Wave-Cut Platform, California

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

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Location: 34^o 30' N, 120^o 15' W (approximately)

Waves lost their ability to erode at a depth about equal to half the distance between wave crests (or half their wavelength). When waves attack a rocky coast, they cause the cliffs to retreat, but leave a shallow flat rocky surface called a platform. In this winter view, storms have swept the beach sand into deeper water, exposing the planed off rock layers. When gentler conditions return in the summer, the waves will wash sand back onto the platform and re-build the beach.

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Original Scene

(author's image)

Possible Coloring

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Created 19 February 2008, Last Update 15 January 2020