This ecological system includes unvegetated or sparsely vegetated rock cliffs and very steep bluffs of glacial deposits along the Pacific Ocean and associated marine and estuarine inlets. It is restricted to degrading slopes from southwestern British Columbia south into central Oregon. It is composed of barren and sparsely vegetated substrates, typically including exposed sediments, bedrock, and scree slopes. Exposure to waves, eroding and desiccating winds, slope failures and sheet erosion create gravelly to rocky substrates that are often unstable. There can be sparse cover of forbs, grasses, lichens and low shrubs.