3.2.7

Caves, Arches & Stacks

Test yourself

Caves, Arches and Stacks

Rock with lots of cracks and joints is called soft rock. Headlands are made of resistant rocks with not many weaknesses. As headlands are eroded, these landforms can be created:

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Caves

  • There are cracks, joints, and weaknesses in rocks.
  • When cracks get wider (because of hydraulic action, abrasion or attrition), they can become large enough to create a cave.
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Arches

  • Caves can be eroded from one side of the rock through the other.
  • This creates an arch.
  • You can see right through an arch to the other side of the rock.
  • Durdle Door (Dorset), Bow Fiddle Rock (Scotland), and the Green Bridge of Wales (Pembrokeshire) are the 3 most famous arches in the UK.
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Stacks

  • When the top of an arch collapses because of gravity, a column called a stack is left behind.

Jump to other topics

1The Challenge of Natural Hazards

1.1Natural Hazards

1.2Tectonic Hazards

1.3Weather Hazards

1.4Climate Change

2The Living World

3Physical Landscapes in the UK

3.1The UK Physical Landscape

3.2Coastal Landscapes in the UK

3.3River Landscapes in the UK

3.4Glacial Landscapes in the UK

4Urban Issues & Challenges

5The Changing Economic World

6The Challenge of Resource Management

6.1Resource Management

6.2Food

6.3Water

6.4Energy

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