. Shore processes and shoreline development . n the initialprofile will resemble that normally char-acteristic of a shoreline of emergence, andthe history of development will be thatappropriate for such a profile. Here wedeal only with the more usual case, in whichsubmergence permits the sea to come torest against the irregular and comparativelypronounced hill slopes of a submature,mature, or late mature land mass. Waves will at once attack the land atthis new level, their vertical zone of activityextending from a short distance below sea-level to a short distance above; because, aswe have alr
. Shore processes and shoreline development . n the initialprofile will resemble that normally char-acteristic of a shoreline of emergence, andthe history of development will be thatappropriate for such a profile. Here wedeal only with the more usual case, in whichsubmergence permits the sea to come torest against the irregular and comparativelypronounced hill slopes of a submature,mature, or late mature land mass. Waves will at once attack the land atthis new level, their vertical zone of activityextending from a short distance below sea-level to a short distance above; because, aswe have already seen, the forward dashingcrests of storm waves rise some feet abovemean water level, while the vigor of waveactivity dies out very rapidly below the waves do carry on a mildererosive activity at greater depths, the attacknear the surface level is so much morevigorous that it is fair to liken the sea to ahorizontal saw which cuts laterally into theland, the blade of the saw having a thick- 202 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHORE PROFILE. •3 ^ 03 YOUNG STAGE 203 ness which extends from a few feet above to a few feet belowsea level and being armed with breaking waves for teeth. Waveerosion soon cuts a notch in the edge of the sloping land, and thusdestroys the initial profile. The coarse debris resulting from thiserosion descends the underwater slope until it comes to rest asa submarine talus, where the water is deep enough to renderwave agitation mild and the slope is gentle enough to requiremuch agitation for the ready removal of coarse material. Young Stage. — Continued wave erosion soon pushes the notchso far into the land that the unsupported overhanging rock fallsdown under the influence of the forces of weathering, inclucUngthe action of gravity and rain wash on the face of the produces the wave-cut cliff {¥), in front of which is the wave-cut rock terrace called the bench {h). The eroded debris willbe added to the submarine talus (b^) if the shorefac
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