Bench (geology)

In geomorphology, a bench or benchland is a long, narrow strip of fairly level or gently sloping land that is bounded above and below by distinctly steeper slopes. Benches have several different origins. Differences in hardness between rock or sediment layers can leave structural benches through differential erosion. Narrow fluvial terraces form when a river abandons its floodplain and cuts down into the valley. A narrow flat area at the base of a sea cliff, cut by waves or other erosion near the shoreline, is called a coastal bench, wave-cut bench or wave-cut platform. In mining the same word names a narrow, step-like strip cut into the wall of an open-pit mine to give access for working it.