seaterrace

Seaterrace is a coastal landform characterized by a series of uplifted, wave-cut platforms that run parallel to the shoreline. The term describes a stair-step sequence of benches created when the coast has experienced uplift relative to sea level and prolonged wave action cuts into bedrock or sediment.

Formation results from a combination of tectonic uplift, sea-level change during climatic cycles, and sediment dynamics. As land rises or sea level falls, previously formed shore platforms are raised above the current sea line, preserving older benches as seaterraces. Over time, wave abrasion, weathering, and deposition create a stepped landscape with discrete levels, each reflecting a past sea level position or uplift increment.

Seaterrace is found on many coastlines with active tectonics or dynamic sea-level histories. Notable concentrations occur along convergent or transform margins, including sections of the Pacific coast and shores in parts of the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean basins. The height of terraces varies widely, from a few meters to several tens of meters above present sea level, depending on local uplift rates and sea-level history.

Geologists study seaterrace to infer uplift rates, past sea levels, and regional tectonics. Dating of terrace surfaces and associated deposits provides a record of coastal evolution. Ecologically, terraces host distinct habitats above the shore, and in some areas their soils support agricultural activities or forest formation, contributing to regional land-use patterns.

See also: marine terrace, coastal geomorphology.