Perce Rock

Perce Rock is a massive limestone sea stack rising about 88 meters above the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, formed from Devonian-age limestone and shale roughly 375 million years old that once formed part of a continuous coastal cliff. Wave erosion progressively cut through weaknesses in the rock, carving a series of natural arches through the formation over recent centuries; where early explorers recorded multiple arches piercing the rock, only a single arch remains today after repeated arch and stack collapses, most dramatically in 1845. The rock's name, meaning "pierced," refers to this arching, and the formation continues to erode and shed rock debris, making it, like many sea stacks, a visibly active rather than static geological feature.