Wave Cut Platforms

Kaikoura is built on limestone which has been eroded by the sea to give rock platforms. The one in the picture is about 1,000 years old, a mere blink in geological time. The top of the cliff to the right is an older platform (40,000 years) and there is a further one within half a mile. They occur because of the uplift of the land which is happening more quickly here than elsewhere in NZ, at about 10mm per year in the mountains behind the town. The power of the plates!