Which coastal feature is a flat, wave-eroded surface?

• A. Beach face
• B. Swash
• C. Wave-cut Bench
• D. Berm

Answer: (C)

A wave-cut bench is created by long-term erosion at the base of a cliff, producing a flat, wave-eroded surface that extends seaward as the cliff retreats. Waves continually attack the rock at the cliff base, undercutting and carving a notch; as this process wears away material, a relatively level platform remains where erosion is most intense. This terrace sits at or just below the waterline, often visible at low tide and submerged at high tide. The beach face is the sloping part of the beach, swash is the water that runs up a beach after a wave breaks, and a berm is a raised ridge formed by deposited sediment. So the flat, wave-eroded surface is the wave-cut bench.