Figure 7 provides a
simple conceptual framework that considers the varied de-
velopment of sea-cliff morphology. During the Last Glacial,
global eustatic sea-level was as much as 120 m below present
(Chappell and Shackleton, 1986). Hence, for many thousands
of years, many contemporary sea cliffs were subject only
to subaerial processes that degraded and rounded cliff
profiles. Subsequent climatic warming was accompanied by a
marine transgression that drove sediments landward, flooded
embayments, and reexposed cliffed coasts to wave attack. At
present, some degraded (former) profiles remain at the coast,
Rock Coasts 295
Active
M >> SA
Boulders
M > SA
Inactive
Talus
M = SA
Former
M < SA
Fan
(a) (b)
Figure 7 Idealized cliff profiles cut in homogenous rocks, showing
(a) geological history, and (b) relative efficacy of marine (M) and
subaerial (SA) processes. Adapted from Emery, K.O., Kuhn, G.G.,
1982. Sea cliffs: their processes, profiles, and classification.
Geological Society of America Bulletin 93, 644654, with permission
from Geological Society of America.
but in some locations profiles have been partially rejuvenated
by undercutting. In some cases there is little evidence of a
formerly degraded profile.
Shore platforms generally occur where cliff erosion has
been active, although they may be partially or completely
covered by beaches. In contrast, where steep cliffs plunge into
deep water, wave energy is reflected from the cliff-face
and marine erosion processes are ineffectual. These different
evolutionary pathways are heavily dependent on the local
sea-level history, sediment supply, lithology, antecedent
topography, tectonics, and the local process regime.
Stacks and arches (Figure 8) are smaller scale features of
many rock coasts and are commonly valued components of
coastal landscapes, important to tourism and sightseeing. The
geomorphic significance of such features is seldom investi-
gated. An exception is the work of Trenhaile et al. (1998) who
assessed the role of rock hardness and joints in the develop-
ment of stacks at Cape Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick,
Canada. Stacks in rock with the same strength as the sur-
rounding shore platforms resulted from the patterns, spacing,
and location of jointing and faults. In other cases, stacks occur
because they are formed from more resistant rock and become
isolated as the surrounding shore line retreats. Earlier work by
Shepard and Kuhn (1983) also noted the importance of
preferential erosion along joints and channels cut by surges in
the development of sea arches and caves. Johnson (1925)
documented the development of a sea arch from a cave which
broke through the other side of a promontory. In both ex-
amples researchers utilized historical photographs to docu-
ment the evolutionary sequence of arch development.
296 Rock Coasts
Figure 8 Stack on Flower Pot Island, Bruce Peninsula, between
Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
10.11.3.1 Relict, Composite, and Plunging Sea-Cliffs
Former sea-cliffs (Figure 7) are cliffs that were exposed
to marine undercutting in the distant past, perhaps during
the Last Interglacial, high sea level (124119 years BP), or
even prior to that. Cliff profiles were subsequently degraded
during the Last Glacial, and for a number of local reasons
the cliffs were not reexcavated during the Holocene.
Good examples of such profiles occur on coasts exposed to
tectonic uplift, such as the central Californian (USA) coastline,
where a suite of marine terraces exhibit paleocliff profiles that
become more rounded with age (Rosenbloom and Anderson,
1994). On tectonically stable coasts, most rocky shorelines
have been reactivated to some extent by Holocene raised
sea level.
The importance of different local controls was well
demonstrated in Savigears (1952) classic study of slope-
development in southern Wales (UK), where he noted that a
laterally extending beach system in front of a cliffed hinterland
had resulted in the cliffs progressively losing contact with the
sea, resulting in a gradual conversion of the cliffs to debris-
mantled slopes. The sequence of cliff profiles was immediately
identified as showing ergodic evidence of spacetime substi-
tution (Burt, 2003).
These examples are typical of many observations that cliff
profiles are generally steepened under wave attack and de-
graded under subaerial erosion. Some cliffs, known as com-
posite cliffs, consist of a number of distinct slope elements. A
variety of terms have been used to describe composite cliffs
that have fairly gentle slope above a steep cliff face, including
slope over wall, hogs back, and beveled cliffs (see Trenhaile,
1987). There has been much discussion of the origin of
composite profiles. Fisher (1866) originally suggested that
alternating periods of marine and subaerial erosion might be
responsible, whereas Challinor (1949) thought that the upper,
gently sloping surface and the lower, steep cliff face could form
contemporaneously. Improved recognition of the nature of
repeated Quaternary sea-level fluctuations led later researchers
toward the view that the degraded, rounded profile is likely
formed by subaerial processes during periods of lower sea
level, whereas with warmer climates, rising sea levels renew
wave attack and steepen the base of the cliff (e.g., Cotton,
1951; Guilcher, 1958). This view has been supported by
Kirkbys (1984) modeling that supported Savigears (1952)
view of the very gradual nature of degraded slope develop-
ment. The simplest development of composite cliffs involves
one glacialinterglacial cycle in which all previous evidence of
development have been destroyed. Flemming (1965) and
Cotton (1967) discussed such a possibility in the context of
cliffed profiles around the Auckland Islands in the Southern
Ocean. However, in other instances, cliff profiles may have
been produced by several phases of erosion across multiple
glacial/interglacial cycles (Wood, 1959; Griggs and Trenhaile,
1994).
