Which landform is formed by wave action carving cliffs and leaving a platform at the base?

Which landform is formed by wave action carving cliffs and leaving a platform at the base?

• A. Wave-Cut Platform
• B. Tombolo
• C. Well-Mixed Estuary
• D. Autotroph

Answer: (A)

Waves concentrate their energy at the base of cliffs, eroding rock to form a notch. As this undercuts the cliff, pieces can collapse and the cliff retreats landward. The debris is worn away, leaving a flat, bench-like surface at the base called a wave-cut platform. This landform is specifically produced by the action of waves eroding the cliff and the resulting collapse that creates the platform. Other options don’t describe this process: a tombolo is a spit of sediment linking an island to the mainland, not a platform at a cliff base; a well-mixed estuary refers to how fresh and salt water blend in a river mouth, not a cliff-derived platform; an autotroph is a living organism, not a physical landform.

Waves concentrate their energy at the base of cliffs, eroding rock to form a notch. As this undercuts the cliff, pieces can collapse and the cliff retreats landward. The debris is worn away, leaving a flat, bench-like surface at the base called a wave-cut platform. This landform is specifically produced by the action of waves eroding the cliff and the resulting collapse that creates the platform.

Other options don’t describe this process: a tombolo is a spit of sediment linking an island to the mainland, not a platform at a cliff base; a well-mixed estuary refers to how fresh and salt water blend in a river mouth, not a cliff-derived platform; an autotroph is a living organism, not a physical landform.