Coastal and Oceanic Landform (05.Arch)

05.Arch                                                                                                                            Back to Coastal and Oceanic Landform

Sea Arch, California

• Natural bridge as a "natural arch that spans a valley of erosion.
• Arch called as;

                            -Natural arch 
                             -Natural bridge
                             -Rock arch

• Most natural arches form as a narrow bridge, walled by cliffs.

• Sea arch formed as result of the erosional process of the bed rock.

A diagram- the sequence of arch formation.

• Shape

                  -Arcuate shape
                  -Rectangular shape

• Height- up to 10m above sea level.

• Two highway arches are found in Kentucky.

                    1.Carter Caves State Park.

                    2.Natural Bridge State Resort Park in Kentucky(White's Branch Arch).

                    3.Ponoarele village, in Romania.

• Nathural bridges form natural limeston

The Green Bridge of Wales, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

The Arch of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.

Arches of Weather Eroded 

• Deep cracks penetrate into a sandstone layer.
• Erosion wears away exposed rock layers.
• Enlarges cracks of the surface.
• Isolating narrow sandstone walls or fins.
• Frosts and thawing cause crumbling and flaking of the porous sandstone.
• Eventually cut through some of the fins. 
• The resulting holes become enlarged to arch.
• Arches eventually collapse, leaving only buttresses that in time will erode.
• These arches can found;

                                    1.Arches National Park and Rainbow Bridge

                                    2.National Monument in Utah.

The Delicate Arch in Arches National Park,Utah, United States.

Arch in Timna valley Park in the Negev Desert, Israel.

Rainbow Bridge in Navajo Nation in Utah, United States