The form of composite cliffs results from the interplay
between several factors. Arber (1949) discussed the interplay
between geology and the process environment while con-
sidering the development of cliff profiles in Devon and
Cornwall along the southeastern coast of England (UK). She
noted that landward dipping strata generally give rise to hogs
back-type composite cliffs, but in cliffs without structural
planes the resulting profile tends to be very steep with a flat
top, provided that marine processes are dominant. If there is a
balance between marine and subaerial processes, then the
upper portion of the profile may be rounded whereas the
lower portion may be steep because of wave undercutting (as
depicted in Figure 7). In highly resistant rocks, vertical slopes
can persist even in the absence of basal undercutting by wave
action. Hence, where precipitous hard-rock cliffs occur in
coastal environments, the profile that develops during glacial
periods is not a degraded, rounded hillslope, but is instead a
near-vertical cliff face mantled at its toe by talus. If the cliff is
high and the lithology resistant, there will be insufficient time
for the talus slope to accumulate and build to the cliff top. At
Lord Howe Island (located 600 km east of Australia in the
Tasman Sea), for instance, very large talus slopes occur at the
base of near-vertical basalt cliffs 800 m high (Dickson, 2004;
Dickson and Woodroffe, 2005). Holocene sea-level rise has
been unable to remove these very large talus deposits, and the
cliffs are relict in the sense that marine erosion processes are
currently ineffectual. Where lower cliffs occur around Lord
Howe Island, smaller talus slopes accumulated during the Last
Glacial, and wave action has since been sufficient to remove
the talus. In some locations, the rocks are sufficiently hard that
upon removing talus, the cliff face was drowned, rather than
eroded by sea-level rise. These are referred to as plunging cliffs.
An important feature of plunging cliffs is that deep water oc-
curs at the cliff toe, preventing waves breaking against the cliff
face, and preventing an accumulation of debris within the
water column that might be used in abrasion (Cotton, 1949).

As a result, plunging cliffs are generally considered to be re-
sistant to erosion (Figure 9).
Davis provided one of the first specific descriptions of
plunging cliffs in basaltic rocks around the Pacific Islands and
also on Banks Peninsula, New Zealand (Davis, 1928). At a
similar time, Daly (1927) described plunging cliffs around the
island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Darwin
(1844, 1846) also considered the development of the cliffed
coast of Saint Helena, and pondered how marine processes
could have continuously cut the cliffs around the island under
stable levels of land and sea. Darwin (1846, p. 26) concluded
that the island must have slowly subsided in order that waves
could continue their attack with fresh and unimpaired vigor.
Darwins theory was overlooked for many decades as re-
searchers believed that waves could cut rock to a great depth
below sea level, thereby enabling the continued delivery
of high energy waves to the cliff toe. Dietz and Menard
(1951) and Dietz (1963) eventually dispelled this notion,
and a greater understanding of Quaternary glaciations in the
Figure 9 Plunging cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbor, Australia.
Shore platform (type A and B)
No platform (plunging cliff)
102
p (tonne m2)
Shore platform formation
101
101
Figure 10 Demarcation between shore platform and plunging cliff. Reproduced from Tsujimoto, H., 1987. Dynamic conditions for shore
platform initiation. Science Report of the Institute of Geoscience, University of Tsukuba A8, 4593, with permission from Dspace.
Rock Coasts 297
twentieth century made it clear that repeated sea-level move-
ments provided the mechanism necessary for continued cliff-
ing, rather than gradual subsidence.
10.11.3.2 Shore Platforms
Plunging cliffs are resistant to marine erosion, but where cliffs
do yield to erosive forces a range of morphologies can be
produced. Shore platforms are one of the most distinctive fea-
tures. The critical conditions necessary for the erosion of rock
coasts were considered in detail by Tsujimoto (1987). He se-
lected 25 sites around the Japanese coast and quantified rock
resistance using measurements of compressive strength as well
as a discontinuity index based on longitudinal, wave velocity
measurements. Wave force at each site was calculated on the
basis of nearshore bathymetry and incident wave conditions. As
Figure 10 illustrates, this work showed that when a threshold is
exceeded between rock resistance and wave force, rocky shore
morphology changes from plunging cliffs to shore platforms.
A large proportion of the rocky coast literature is focused
on the horizontal or gently sloping surfaces that develop at the
base of cliffs as they retreat. Various terms have been used to
describe these features, but the most appropriate is shore
platform, which usefully has no genetic connotation, for there
remains some debate in respect to the relative importance of
different controls on shore platform evolution. At a broad
scale, a process-based distinction between sloping and near-
horizontal platforms is possible on the basis of tidal range. In
most areas where the tidal range is from the high end of the
mesotidal to the macrotidal, shore platforms are sloping
(typically 1.51 to more than 41), and they extend from the
cliff-platform junction to below the low tide level without a
clear break in slope. Platform gradient increases as tidal range
increases, implying that erosion at different tidal stages exerts
an important influence on platform development (e.g., see
Trenhaile, 1974, 1987, 1999; Trenhaile and Layzell, 1981). In
microtidal areas, shore platforms are usually near-horizontal,
with a gradient of about 11 or less, and often but not always
No platform formation
102 103 104
S (tonne m2)
c
298 Rock Coasts

they have a distinctive scarp at the seaward edge. Sunamura

(1992) referred to these morphologies as Type-A (sloping)
and Type-B (near-horizontal) and viewed the presence of a
seaward scarp as an essential distinction. One difficulty arises
in classification because some microtidal locations have plat-
forms with very low gradients and no clear seaward scarp (e.g.,
Edwards, 1951; Hills, 1972; Kennedy and Dickson, 2006). The
gradient of these platforms may be minimal, commonly 11 or
less, but the presence or absence of the scarp is generally used
in classifying the morphology as Type-A or Type-B. Potential
confusion exists, therefore, because microtidal platforms of
very low gradient without a clear seaward edge might be
considered Type-A alongside platforms that have developed in
quite different conditions in macrotidal environments. For the
purposes of this section we discuss near-horizontal platforms
(gradients of less than about 11), which generally occur in
microtidal areas, and sloping platforms which have gradients
of greater than about 11 and generally occur in high mesotidal
and macrotidal areas, separately. In the case of near-horizontal
platforms we specifically discuss the presence or absence of a
clearly marked seaward scarp.

