• During the Ice Age large amounts of water were stored as ice and snow, causing the sea levels to fall.

• This exposed areas to erosion.

• After the Ice Age, when the ice and snow melted, many coastal areas were flooded.

• These rises and falls in sea level have created landforms such as drowned coasts and raised beaches.

Raised Beaches:

• Caused by pre-glacial erosion of a coastline.

• During the Ice Age the sea levels fall leaving the old coastline high above the present sea level.

• Since the end of the Ice Age sea levels have risen again, but not to their previous levels.

• The raised beaches continue to be above the present sea level by quite a distance.

Drowned Coasts

• Sea Level rise after the last Ice Age caused estuaries and inlets to be flooded.

• This occurred in South West England, drowning many river valleys around the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, and creating Rias.

• In other, more northern areas, glacial valleys were drowned to create Fjords.