Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded or otherwise demarcated by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. It can also be an inlet in a lake or pond.
A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight. A narrow bay may also be called a fjord if its sides are relatively steep. A cove is a circular or oval coastal inlet with a narrow entrance; some coves may be referred to as bays.
Most small bays are formed as soft rock or clay is eroded by waves. Any hard rock is eroded less quickly, leaving headlands. Any bay may contain fish and other sea creatures or be adjacent to other bays (for example, James Bay is adjacent to Hudson Bay). Large bays, such as the Bay of Bengal and the Hudson Bay, have varied marine geology.
There are various ways that bays can be created. For example, the water level of a sea can rise, flooding the shore and creating a bay.
See also
- Bay platform
- Bay of Bengal
- Beach cusps
- Great capes
- Headland
- Headlands and bays
- List of bays of the British Isles
|
Coastal geography |
|
| Landforms |
Anchialine pool · Avulsion · Archipelago · Atoll · Ayre · Barrier bar · Barrier island · Bay · Baymouth bar · Bight · Brackish marsh · Cape · Channel · Cliff · Cliff-top dune · Coast · Coastal plain · Coastal waterfall · Continental margin · Continental shelf · Coral reef · Cove · Dune · Estuary · Firth · Fjard · Freshwater marsh · Fundus · Geo · Gulf · Headland · Inlet · Intertidal wetland · Island · Islet · Isthmus · Lagoon · Marine terrace · Mouth bar · Raised shorelines · Machair · Mega delta · Mudflat · Natural arch · Peninsula · Reef · Ria · River delta · Salt marsh · Shore · Sound · Stack · Strait · Strand plain · Submarine canyon · Tied island · Tidal island · Tidal marsh · Tide pool · Tombolo · More...
|
 |
|
| Beaches |
Beach cusps · Beach evolution · Beach ridge · Beachrock · Modern recession of beaches · Pocket beach · Raised beach · Shingle beach
|
|
| Processes |
Blowhole · Coastal erosion · Concordant coastline · Current · Cuspate foreland · Discordant coastline · Emergent coastline · Feeder bluff · Fetch · Headlands and bays · Large scale coastal behaviour · Longshore drift · Marine regression · Marine transgression · Rip current · Sea cave · Shoal · Spit · Submergent coastline · Surf break · Surge channel · Swash · Volcanic arc · Wave-cut platform · Wave shoaling · Wind wave · Wrack zone
|
|
| Management |
Coastal management · Accretion · Integrated coastal zone management · Submersion
|
|
| Related |
Bulkhead line · Coastline length · Intertidal zone · Littoral zone · Particle size (Shingle · Sand · Silt) · Physical oceanography · Region of freshwater influence · More...
|
|
