<p>I would say they both require having rock over top of the water - so not just a water passage between two cliffs. For land caves, the distinction between a cave, a rock shelter, and an overhang generally depends on whether you can in get beyond view of the entrance, but for sea caves, that generally isn't how they are named. But to be considered a cave you would have to be able to enter and it should be longer than it is wide. </p>

<p>An arch will have an opening to daylight on both sides of the arch. A sea cave will have a dead end. There are many cases in conventional caves where there are multiple entrances but I think that is exceedingly rare in erosional sea caves. Some of the distinction then could be just semantics and how someone decided to name it. If it were to occur, the distinction would probably be made on the distance between the entrances - can you see daylight from the other entrance, </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-27T02:47:03.503Z
2019-05-27T02:47:03.503Z
haresfur
<p>How do you distinguish sea cave from sea arch?
If I want to classify a crack of sea cliff as sea cave, has it to have a dead end? Would you call a geological formation as a sea cave even a kayak can pass through?</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>

<oceanography><waves><geomorphology><erosion><cavern>
Sea cave vs Sea arch
David
# Sea cave vs Sea arch

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-24)

How do you distinguish sea cave from sea arch?
If I want to classify a crack of sea cliff as sea cave, has it to have a dead end? Would you call a geological formation as a sea cave even a kayak can pass through?

Cheers!

**Tags:** oceanography, waves, geomorphology, erosion, cavern


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-05-27. Score: 0

I would say they both require having rock over top of the water - so not just a water passage between two cliffs. For land caves, the distinction between a cave, a rock shelter, and an overhang generally depends on whether you can in get beyond view of the entrance, but for sea caves, that generally isn't how they are named. But to be considered a cave you would have to be able to enter and it should be longer than it is wide.

An arch will have an opening to daylight on both sides of the arch. A sea cave will have a dead end. There are many cases in conventional caves where there are multiple entrances but I think that is exceedingly rare in erosional sea caves. Some of the distinction then could be just semantics and how someone decided to name it. If it were to occur, the distinction would probably be made on the distance between the entrances - can you see daylight from the other entrance,


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