10.11.3.2.1 Near-horizontal platforms

Contemporary shore platforms, as opposed to those inherited
from previous high stands of sea level, were probably initiated at
the beginning of the Holocene still-stand (i.e., 60007000 years
BP). Sunamura (1975, 1976, 1991) conducted laboratory ex-
periments on model cliffs composed of Portland cement, quartz
sand, and water. When subjected to wave attack, notches de- Figure 11 Seaward edge of a horizontal platform on Kaikoura
veloped in the cliff face and deepened over the experiments, Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand, showing abrupt seaward edge
which generally ran for around 100 h (Sunamura, 1992). In the sometimes referred to as a low tide cliff.
field a continuation of this process would lead to a stress state in
the cliff face that would result in cliff collapse. Subsequent debris
removal would expose a cliff and near-horizontal platform with
an abrupt seaward scarp (Figure 11). Basal erosion of cliffs is an
important process, and the simple cantilever-collapse mech-
anism plays an important role in the gradual evolution of many
rocky coasts. However, it is interesting to note that recent
measurements on cliffs in North Yorkshire (UK) show that
complex rock-fall patterns occur on the faces of sea-cliffs without
a high degree of connectivity to basal erosion processes (Lim
et al., 2005, 2010a, b).
Near-horizontal platforms with a characteristic seaward
scarp have been described in many areas, particularly around
Australasia (e.g., Bartrum, 1924, 1926; Jutson, 1939; Edwards,
1941; Hills, 1949; Gill, 1967; Cotton, 1963; Bird and Dent,
1966; Kirk, 1977; Stephenson and Kirk, 2000a, b; Dickson,
2006; Kennedy and Dickson, 2006; Kennedy, 2010) and Japan
(e.g., Takahashi, 1977; Tsujimoto, 1987; Sunamura, 1992).
The width of these platforms is measured from the cliff-toe to Figure 12 A near-horizontal platform, 100130 m wide, cut in
the seaward edge, and varies between narrow platforms only a sandstone at Pakiri, 65 km northeast of Auckland, North Island, New
few meters wide to platforms hundreds of meters in width Zealand. The platform is elevated just above high tide level and
(Figure 12). Platform elevation also varies considerably, with plunges into 1013 m water depth.
some platforms formed around low-tide level, others at a
range of inter-tidal elevations, and yet others at a range of when salt weathering processes operate on structural weak-
supratidal elevations up to several meters above high tide. nesses in the rock mass (e.g., Ongley, 1940). These structural
Multiple Holocene shore platform elevations are preserved on benches differ from shore platforms, which develop at an
some coasts due to tectonic uplift (e.g., Kennedy and Beban, elevation that is not predetermined by rock structure.
2005). On stable coasts it is also possible to form benches in The laboratory results of Sunamura (1991) imply that
cliff faces at multiple elevations tens of meters above sea level shore platform elevation increases as rock resistance increases.

This observation is consistent with many field observations
(e.g., Gill, 1967; Trenhaile, 1969, 1987; Hills, 1971; Kirk,
1977; Reffell, 1978; Gill and Lang, 1983; Thornton and Ste-
phenson, 2006). Sunamura (1991) also deduced that platform
elevation should be higher where nearshore water depth is
greater. At Lord Howe Island (Tasman Sea) the elevation of
basalt shore platforms positively correlated both with rock
resistance and nearshore water depth (Dickson, 2006). Some
researchers have also noted that higher platforms tend to form
where wave exposure is greater (e.g., Kirk, 1977; Reffell, 1978).
Multiple controls on platform elevation mean that their
potential use as paleosea-level markers is fraught with dif-
ficulty. One of the earliest descriptions of near-horizontal
platforms was made by Dana (1849), who described surfaces
with a clear seaward scarp around the Bay of Islands, New
Zealand. Bartrum (1916, 1926) noted that the elevation of
these platforms is a little below HWL, and subsequently de-
veloped a theory that rock saturation level might control
platform elevation. This formed an early focus for debate
around the relative roles of weathering and wave erosion
processes. Trenhaile and Mercan (1984) subsequently showed
that rock saturation does not control elevation, and Kennedy
et al. (2010) recently surveyed the platforms in the Bay of
Islands, showing that they occur at a range of elevations be-
tween a little above mean high spring tide and closer to mean
sea level. They noted that platform elevation tends to increase
both with exposure to wave action and with the depth of water
immediately in front of the platform.
A level of agreement has emerged with respect to controls
on the elevation of near-horizontal platforms, but no such
consistency is apparent with respect to platform width. Several
studies have noted that wider platforms occur where rock re-
sistance is lowest (e.g., Agar, 1960; Everard et al., 1964;
Takahashi, 1977). Similarly, the narrowest platforms commonly
occur where more resistant rocks limit the extent of platform
widening. However, in some areas resistant rocks are associ-
ated with wider platforms, whereas less resistant rocks have
narrower platforms (e.g., Edwards, 1941; So, 1965). Similar
discordance exists with respect to exposure to wave energy,
because width is commonly greater where wave exposure is
greater (e.g., Swan, 1971; Trenhaile, 1972), but in some in-
stances wider platforms actually occur in sheltered embay-
ments (e.g., Edwards, 1941; Hills, 1949; Bird and Dent, 1966).
