Story: Coastal erosion
Large waves pound the exposed Fiordland coastline, but these hard, rocky shores are resistant, and erode slowly. The fiords formed when sea levels rose, flooding the U-shaped glacial valleys. Most coastal erosion problems in New Zealand occur on soft shores (sand or gravel) that are exposed to the open sea, rather than hard rocky shores. The landslides visible in this picture were caused by the weather.
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GNS Science
Photograph by Graham Hancox
Permission of GNS Science must be obtained before any use of this image
