Coastal and oceanic landforms

thumb|Mediterranean Sea|The Mediterranean Sea, an enclosed sea flowing into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections of the oceanic sea (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea), or certain large, nearly landlocked bodies of water.

The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as oceans (in descending order by area: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Antarctic/Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean), and are themselves mostly divided into seas, gulfs and subsequent bodies of water. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of Earth's hydrosphere, acting as a huge reservoir of heat for Earth's energy budget, as well as for its carbon cycle and water c

alt=A satellite view of the Hawaiian islands, with the top of the image being North. There are few clouds, and most of the image is the seawater swirling in the wind, surrounding the islands.|thumb|upright=1.3|The Hawaiian Islands, a major archipelago in the [[Pacific Ocean]] An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been part of a continent. Oceanic islands can be formed from volcanic activity, grow in

thumb|upright=1.6|The Indonesian Archipelago, located in Asia and [[Oceania, is the largest archipelagic state in the world.]] thumb|upright|The Aegean Sea with its large number of islands is the origin of the term archipelago. thumb|The Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Examples of archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the origin of the term), the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Stockholm Archipelago, the Mal

A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae. Sediments settle in different densities and structures, depending on the local wave action and weather, creating different textures, colors and gradients or layers of material.

thumb|upright=1.15|Strait of Gibraltar thumb|Diagrammatic map of a strait

thumb|Bay at Castletown, Isle of Man thumb|Bay of Baracoa, Cuba

thumb|The atoll of Tetiʻaroa in [[French Polynesia]]

thumb| Balos coastal lagoon of northwestern Crete. The shallow lagoon is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by narrow shoals connecting to a small, rocky mountain. thumb|Garabogazköl lagoon in [[Turkmenistan]] thumb|Venetian Lagoon

thumb|Sunrise on the [[Jersey Shore coastline at Spring Lake, New Jersey, U.S.]] thumb|Rugged coastline of the West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast Region of New Zealand A view of the plain near Dikili in Turkey|thumb thumb|Southeast coast of Greenland thumb|Escorca coast, [[Serra de Tramuntana (Balearic Islands)]]

ridge of rock in the sea formed by the growth and deposit of coral

thumb|Geirangerfjord, [[Norway]] In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord, a variant most common in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs in a valley created by a former glacier, which has since become inundated with water. They are the glacial equivalent of drowned river valleys, known as rias. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the northern and southern hemispheres. Areas with extensive fjords demonstrate an extreme example of the coastline paradox; Norway's coastline is estimated to be long wi

400px|thumbnail|The Maspalomas Dunes of [[Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain]]

thumb|Río de la Plata estuary thumb|Mattole River estuary

thumb|The White Cliffs of Dover upright|thumb|The Trango Towers in Pakistan. Their vertical faces are the world's tallest cliffs. Trango Tower center; Trango Monk center left; Trango II far left; Great Trango right. upright|thumb|Europe's highest cliff, Troll Wall in Norway, a famous [[BASE jumping location for jumpers from around the world.]]

headland of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea

portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea

thumb|Coral reef at Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia thumb|Pamalican island with surrounding reef, [[Sulu Sea, Philippines]] thumb|A reef surrounding an islet thumb|Reefs off Vanatinai|Vanatinai Island in the [[Louisiade Archipelago]]

basaltic underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonic spreading

depressions of the sea floor

thumb|Rockall, an islet located west of Ireland and Scotland thumb|Bàngchuí Island in Dalian, [[Liaoning, China, is a typical rock islet]] right|thumb|Mōkōlea Rock in Kailua Bay, [[O‘ahu, off North Beach, Marine Corps Base Hawaii]]

right|thumb|Sandbar between St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly|St Agnes and [[Gugh on the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom]] thumb|A tidal sandbar connecting the islands of Waya Island|Waya and Wayasewa of the [[Yasawa Islands, Fiji]] thumb|Sandbar between Nosy Iranja Be and Nosy Iranja Kely(Nosy Iranja, [[Madagascar)]]

flat area on the ocean floor

REDIRECT Bay#Gulf

coastal bar or beach landform deposited by longshore drift

thumb|upright=1.1|right|Port Jackson, also referred to as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, or drowned river valley. The deeply indented shape of the ria reflects the dendritic pattern of drainage that existed before the rise in sea level that flooded the valley.

arc-shaped archipelago

geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock

type of coastal ecosystem, land outside the dikes that is not flooded with seawater with average high tide

natural rock formation where a rock arch forms

thumb|right|300px|Tombolo near Karystos, [[Euboea, Greece]] thumb|300px|right|Tombolo contrasted with other coastal landforms A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. It is a deposition landform by which an island becomes attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar. Once attached, the island is then known as a tied island. The word tombolo is from the Italian '''', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ayre (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind).

area between tide marks

chain of volcanoes formed above a subducting plate

geologic basin under the sea

ocean floor area where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs

thumb|upright=1.35|Ormos Ammoudi, a roadstead in Santorini, Greece thumb|Santa Elena alongside Kriti Jade at Birzebbuga roadstead, Malta thumb|Ships on the roadstead "Aussenelbe Reede" in the north sea outside the river Elbe A roadstead or road is a sheltered body of water where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching. Protected from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell, a roadstead can be open or natural, usually estuary-based, or may be created artificially. In maritime law, it is described as a convenient or safe place where boats usually anchor.

type of landform; confined river; strait

coastal landform and a type of dune system

rocky pool on seashore, separated as pool at low tide, filled with seawater

thumb|300px|Bay at the Gulf of Salerno, Italy An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.

area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast

cave formed by the wave action of the sea and located along present or former coastlines

relatively flat submarine region that rises well above the level of the ambient seabed

geological phenomenon, holes in coastal rock formations through which sea water is forced by the tide or waves.

form of coast where the action of marine waves has formed steep cliffs that may or may not be precipitous

thumb|Land's End, England A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape. Headlands are characterised by high, breaking waves, rocky shores, intense erosion, and steep sea cliff.

long, relatively wide body of water, connecting two larger parts of the sea

area of high density brine collected in a depression on the ocean floor

narrow flat area often found at the base of a sea cliff or along the shoreline of a lake, bay, or sea that was created by erosion

thumb|The machair on Berneray, North Uist|Berneray, [[Outer Hebrides]] thumb|Machair east of Uig,_Lewis|Uig Bay, Lewis thumb|The machair towards West beach, Isle of Berneray, Outer Hebrides

atoll that has been lifted high enough above sea level by tectonic forces to protect it from scouring by storms

underwater geological structures associated with large-scale sediment deposition

Areas dominated by surface waterbodies

thumb|upright=1.2|Rauks (wikt:rauk#Gutnish|rauks) at [[Fårö Island, east of mainland Sweden]]

thumb|The fjard of Somes Sound, [[Maine, USA.]]

Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. It is often used to refer to broad estuaries. In the Northern Isles, it more often refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to Scandinavian fjord and fjard (all from Proto-Germanic *ferþuz), with the original meaning of "sailable waterway". The word has a more constrained sense in English. Bodies of water named "firths" tend to be more common on the Scottish east coast, or in the southwest of the country, although the Firth of Clyde is an

bend or curve in a coastline, river, or other geographical feature

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thumb|200px|Faraglioni di Scopello, on the north coast of Castellammare del Golfo thumb|200px|Faraglioni in Zagare Bay, Gargano National Park, [[Apulia]] In Italian, '''''' (; ; singular in both languages) are stacks, coastal and oceanic rock formations eroded by waves.

type of lagoon typical of the Baltic coast