A number of factors obfuscate platformwidth relationships.
For instance, some shore platforms may have been formed
over more than one sea-level cycle (e.g., Brooke et al., 1994).
Another issue concerns the assumption that the seaward edge
of shore platforms marks the origin of platform cutting. Many
early researchers considered the possibility that the seaward
scarp of near-horizontal platforms might retreat (e.g., Bar-
trum, 1926; Jutson, 1939; Edwards, 1951; Hills, 1949). On
aeolianite coasts the edge of shore platforms can be seen to be
undercut with many dislodged blocks in front of the platform
(e.g., Gill, 1972; Dickson and Woodroffe, 2005). Blocks in
front of the seaward scarp can be seen in other lithologies also,
but as Stephenson (2000) pointed out, because of the slow
rate of change, it is not always clear whether these blocks have
been sourced from the seaward scarp or the landward cliff.
Sunamura (1992) noted that there has been little con-
sideration of wave dynamics on the seaward edge of shore
Rock Coasts 299
platforms. He described the results of laboratory experiments
(Sunamura, 1991) that show that the submerged part of a
homogenous cliff is free from erosion, because the assailing
force of breaking waves decreases exponentially with water
depth. Sunamura (1992) further pointed out that following
storms, field observations show that seaward scarps com-
monly remain covered in marine flora/fauna. He concluded
that the seaward scarp does not recede under present sea level
provided that platforms are cut in insoluble rocks without
significant lithological structures. This latter proviso is par-
ticularly important, for in many situations shore platform
development occurs in areas where there are significant
lithological structures. Despite this, most recent studies of
shore platforms in microtidal settings assume that the seaward
edge has remained stationary over the course of platform de-
velopment. This is clearly not the case in the Bay of Islands
(North Island, New Zealand), where joints generally run
parallel to the cliff face and have been heavily eroded, in some
instances causing a platform to be completely dissected,
causing a decrease in platform width (Kennedy et al., 2010).
Significant erosion of the seaward edge of platforms affords
one possible explanation for anomalous relationships be-
tween platform width and exposure to wave energy, although
many other factors could be important from site to site.
A second important matter in respect to the seaward scarp
concerns the issue of preservation. It is possible along short
sections of coast in which the tidal range is micro or low
mesotidal, to observe platforms with very gentle slopes alter-
nating between areas that have a clearly marked seaward scarp
and those that descend beneath sea level without a clear edge
(e.g., Healy, 1968; Stephenson and Kirk, 2001). Gill (1972)
noted that the seaward edge is generally preserved where rock
resistance is higher, and Bird and Dent (1966) commented
that local availability of abrasive material seems to be im-
portant. In addition to distinguishing a critical condition be-
tween plunging cliffs and shore platforms, the data collected
by Tsujimoto (1987) also provides for discrimination between
sloping (Type-A) and near-horizontal (Type-B) platforms. In
rocks of lesser resistance the seaward edge is destroyed by wave
attack leading to the sloping form.
10.11.3.2.2 Sloping platforms
A strong positive correlation occurs between tidal range and
the gradient of sloping platforms (Trenhaile, 1974, 1987).
Seaward scarps generally do not form in high mesotidal set-
tings (tidal range 3 to 4 m) and are absent from macrotidal
environments regardless of rock type. Sloping shore platforms
have been the subject of many conceptual models. A widely
held view of their development follows the theoretical work of
Challinor (1949) who proposed that such platforms might
retreat self-parallel, with constant geometry, provided that
rates of downcutting are sufficiently rapid to allow continued
wave attack at the cliff toe. Several mathematical models
subsequently expanded on this work. Flemming (1965) sim-
plified the important processes involved in self-parallel retreat
by neglecting the possible effects of rock weathering, tidal
movement, and beach development. The model implied that
cliff recession decreases with time but never ceases. By con-
trast, the equations developed by Sunamura (1978a, b, 1992)
imply that erosion rates decline over time and eventually
300 Rock Coasts
become zero when the wave assailing force is below the re-
sistance of the cliff rock. This suggests that platform geometry
becomes wider and flatter as rock resistance decreases, al-
though the model does not account for weathering, or the
accumulation of beach materials, or the effect of tide range. In
contrast Trenhaile (1983) specifically modeled the effects of
variable rates of erosion at different tidal levels. Again the
model showed that initial rates of platform development are
rapid, but eventually that rates of erosion at high and low tidal
levels become similar, resulting in an equilibrium morph-
ology. Walkden and Hall (2005) and Walkden and Dickson
(2008) recently explored the development of sloping plat-
forms in soft rocks using a numerical model, and reached a
conclusion similar to that of early conceptual models: erosion
rates decrease asymptotically from some initial condition (e.g.,
a vertical cliff), and eventually the sloping rock shore profile
dynamically adjusts to wave forcing but over time maintains a
similar profile, provided that boundary conditions are con-
stant. Similar equilibrium profiles develop with stable sea level
in Trenhailes (2010b) cohesive-clay coast model.
