What is "raised beach"

Raised \Raised\ (r[=a]zd), a.

1. Lifted up; showing above the surroundings; as, raised or embossed metal work.

2. Leavened; made with leaven, or yeast; -- used of bread, cake, etc., as distinguished from that made with cream of tartar, soda, etc. See Raise, v. t., 4.

   Raised beach. See under Beach, n.

Beach \Beach\ (b[=e]ch), n.; pl. Beaches (-[e^]z). [Cf. Sw. backe hill, Dan. bakke, Icel. bakki hill, bank. Cf. Bank.]

1. Pebbles, collectively; shingle.

2. The shore of the sea, or of a lake, which is washed by the waves; especially, a sandy or pebbly shore; the strand.

   Beach flea (Zo["o]l.), the common name of many species of amphipod Crustacea, of the family Orchestid[ae], living on the sea beaches, and leaping like fleas.

   Beach grass (Bot.), a coarse grass ( Ammophila arundinacea), growing on the sandy shores of lakes and seas, which, by its interlaced running rootstocks, binds the sand together, and resists the encroachment of the waves.

   Beach wagon, a light open wagon with two or more seats.

   Raised beach, an accumulation of water-worn stones, gravel, sand, and other shore deposits, above the present level of wave action, whether actually raised by elevation of the coast, as in Norway, or left by the receding waters, as in many lake and river regions.

A raised beach , marine terrace, coastal terrace, or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin, mostly an old abrasion platform which has been lifted out of the sphere of wave activity (sometimes called "tread"). Thus, it lies above or under the current sea level, depending on the time of its formation. It is bounded by a steeper ascending slope on the landward side and a steeper descending slope on the seaward side (sometimes called "riser"). Due to its generally flat shape it is often used for anthropogenic structures such as settlements and infrastructure.

A raised beach is an emergent coastal landform. Raised beaches and marine terraces are beaches or wave-cut platforms raised above the shoreline by a relative fall in the sea level.

Around the world, a combination of tectonic coastal uplift and Quaternary sea-level fluctuations has resulted in the formation of marine terrace sequences, most of which were formed during separate interglacial highstands that can be correlated to marine isotope stages (MIS).

A marine terrace commonly retains a shoreline angle or inner edge, the slope inflection between the marine abrasion platform and the associated paleo sea-cliff. The shoreline angle represents the maximum shoreline of a transgression and therefore a paleo-sea level.