A barachois is a term used in Atlantic Canada,

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...

, Réunion and

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

Island to describe a coastal

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

partially or totally separated from the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

by a sand or shingle bar. Sometimes the bar is constructed of boulders, as is the case at Freshwater Bay near St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...

may enter the barachois during high

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

. The bar often is formed as a result of

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

deposited in the delta region of a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

or – as is the case in

Miquelon Miquelon-Langlade is the larger but less populated of the two communes (municipalities) making up the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located to the south of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It consists of t ...

– by a

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...

Name

The English term comes from the French language, where the word is pronounced . The term comes from a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

word, ''barratxoa'', meaning ''little bar''. The popular derivation from the French ''barre à choir'' is without historical merit. In

Newfoundland English Newfoundland English is a term referring to any of several accents and dialects of Atlantic Canadian English found in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of these differ substantially from the English commonly spoken elsewhere in ...

, the word has become pronounced (and sometimes written) as ''barrasway''.

Examples

* Dark Harbour,

Grand Manan Grand Manan is a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy. Grand Manan is also the name of an incorporated village, which includes the main island and all of its adjacent islands, except White Head Island. It is governed as a village and is part of t ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

(photo) * Barachois de Malbaie on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, fed by one of two Malbaie Rivers in Quebec and the Beattie, du Portage, and Murphy Rivers *

Grand Barachois Grand Barachois is a large natural lagoon in Saint Pierre and Miquelon. It lies immediately south of Miquelon Island, and is formed largely by the 12 kilometre-long tombolo of La Dune. See also *Barachois A barachois is a term used in Atlantic ...

Miquelon Island Miquelon (french: Île Miquelon) also known as ', is one of the islands of the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an Overseas collectivity of France located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the Atlantic Ocean, south of the coast of Newfou ...

* Grand-Barachois, in

Westmorland County, New Brunswick Westmorland County (2016 population: 149,623) is a county in New Brunswick, a province of Canada. It is in the south-eastern part of the province. It contains the fast-growing commercial centre of Moncton and its northern and eastern suburbs. ...

* Barachois Pond Provincial Park in western Newfoundland * Big Barasway and Little Barasway, communities on Newfoundland's Cape Shore *

Prince Edward Island National Park Prince Edward Island National Park (french: Parc national de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is a National Park of Canada located in the province of Prince Edward Island. Situated along the island's north shore, fronting the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the ...

has several examples * Percival Bay, off the

Northumberland Strait The Northumberland Strait (French: ''détroit de Northumberland'') is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada. The strait is formed by Prince Edward Island and the gulf's eastern, southern, and western sh ...

, is also known as the Big Barachois * The coves in the lagoon of

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

* Topsail Beach Provincial Park,

Topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. Square rig On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...

* Former settlement of Freshwater, near St John's, Newfoundland. * Great Barachois, near Petit-de-Grat, Nova Scotia "Deadmans Bay Path", East Coast TrailNCC Conservation project
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References

Landforms Bodies of water Lagoons {{Hydrology-stub