Field studies have shown that the size and amount of debris
on sloping platforms leads to changes in the platform profile
(Robinson, 1977a, b, c). On chalk cliffs, more elevated plat-
forms were noted in embayments near Kent, England (UK)
because sand in embayments resulted in wave runup accessing
higher parts of the cliff than on headlands (Wood, 1968).
However, the reverse situation has also been noted on the Isle
of Thanet in Kent (So, 1965), where lower platform surfaces
have been attributed to the abrasive role of sediment in low-
ering platforms. Wright (1970) noted that alongshore variation
in the cliffplatform junction on the southern coast of England
generally correlates with changes in tidal range, but the lo-
cations of more resistant strata are also important (Wright,
1967). Similarly, Trenhaile (1972) showed that in the Vale of
Glamorgan, Wales, the elevation of the cliffplatform junction
increases as the magnitude of tidal range increases, but con-
siderable variability is owing to differences in local lithology.
10.11.3.3 Inheritance
Understanding the role of inheritance in rock coast evolution is
one of the most significant problems in rock coast research
(Trenhaile, 2002). Several studies have shown that because of
the slow rate of change of rock coasts, shore platform morph-
ology observed today may have been partly formed during the
Last Interglacial or before (Bird and Dent, 1966; Woodroffe
et al., 1992; Young and Bryant, 1993; Brooke et al., 1994; Stone
et al., 1996; Trenhaile et al., 1999; Blanco Chao et al., 2003;
Gomez-Pujol et al., 2006). Although based on measurements of
relatively rapid erosion rates, Kirk (1977), and later Stephenson
and Kirk (1998) argued that the shore platforms on Kaikoura
Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand are contemporary fea-
tures developed in the last 6000 to 7000 years.
It is important to consider if Holocene sea-level fluctu-
ations (where they occurred) influenced platform develop-
ment to any great extent. There have been few detailed studies
of the effect of Holocene sea-level change on rock coasts, al-
though the effect of a Holocene highstand on calcarenite
shore platform morphology is clear at Lord Howe Island
(Woodroffe et al., 1995; Dickson and Woodroffe, 2005), and
the possible effects of Holocene higher sea level have been
noted in Sydney, Australia (Kennedy, 2010). An analysis of
high-resolution, laser scan data from Shag Point, South Island,
New Zealand, which revealed the extent of two distinct sur-
faces, raises the possibility that Holocene sea-level movements
initiated platforms at more than one elevation (Palamara
et al., 2007).
Trenhaile (2010a) considered the issue of a higher Holo-
cene sea level using a numerical model. Interestingly, although
the model results supported previous work that showed a link
between tidal range and platform slope, and between rock
resistance and platform type, the model runs imply that
Holocene sea-level history provides a further reason for the
difference between sloping platforms and subhorizontal
platforms. This example highlights the importance of model-
ing as a valuable method for understanding longer term rock
coast development.
10.11.4 Rock Coast Modeling
Rock coasts develop very slowly and attempts to determine
modes and rates of long-term development are constrained by
the general absence of datable deposits and suitable dating
techniques. Many attempts have been made to model the
evolution of rock coasts (e.g., Trenhaile, 2003), although their
inherent complexity the product of myriad geological and
morphogenic factors makes it difficult to represent all the
variables that play a role in their development. Although
Sanders (1968) and Sunamura (1973, 1975) studied the
erosion of plaster and cement blocks in wave tanks and
flumes, most rock coast models have been mathematical and
focused on the two-dimensional development of coastal pro-
files, and especially with intertidal shore platforms and sub-
marine continental shelves.
10.11.4.1 Coastal Profiles
The first models of coastal profiles were qualitative, structured
within a cycle of erosion and based on the premise, which was
prevalent in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth
century, that submarine erosion is effective down to depths of
about 100 m or more, and thus able to produce extensive
marine surfaces while sea level is stationary (Ramsey, 1846;
Johnson, 1919). Davis (1896) inferred, in diagrammatic form,
that wave-eroded submarine surfaces become wider through
time while maintaining a constant gradient, whereas Johnson
(1919) proposed that surface gradients decrease, albeit at a
slow rate in the early stages of development, as surface width
increases. Conversely, Challinor (1949) thought that sub-
marine surfaces undergo parallel slope retreat, without any
change in width or gradient, as they migrate landward. Several
workers also suggested that shore platforms experience paral-
lel slope retreat (Edwards, 1941; Bird, 1968; Trenhaile, 1972).
These conceptual models were based on the assumption that
the negative feedback relationship between bottom gradient,
rates of wave attenuation, and the energy reaching the cliff

foot produces a constant rate of erosion at different elevations
within the intertidal zone.
Most of the early mathematical models were concerned
with erosion with constant sea level in tideless seas (Flem-
ming, 1965; Scheidegger, 1970; Sunamura, 1976, 1978a, b).
Trenhailes (1983) model calculated erosion rates at the high
and low tidal levels but did not consider rates at intermediate
elevations. Trenhaile and Layzells (1981) model was the first
to consider erosion within the intertidal zone, based on the
percentage frequency or total time each year that the water
surface, and consequently wave action, is at each intertidal
elevation (the tidal duration value).
