Abstract
This paper reviews Japanese and alien studies during the past decade, of coastal cliff recession and its related phenomena such as (1) wave-cut platform formation and its defor-mation, (2) abrasion platform development and (3) the process of continental shelf formation having erosional origin, and points out basic, important problems involved in these studies from the viewpoint of rock control theory.
The review of the cliff erosion studies refers to recent measuring techniques, field investigations and laboratory experiments; it emphasizes (1) usefulness of aerial photo-graphs in collecting precise data of recession and (2) significance of wave tank experi-ments especially in clarifying basic relation involved in the erosional process. In a sum-mary of the studies of wave-cut platform, they are classified into the two: one is the studies discussing the mechanism of horizontal development in the field or laboratory, and the other the process of vertical deformation of platform surface in the field. Concerning the development of actual abrasion platform, the following topics are mentioned: (1) critical water depth for submarine bedrock erosion, (2) rate of abrasion of shallow water bedrocks, and (3) horizontal growth of abrasion platform. The last section of this paper focuses on a model of continental shelf formation, which was framed up by considering a combination of cliff recession and the postglacial transgression.
