Headlands+and+Bays

=igcsegeographyatiil explains=

Bays and Headlands Bays and Headlands are two naturel feature that often occure together on the same stretch of coastline. A bay is an area of water that is mostly surrounded by land where as a headland is a piece of land, normally quite high, that extends out into a body of water.



Bays Looking at the diagram above we can see that the bay is usually sheltered by the surrounding land, this results in the water of the bay being much calmer then the water of the surrounding sea. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sound, or a bight where as a narrow bay may be called a fjord because its sides are quite steep. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides.



bay at San Sebastián, Spain



Alum Bay, Isle of Wight

Formation 



Bays form where the less resistant and weaker rock such and clays or sands are eroded away. The softer rock is less resistant than the stronger rock such as chalk, granite and limestone so harder rock is eroded less quickly, leaving headlands. Smaller rocks and sand are deposited in the bay creating a beach. Through the deposition of sediment within the bay and the erosion of the headlands, coastlines eventually straighten out then start the same process all over again.



**Bay Life** Bays are home to a wide variety of marine wildlife although this wildlife does of course depend on the location and climate of the bay. Any bay can conatian multiple different species of fish, for example the Bay Anchovy. Bays may also be a home to may crustaceans such as crabs as well as many sea anemonies. several marine mammals have also been known to visit bays, for example killer whales practce a documented behaviour called rubbing in which they skim across the bottom on the shallow depths of the bay rubbing ther skin against the sand removing paracites on the skin.  



**Headlands** Headlands and bays are often found together on the same stretch of coastline. Headlands are characterized by high, breaking waves, rocky shores, intense erosion, and steep sea cliffs. Bays are typically quiet with sandy beaches. Headlands and bays form on coastlines, where bands of rock of alternating resistance run perpendicular to the coast.

Marin headlands, Gold Bridge Mosquito Beach, USA

Formation



As bays form they leave harder more resistant rock behind. The harder rock takes a lot longer to erode than the softer less resistant rock that forms a bay so it is left sticking out into the surrounding body of water. The harder rock left behind is called a headland.

Bays and Headlands create a much safer place for activities such as swimming, snorkling, scuba diving and surfing as wave refraction spreads out the wave weakening it.

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