Mathematical models developed in Japan related the rate of
cliff erosion (dx/dt) to the height of the waves at the cliff foot
and the compressive and impact strength of the rocks (Hor-
ikawa and Sunamura, 1967). Sunamura (1977) proposed that:
dx=dt p 1nfw =fr 1 that wave energy is expended within the intertidal zone, was
where dx/dt is the mean cliff erosion rate, fw is the assailing
force of the waves, and fr is the resisting force of the rocks. The
term fr can be approximated by (rgH/Sc) C, where r is the
density of sea water, g is the acceleration due to gravity, H is
the wave height at the cliff base, Sc is the compressive strength
of the rock, and C is a dimensionless constant. Tsujimoto
(1987) provided expressions for fw and fr based on wave
pressure and the longitudinal sound wave velocity in the rock
body, as well as nondimensional constants representing
abrasion and the effect of weathering. Although these in-
vestigations attempted to identify and quantify factors that
determine rates of cliff erosion, it is questionable whether
these simple variables can adequately represent the driving
and resisting forces. There are also many other variables to
consider, including the effect of tidal variations, which deter-
mine the frequency of wave attack at the cliff foot, the dip and
strike of the rock, and the presence, mobility and quantity of
cliff-foot deposits, and whether they function as protective or
erosive agents (Trenhaile, 1999). It is unlikely that math-
ematical equations can adequately represent the effect of
many of these factors, and rock coast models may therefore
have to continue to rely, at least in part, upon empirical data.
Field evidence indicates that most mechanical wave ero-
sion occurs through processes that are closely associated with
the water surface, including water hammer and air com-
pression in joints, bedding planes, and other rock crevices
(Sanders, 1968; Robinson, 1977a; Trenhaile, 1987). Trenhaile
(2000) developed a wave-erosion model that used basic wave
equations to explore the interaction between wave dynamics,
tidal regimes (tidal range, tidal duration distribution), rock
resistance, coastal morphology, and erosion at the shoreline.
The model predicted that, under stable sea-level conditions,
shore platform width increases and gradient decreases until a
state of static equilibrium is reached, when the attenuated
waves at each tidal elevation are unable to erode the rock.
Because the breaker depth is related to the wave height, high
waves expend more of their energy in crossing wide, turbulent
surf zones than lower waves crossing narrow surf zones; con-
sequently, there was no consistent relationship in the model
runs between the width of the shore platforms and deep water
wave height.
Rock Coasts 301
The present morphology of slowly changing rock coasts is
also the result of Quaternary changes in sea level, and in many
areas changes in the elevation of the land. Scheidegger (1962,
1970) and King (1963) modeling the effect of steadily rising
and falling sea level on rock coasts, and Sunamura (1978b)
modeling the development of erosional continental shelves,
albeit in a tideless sea, during the Holocene transgression. The
effect of different Holocene relative sea-level curves, which are
characteristic of different geographic locations, was examined
by Trenhaile and Byrne (1986), based on Trenhailes (1983)
wave erosional model, and the same model was used to in-
vestigate the formation of continental shelves and wide coastal
terraces with changing sea level over five glacialinterglacial
cycles (Trenhaile, 1989). Cinque et al. (1995) and Anderson
et al. (1999) included, in addition to Quaternary changes in
sea level, the effect of tectonic uplift on marine terrace for-
mation. Trenhailes (2000) model, which considered the way
used to study: (1) the effect of high sea level during the last
two interglacial sea stages on contemporary intertidal shore
platforms (Trenhaile, 2001a); (2) the evolution of shore
platforms and erosional continental and volcanic island
shelves during the Quaternary (Trenhaile, 2001b; Quartau
et al., 2010); (3) the formation of subaerial and submarine
terraces during the Quaternary on tectonically mobile coasts
(Trenhaile, 2002); and (4) the effect of Holocene changes in
relative sea level on subaerial to submarine profiles (Trenhaile,
2010a). The main conclusions of these investigations were
that:
1. Shore platforms are over-steepened and truncated by fall-
ing and rising sea level during the onset and end of glacial
stages, respectively, and then modified and restored to a
state of quasiequilibrium during the ensuing interglacials,
largely by erosion at the high tidal level (Trenhaile, 2001b).
2. Marine terraces are formed during interglacial stages on
rising landmasses and during glacial stages on subsiding
landmasses. The number of terraces increases with the rate
of uplift and subsidence and with the slope of the land
(Trenhaile, 2002).
3. Although tidal range is also important, falling relative
sea level from its mid-Holocene maximum, 1 to 2 m above
its present level, promoted subhorizontal platform devel-
opment in Australasia and over much of the Southern
Hemisphere, whereas the asymptotic rise in sea level over
much of the Northern Hemisphere promoted the devel-
opment of sloping platforms (Trenhaile, 2010a).
Most rock coast modeling has been concerned with
mechanical wave erosion on sloping platforms in mega to
mesotidal environments, and the additional effect of wea-
thering has only been considered recently. Downwearing data
from transverse arrays of microerosion meters was incorpor-
ated into a model that considered the role of weathering in
conjunction with wave quarrying, abrasion, and beach devel-
opment (Trenhaile, 2005), and in a wave erosional model
to investigate the development of sloping and horizontal
shore platforms (Trenhaile, 2008a, b). Other models have
considered the effect of weathering, acting alone, in shore
platform development (Trenhaile, 2001c, 2004b). These
models suggested that weathering is unable to produce wide
302 Rock Coasts
shore platforms by itself, although it can play an important
direct role in lowering and widening wave-cut surfaces, as well
as facilitating wave quarrying by acting along joints and other
rock discontinuities, and by lowering platform surfaces, re-
ducing rates of wave attenuation.
