Abstract
Rock coasts constitute the majority of the world's shorelines and result largely from erosive processes. Rates of erosion vary from almost nil to tens of meters per year. Cliff and shore platforms are the most common landform types but even these display significant variations in morphology depending on sea-level history, tidal range, the relative contributions of marine and subaerial processes, and geological properties of the rock. Smaller scale features such as stacks and arches are important elements and contribute significantly to landscape values and subsequently, tourism economies. The evolutionary history of rock coasts is difficult to reconstruct because of their erosional origin but modeling and cosmogenic nuclide age dating has revealed much about how such coastlines have developed over the latter part of the Pleistocene and Holocene.