HOW DO WAVES ERODE
CLIFFS?
A cliff is a steep rock facing the sea or ocean. Cliffs
are made up of both hard and soft rocks.
Can you give some examples of soft rocks and hard
rocks?
Examples of hard and soft
rocks
Soft rocks: sandstone, limestone, chalk.
Hard rocks: granite,
Processes:
1. Waves throw pebbles and lumps of rock at the
base of a cliff.
2. Breaking waves also squeeze the air trapped in
cracks and crevices in the rocks of the cliff.
3. When the waves pull back, the compressed are
explodes out; thus, weakening the rock.
4. Pieces of the rock begin to break off after a while.
Processes:
5. Seawater weakens or erodes soft rocks by slowly
dissolving them.
6. Eventually many structures are formed by the
action of waves.
Think about this?
Will soft rocks erode faster than hard rocks?
Why?
Structures formed by waves