Many coasts are composed of rocks that break down into
clays and other fine-grained particles that are carried offshore,
or of rocks that break down too slowly to produce extensive
sandy or pebble beaches. Nevertheless, there is commonly a
thin strip of sand or pebble at the cliff foot, or in small pockets
trapped against scarps or in topographic depressions, and
some rocky intertidal zones are covered entirely in beach
sediment. The occurrence and morphodynamics of platform-
beaches has received little attention in the literature, although
many beaches have a rock foundation and will therefore re-
spond in a different way to storms and rising sea level than
beaches on entirely depositional coasts. Trenhaile (2004c)
modeled beaches on shore platforms to determine the con-
ditions under which deposition takes place, and how plat-
form-beaches adjust to changing wave conditions. The model
was based on the assumptions that: sediment accumulation
occurs where the local gradient of the platform is lower than
the gradient of the beach face (which depends on grain size,
breaker height, and wave period); and deposition takes place
on the most landward of the suitable sites. Consequently, if
the surface is linear and has a gradient that is lower than the
beach face for the prevailing wave conditions, sediment ac-
cumulates at the cliff foot, and then, depending on sediment
availability, extends increasingly seaward. On concave and
convex platform profiles, accumulation begins on the gently
sloping, seaward portions and on the more gently sloping
landward portions, respectively, as long as these local gradi-
ents are lower than the beach face gradient. During storms,
platform-beaches become thinner and more gently sloping
and, depending on such factors as sediment grain size, plat-
form gradient, wave characteristics, and storm duration, may
disappear completely. The model suggested that because
platform and sandy beach face gradients are generally similar,
only a small proportion of the material eroded from the cliff
and platform can be stored in the intertidal zone. The beach-
platform model was also used as a component of a wave
erosional-weathering model to predict spatial and temporal
variations in the protection afforded to the underlying rock
surface by thick beach deposits and the abrasive effects of
thinner accumulations (Trenhaile, 2005).
The term soft rock is commonly used to refer to cohesive
clays, shales, and other weak or weathered materials. Cohesive
clay coasts represent a soft rock subset of a broad spectrum
of rock coast processes and forms, with cliffs and shore plat-
forms that are similar to those in quasihomogeneous shales.
Soft rock coasts experience fairly rapid coastal erosion
and the consequent threat to human life, and property has
generated a need for predictive bluff recession and other ero-
sional models with constant and rising lake and sea levels
(Bray and Hooke, 1997; Kamphuis, 1986; Nairn et al., 1986;
Sallenger et al., 2005; Lee, 2005; Collins and Sitar, 2008;
Hapke et al., 2009).
Several attempts have been made to model the effect of
changing sea level on soft rock coasts (Dar and Dar, 2009).
Walkden and Halls (2005) model was partly based on
Kamphuiss (1986) erosional equation and described a broad
coastal system that could be perturbed to represent manage-
ment interventions and climate change (Dickson et al., 2007).
Walkden and Dickson (2008) used the model to explore the
effects of sea-level rise on soft-rock shores with little beach
sediment. Ashton et al. (2011) reproduced the basic finding of
Walkden and Dickson (2008) and used a simpler model to
discuss the potential responses of different types of cliffed
coasts to changes in the rate of sea-level rise. Trenhailes
(2009) model combined elements of previous hard rock
models (Trenhaile, 2000, 2001a) with additional expressions
representing the effect of wave-generated bottom shear stres-
ses, and depending on beach thickness, determined using
Trenhailes (2004c) model, the abrasional or protective role of
beach material. This combined model has also been used to
study the effect of rising sea level and increased storminess on
hard and soft rock coasts (Trenhaile, 2010a, b, 2011).
10.11.4.2 Plan Shape
Much less work has been conducted on the plan shape than
on the sectional shape of rock coasts, or in integrating changes
in the vertical and horizontal planes. Many rocky coasts have
an irregular plan shape consisting of protruding headlands
and intervening fiord or ria inlets, or shallower bays that are
commonly occupied by bay-head beaches. Crenulated estu-
arine coasts were created by the drowning of river valleys by
rising sea level during the Holocene, and their morphology is
not directly related to differences in the resistance of the rocks
to erosion, although river valleys frequently develop along
faultlines or other zones of structural or lithological weakness.
In southeastern Australia, for example, the length of estuarine-
bays is related to the area of the associated drainage basins,
and their size depends upon the stream order at the coast and
the degree to which the sea has penetrated into the drainage
network (Bishop and Cowell, 1997). Conversely, bays that are
not at the mouth of river valleys are generally produced by
differential erosion of material that is weaker than in the ad-
jacent headlands. Variations in erosional efficacy along a coast
may reflect the occurrence of different rock strata striking at
high angles to the coast, the presence of folded rocks, faulting,
or more subtle, and harder to distinguish, variations in rock
structure. The amount of debris that accumulates at the foot of
a cliff, protecting it from erosion, is partly determined by the
height of the cliff. This factor is of little importance in clays
and other fine-grained materials that are quickly broken up
and carried offshore in suspension, but it can play an im-
portant role in rocks, that because of joint density and bed
thickness, break down into large rock fragments that remain at
the cliff foot for years. Therefore, variations in cliff height can
influence cliff recession rates, and because of low cliffs around
the mouths of rivers, cause bays to develop without any
marked alongshore variation in the resistance of the rock to
erosion.
The long-term development of crenulated coasts is gov-
erned by several important feedback mechanisms. As bays
develop along outcrops of weaker material, offshore gradients
become much lower than off the adjacent headlands and
the waves are consequently more attenuated in the bays.

Additionally, as the bays become deeper, wave refraction in-
creasingly concentrates wave energy on the headlands and
reduces it in the bays; bay erosion may be further inhibited by
the accumulation of eroded material in bay-head beaches.
