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An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm,
Coastal Inlets Research ProgramHood Canal on Google Maps
{{coastal geography Coastal and oceanic landforms Bodies of water
An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.
Overview
In marine geography, the term "inlet" usually refers to either the actual channel between anenclosed bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
and the open ocean and is often called an "entrance", or a significant recession in the shore of a sea, lake or large river. A certain kind of inlet created by past glaciation is a fjord, typically but not always in mountainous coastlines and also in montane lakes.
Multi-arm complexes of large inlets or fjords may be called sounds, e.g., Puget Sound, Howe Sound, Karmsund (''sund'' is Scandinavian for "sound"). Some fjord-type inlets are called canals, e.g., Portland Canal, Lynn Canal, Hood Canal, and some are channels, e.g., Dean Channel and Douglas Channel.
Tidal amplitude, wave intensity, and wave direction are all factors that influence sediment flux in inlets.
On low slope sandy coastlines, inlets often separate barrier islands and can form as the result of storm events. Alongshore sediment transport can cause inlets to close if the action of tidal currents flowing through an inlet do not flush accumulated sediment out of the inlet.
See also
*Alaska Panhandle
Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...
* British Columbia Coast
, settlement_type = Region of British Columbia
, image_skyline =
, nickname = "The Coast"
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = British ...
* Calanque
* Inside Passage
* Ria
Notes
References
* be pub coExternal links
Coastal Inlets Research Program
{{coastal geography Coastal and oceanic landforms Bodies of water