Perched coastline

When you go to the beach, you see that the water of the ocean comes up to the sand. But in some places, the land is higher than the water and it looks like the ocean is sitting on a high shelf. This is called a perched coastline.

Imagine you are playing with sand on a table. You make a little hill of sand and then pour water around it. The water will go up to the base of the hill, but it won't go over the top because the hill is higher than the water level. This is just like what happens with a perched coastline, except on a much bigger scale.

The high land of a perched coastline is usually made of rock or other hard material. It's like a big wall that stops the water from coming up any further. Over time, the waves of the ocean can break away at the bottom of the wall, making a little gap for the water to come through. This is called a notch.

When there is a notch, the water can go through and hit the land behind the wall with a lot of force. This can cause erosion, where the land is slowly worn away by the ocean. Eventually, the land might give way and fall into the water. This makes the perched coastline a very interesting and dynamic place to explore!