Seaside platform - seaside platform

A smooth rocky reef that is always below sea level and is seen in front of sea cliffs, is a wave-cut topography that gently slopes out to sea. It is also called a wave-cut platform. A sea-cut platform may be partially covered with gravel, but usually the bedrock is exposed, where seaweed grows and fish and shellfish are abundant. The surface of a sea-cut platform is selectively eroded by waves along geological structures such as faults, joints, and bedding, resulting in topography such as sea trenches and potholes. When a sea-cut platform rises from the water and becomes a plateau, it is called an uplifted sea-cut platform.

[Yoshinori Toyoshima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

つねに海面下にある平滑な岩礁地形で、海食崖(がい)の前面にみられ、緩やかに沖に向かって傾く波食地形。波食台ともいう。海食台には、部分的に砂礫(されき)が覆っている場合もあるが、通常は岩盤が露出して海藻が着生し、魚貝類が豊富にみられる。海食台の面には、断層、節理、層理などの地質構造に沿って、波の選択的な侵食作用が及び、海食溝やポットホール（かめ穴）などの地形がみられる。海食台が離水して台地化したものは隆起海食台という。

［豊島吉則］

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