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Flights of Holocene marine terraces are useful for reconstructing past earthquakes, but coastal erosion can remove terraces from the landscape, potentially leading to incorrect estimates of earthquake magnitude and frequency. Relatively little effort has been afforded to studying terrace erosion processes, and this paper presents the first field evidence that we are aware of documenting terrace erosion rates. Two case studies from New Zealand provide a unique opportunity to observe the beginning and end phases of terrace development. We present downwear and backwear erosion measurements, showing that both sets of processes are important. Micro‐erosion meter measurements from Kaikōura Peninsula, South Island, confirm that downwear processes are modifying new marine terraces that were created when the peninsula was uplifted about 1 m during the 2016 earthquake. Erosion rates were high immediately following uplift as the relatively barren intertidal rock shore platform rapidly transformed into an incipient marine terrace with cover deposits. However, the Kaikōura earthquake uplifted shore platforms only a small distance above the upper tidal limit and ongoing downwear and backwear erosion may begin to remove parts of this terrace in future decades. We explored this prospect with a case study at Māhia Peninsula, North Island, where 100–300 years have elapsed since the last terrace‐forming earthquake. Historical photographs were used to document about 80 years of backwear erosion. Terrace erosion rates have been nearly constant through this period, and extrapolation implies that the terrace will be removed in places by 2030. The erosion data in this paper provide new insights into how terraces can be removed from the landscape, but there are many complicating factors. To help understand these factors we present a new conceptual model of marine terrace creation and destruction for soft‐rock coasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On tectonically active coasts, there is a dearth of erosion data documenting how rock coasts adjust (either fast or slow) in response to marine and subaerial processes immediately after coseismic uplift. Here we report erosion rates and evidence of reshaping of shore platform morphology at Kaikōura Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand, following the November 2016 Kaikōura 7.8 (Mw) earthquake, that uplifted platforms by ~1 m and extended their widths. High-resolution topographic data obtained from quarterly surveys over four years using a micro-erosion meter (MEM) and Structure-from-Motion Multi-View Stereo (SfM-MVS) surveys have provided rates of erosion and visual representation of surface morphologies. MEM data revealed variations in erosion, weathering and deposition rates across lithology, tidal positions, and platform elevation after the uplift. After four years, surface downwearing rates for all platforms were on average 2.25 mm/yr, a 104% increase from the pre-uplift rate of 1.10 mm/yr. Average lowering rates on limestone, hard, and soft mudstone platforms were 1.19 mm/yr, 2.31 mm/yr, and 3.21 mm/yr, respectively. Results show a change in patterns of erosion rates and faster rates on mudstone than limestone lithologies, but both faster when compared to pre-uplift rates. Previously reported seasonal trends in erosion rates have disappeared because post-uplift erosion rates are similar during the summer and winter. In contrast, statistically significant differences in lowering rates now exist across rock lithology and elevation. On one MEM site on the harder mudstone platform, a large increase from a pre-uplift erosion rate of 0.43 mm/yr to 19.23 mm/yr (1-year after uplift) and subsequent decline to 1.54 mm/yr after four years demonstrates the role of block detachment not previously seen in the MEM data from Kaikōura. For the first time, we complement MEM data with SfM-MVS-derived orthomosaics to provide evidence of changing rock morphology and processes such as granular disintegration, flaking and algal growth. Results from this study demonstrate how tectonism can fundamentally alter the way in which rock shore erosion rates are influenced by waves, tides, and weathering processes. • Tectonic uplift caused a resetting of erosion rate. • Erosion rates increased post-uplift. • Faster breakdown recorded on mudstones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]