Therefore, theory suggests that crenulated coasts eventually
attain a state of equilibrium, whereby stronger, less attenuated
and refracted waves erode largely bare cliff foots on headlands
at the same rate as weaker, more attenuated and refracted
waves erode beach-protected cliffs in bays (Johnson, 1919;
Muir-Wood, 1971; Komar, 1976; Philpott, 1984). It might be
expected that the depth of the bays would increase with the
difference in the erosional resistance of the rocks in the bays
and headlands, and decrease with the distance between the
headlands.
The development of crenulated coasts has important im-
plications for the prediction and mitigation of cliff erosion,
and particularly for anticipating the effect of rising sea level.
We lack reliable long-term records of episodic cliff recession
on crenulated coasts, however, and it is not known whether
these coasts trend toward equilibrium or whether there has
been enough time for such states to have developed. Fur-
thermore, it cannot be assumed that coasts become increas-
ingly crenulated, albeit at a decreasing rate, until an
equilibrium is attained. Profile adjustment to changing sea
level during the Quaternary would have disturbed any simple
trend toward an equilibrium state (Trenhaile, 2002) and cre-
nulated coasts are also affected in many areas by tectonic or
isostatic adjustments in the elevation of the land.
Small amounts of abrasive beach material can increase
rates of cliff and platform erosion in bays, but large amounts
may protect the cliff and allow erosion of the exposed head-
lands to reduce the degree of crenulation; this could eventu-
ally permit bay-head sediment to escape alongshore.
Therefore, beaches may play an important role in the devel-
opment of rocky coasts where there is a copious supply of
beach material from rivers or from rapidly eroding cliffs, and
particularly where, as on plate collision coasts, the rocks are
fairly homogeneous alongshore, and the plan shape presents
few obstacles to longshore transport. It has been proposed
that longshore variations in beach width, and consequently in
cliff and shore platform abrasion and protection, may provide
an additional explanation for the development of crenulated
coasts which does not depend upon differences in the resist-
ance of the rocks to erosion. Preliminary numerical modeling
suggests that variations in the alongshore distribution of
beach sediment may result in self-organization of headlands,
and that the headlands and intervening stretches of cliff-
backed pocket beaches all retreat at the same rate (Limber
et al., 2008, 2009).
10.11.5 Conclusions
Rock coasts dominate the worlds shorelines and will face
significant pressure from increasing development and occu-
pation, and sea-level rise predicted by climate warming
models. A resurgence in research activity in the last 15 years
has resulted in significant advances in our understanding of
the role of different processes and rates of development. The
application of new technologies and methods such as
Rock Coasts 303
terrestrial laser scanning, cosmogenic dating, and wave re-
cording, is improving our understanding of these common
coastal landforms. However, significant challenges remain
particularly in terms of representing rock resistance to erosion
processes across a range of scales, unraveling inheritance, and
the long term evolution of cliffs and shore platforms. Further
field-based investigations of surf zone hydrodynamics are re-
quired to better understand the erosional effectiveness of wave
processes and the significance, if any, of infragravity energy on
rock coasts. The role of weathering and biological processes in
reducing rock resistance still has not been fully explained. For
example, the relative contributions of bioerosion, protection,
and construction at any one site should be assessed. Further
modeling will aid in predicting how rock coasts respond to
climate change and sea-level rise.
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Biographical Sketch

Wayne Stephenson is currently a Senior Lecturer in Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. From
1999 to 2010 he was a member of the Geography Department at the University of Melbourne in Australia. He holds a PhD and MSc from the University of
Canterbury. His research is focussed on the geomorphology of rock coasts.

Dr. Mark Dickson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment, University of Auckland. He studied Geography at Massey University before completing a
PhD at the University of Wollongong where he studied the geomorphic evolution of hard rock shorelines around Lord Howe Island. Mark worked as a
postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol where he modelled the effects of climate change on rapidly eroding soft-rock coasts. He then returned to
New Zealand on a FRST Postdoctoral Fellowship and worked at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research modeling on chronically eroding
gravel shorelines. Mark has been at the University of Auckland since 2008. His current research interests include cliff erosion and shore platform devel-
opment, prograded barrier coasts and chenier plains, gravel coasts, and a range of coastal management issues associated with these landforms.

Alan Trenhaile (BSc, PhD, DSc) grew up in Abertillery, South Wales (UK). He was an undergraduate and graduate
student in the Geography Department of University College Swansea (now Swansea University), a constituent
college of the University of Wales. Upon completion of his doctorate, which was on the wide shore platforms
along the northern coast of the megatidal Severn Estuary, he accepted a position in the University of Windsor,
Ontario, Canada, where he now holds the title University Prof. in the Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences. He has continued to work on various aspects of rock coasts. In addition to mathematical modeling of
hard and soft rock coastal evolution with changes in relative sea level and climate, his recent work, in the field and
through laboratory experiments, has been concerned with the processes operating on the sloping and horizontal
shore platforms of eastern Canada. Work is also being conducted in several other areas, including near La Paz,
Mexico, in the southern Baja Peninsula, Galicia in northwestern Spain, and on several island archipelagos in the
Atlantic Ocean. In addition to many research papers and several edited volumes, Dr. Trenhaile is the author of a
number of books, including: The Geomorphology of Rock Coasts (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK);
Coastal Dynamics and Landforms (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK); The Geomorphology of Canada
(Oxford University Press, Toronto); and Geomorphology: a Canadian Perspective (Oxford University Press,
Toronto), which is now in its fourth edition.