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Why cliffs are different shapes
The shape of a cliff depends on the kind of rocks that it is made from. Strong rocks give upright cliffs, while weak rocks give sloping cliffs. A mixture of hard and soft rocks gives cliffs that look like natural staircases.
The shape of a coast is made varied by the cliffs. Some cliffs are tall and rise vertically from the sea. Others are like natural staircases, while yet others are hummocky and gentle.
This variety in cliffs is not caused by the way the waves work, but by the kind of rock in the cliff.
Strong rock cliffs
Cliffs of strong rocks are usually tall and upright (picture ). The rocks behave like a wall, falling down only very occasionally when waves cut far enough into the bottom of the cliff.
Weak rock cliffs
Cliffs made of weak rocks cannot stand
up to the attack of the sea (picture 2). Because they are naturally weak, the rocks easily collapse and give frequent landslides and mudflows.
Natural staircase cliffs
Where hard and soft rocks lie in layers one on top of another, the hard rocks control the shape of the cliff (picture 3). You can see that the hard layers wear away less easily than the soft layers because they make the ledges that stand out of the cliff face.
F  This is Beachy Head, East Sussex, one of the tallest cliffs in the UK. The rock is chalk.
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