Coasts are defined by the action of the sea upon them more than anything else. Coastal formations like sea stacks, arches, beaches, sea caves, stumps, and blowholes, are formed through the repeated pounding of the sea on a rocky coast.

The coast of Oregon and Washington, Cornwall in England, and the Norwegian Coast are some examples of places with many of these coastal formations.


Here is a Coastal Formations Worksheet for kids to label.
Here are the answers:
- Blow hole
- Fault or Joint
- Sea Cave
- Sea Arch
- Beach
- Sea Stack
- Stump
Additional Layers
- Books where sea caves figure largely into the plot include Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Over Sea, Under Stone.
- Concepts like Coastal Formations and other landforms are both science and geography. Geography is part science, part sociology, and part art.
- Another name for sea cave is littoral cave. Littoral caves are not always on the sea coast. Any cave that was formed by the sea in the past is a littoral cave. Learn about the littoral caves in Norway that are now more than 100 feet from the coast.
- Make a map of places in the world that have sea caves and stacks and arches. Here are a few: Normandy, France; Washington and Oregon Coast; Fingal Cave, Scotland; Blue Grotto, Capri; Phang Nga Bay, Thailand; Hawaii; Cornwall Coast, England; and Channel Islands, California.