A flat platform formed at the base of a sea cliff is called a ____________.

A flat platform formed at the base of a sea cliff is called a ____________.

• A. Platform
• B. Terrace
• C. Beach
• D. Cliff

Answer: (B)

Waves eroding the base of a sea cliff carve a flat bench into the rock, leaving a level surface known as a terrace. This wave-cut terrace forms as the cliff face is attacked from below, creating a stable, flat platform that extends seaward. Over time, continued erosion and potential changes in sea level can leave this bench as a raised or still-at-sea-level flat surface, which coastal geographers label a terrace. A beach is loose sediment built up along the shore, not a carved rock bench; a cliff is the vertical rock face itself; and while a platform is a flat surface, the specific coastal feature at the base of a cliff is most accurately called a terrace.

Waves eroding the base of a sea cliff carve a flat bench into the rock, leaving a level surface known as a terrace. This wave-cut terrace forms as the cliff face is attacked from below, creating a stable, flat platform that extends seaward. Over time, continued erosion and potential changes in sea level can leave this bench as a raised or still-at-sea-level flat surface, which coastal geographers label a terrace. A beach is loose sediment built up along the shore, not a carved rock bench; a cliff is the vertical rock face itself; and while a platform is a flat surface, the specific coastal feature at the base of a cliff is most accurately called a terrace.