Themes

What is a Cliff?

The coastal formation is called a cliff, which is a direct product of natural erosion , related to fluctuations in the relative sea level and changes in climatic conditions that occurred a few million years ago. Cliff

That is to say, they are steep walls that are found on the coasts of almost the entire world, sculpted by the slow but constant action of sea water, through waves and tides, and also by rain, which after a long period of time hits the rock. , ends up “sculpting” it, originating high and steep coasts, a direct result of maritime erosion.

Said formation is, in a broader sense, part of the construction and destruction work carried out by the sea in coastal areas, in charge of “drawing” the different cuts that the border between land and water has on our planet. Cliff

This action of the sea on the rock is called marine abrasion.

The products (sediments) derived from the erosion of the cliffs will be transported by the sea, going to be deposited in a nearby area, giving rise to beaches, sandbanks and tokens.

There are two types of cliffs, classified according to the influence of the erosive process: living cliffs, where this process still operates, and dead cliffs, where the erosive process has already ceased.

Dead cliffs provide clues to ocean activity and show how far the sea has advanced. Cliff

The cliff is one of the units that make up a coastal landscape, such as beaches, dunes, mangroves, estuaries, marine terraces, lagoons, lagoons, and that are interconnected by energies that keep these components in constant transformation.

Poorly planned interference by man in one of these units (the so-called anthropic actions) can cause negative environmental impacts, of great magnitude and permanent, as well as a series of damages in the other units, even without being directly linked to the same anthropic actions. Cliff

Anthropic activities in these areas should be characterized as risky, as they can cause landslides and landslides, as well as contamination of groundwater.

Such natural vertical barriers prevent a greater advance of the sea in that land where they are, and present a remarkable diversity, both due to the composition of the rock that gives rise to the formation and because of the height of some of these cliffs, which in Brazil reach the 20 meters high. Cliff

From Amapá to Rio de Janeiro, red cliffs predominate, formed from sandstone terrain. In the south of the country, dark cliffs, carved from granite, are more common.

In addition to the slopes near the sea, geologists also study walls up to 2 kilometers from the coast (the so-called dead cliffs). Cliff

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button