The bay at San Sebastián, Spain

The Bay of Bengal in South Asia

The bay of Baracoa, Cuba

A bay is a large body of water connected to an ocean or sea formed by an inlet of land due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds.^[1] Bays also exist in in-land environments as an inlet to any larger body of water, such as a lake or pond, or the estuary of a river, such as those found in and around the Great Lakes of North America, or in the estuary of the Parramatta River in Australia. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight. A cove is a circular or oval coastal inlet with a narrow entrance; some coves may be referred to as bays. A fjord is a particularly steep bay shaped by glacial activity.

Bays were significant in the history of human settlement because they can provide a safe place for fishing. Later they were important in the development of sea trade as the safe anchorage they provide encouraged their selection as ports.^[2] 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.

Formation [edit]

There are various ways that bays can be created. The largest bays have developed as a result of continental drift.^[2] As the super-continent Gondwana broke up along curved and indented fault lines, the continents moved apart and the world's largest bays formed. These include the Gulf of Guinea, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Bengal which is the largest bay in the world.^[2]

Another way bays are formed is via glacial and river erosion.^[2] If formed by glaciers a bay is known as a fjord. Rias are created by rivers and are characterised by more gradual slopes. Most gulf and bays are formed by the folding of the earth's crust as well as coastal erosion due to waves and currents.^[2] Currents can make waves more constant, while soft rocks will allow erosion to have a stronger effect. Any hard rock is eroded less quickly, leaving headlands. The Gulf of California is an example of a bay created by the geological process of folding.

See also [edit]

• Bay platform
• Great capes
• Headlands and bays

References [edit]

v t e Coastal geography Landforms Anchialine pool Archipelago Atoll Avulsion Ayre Barrier island Bay Baymouth bar Bight Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Cliff-top dune Cliffed coast Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Flat coast Freshwater marsh Fundus Gat Geo Graded shoreline Gulf Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Machair Marine terrace Mega delta Mouth bar Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Raised shoreline Reef Regressive delta Ria River delta Rocky shore Salt marsh Shoal Shore Sound Stack Steep coast Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo more ... Beaches Beach cusps Beach evolution Beach morphodynamics Beach ridge Beachrock Modern recession of beaches Pocket beach Raised beach Shingle beach Storm beach Wash margin 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 Sea foam Shoal Spit Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind wave Wrack zone Management Accretion Coastal management Integrated coastal zone management Submersion Related Bulkhead line Coastline length Intertidal zone Littoral zone Grain size boulder cobble clay granule pebble sand shingle silt Physical oceanography Region of freshwater influence more ...