Headlands and bays
Bay redirects here. For other uses see Bay (disambiguation).A
headland is an area of land adjacent to water on three sides. A
bay is the reverse, an area of water bordered by land on three sides. Large headlands may also be called
peninsulas; long, narrow and high headlands
promontories. When headlands dramatically affect the
ocean currents they are often called
capes. A bay generally occupies an area wider than a
fjord but smaller than a
sound or
gulf, either of which may include one or more bays.
Headlands and bays are usually found together on the same stretch of coastline. Headlands and bays form on
discordant coastlines, where bands of rock of alternating
resistance run perpendicular to the coast. Bays form where weak (less resistant) rocks (such as
sands and
clays) are eroded, leaving bands of stronger (more resistant) rocks (such as
chalk,
limestone,
granite) forming a headland, or
peninsula.
Refraction of waves occurs on headlands concentrating wave energy on them, so many other
landforms, such as
caves,
natural archs and
stacks, form on headlands. Wave refraction disperses wave energy through the bay, and along with the sheltering effect of the headlands this protects bays from storms. This effect means that the waves reaching the shore in a bay are usually
constructive waves, and because of this most bays feature a
beach. A bay may be only
metres across, or it could be hundreds of
kilometres across.
Sometimes bays form where movements of the earth's
crust (
tectonics) bring areas of land together, or move them apart. Usually these bays are referred to as
seas or
gulfs and not bays.
"Capes and bays geography" is a derogatory term for the approach to teaching
geography that requires students to
learn by rote the names of large number of geographical features rather than taking a more theoretically driven approach.
*
Africa**
Cape Agulhas in
South Africa**
Cape of Good Hope in
South Africa**
Cape Juby in
Morocco**
Cape Guardafui in
Somalia**
Cape Verde in
Senegal**
Cape Blanc in
Tunisia*
Europe**
Cabo da Roca in
Portugal**
Cape Arkona in
Germany**
Cape Finisterre in
Spain**
North Cape in
Norway**
Cape Wrath in
Scotland**
Cap Gris Nez in
France**
Land's End in
England**
Pointe du Raz in France
*
Asia**
Kanyakumari or
Cape Comorin in
Tamil Nadu,
India**
Cape Engaño on the
Philippines**
Indira Point in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
India**
Cape Dezhnev in
Russia*
North America,
Central America and the
Caribbean**
Cape Breton Island in
Nova Scotia,
Canada**
Cape Canaveral in
Florida,
USA**
Cape Chidley in
Newfoundland and Labrador/
Nunavut,
Canada**
Cape Cod in
Massachusetts,
USA**
Cape Columbia,
Nunavut,
Canada's northernmost point
**
Cape Farewell,
Greenland's southernmost point
**
Cape Hatteras in
North Carolina,
USA**
Cape Henry in
Virginia,
USA**
Cape Prince of Wales in
Alaska,
USA**
Cape Spear in
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Canada's easternmost point
**
Cabo San Lucas, in
Baja California Sur,
Mexico.
*
South America**
Cape Froward in
Chile**
Cape Horn in
Chile**
Cape Virgenes in
Argentina*
Oceania**
Cape Egmont in
New Zealand**
Cape Foulwind in
New Zealand**
Cape Leeuwin in
Australia**
Cape Reinga in
New Zealand**
Cape York in
Australia**
East Cape in
New Zealand**
North Cape in
New Zealand**
South East Cape in
Australia**
Young Nick's Head in
New Zealand*
Africa**
Gulf of Guinea**
Gulf of Sidra - coast of
Tunisia and
Libya*
Europe -
Atlantic**
Bay of Biscay in
France and
Spain**
Lyme Bay off the southern coast of
England**
Weymouth Bay, on the south coast of England
*
Europe -
Baltic/
NorthSea
**
Gulf of Bothnia between
Sweden and
Finland**
Gulf of Finland between
Finland and
Estonia**
Bay of Gdansk between
Poland and
Kaliningrad Oblast***
Bay of Puck***
Vistula Bay**
Bay of Pomerania, between
Poland and
Germany***
Bay of Szczecin, between
Poland and
Germany**
Bay of Greifswald in
Germany**
Bay of Mecklenburg, between
Germany and
Denmark**
Bay of Lübeck, in
Germany**
Bay of Kiel, between
Germany and
Denmark**
Robin Hood's Bay, on England's North Yorkshire Coast
**
Riddarfjärden in Stockholm,
Sweden*
Europe -
Mediterranean Sea**
Adriatic Sea's
Gulf of Kotor in
Montenegro**
Adriatic Sea's
Gulf of Kvarner in
Croatia**
Bay of Naples**
Gulf of Trieste between
Italy and
Croatia, including entire coast of
Slovenia*
Asia**
Bay of Bengal, near
Bengal (
India/
Bangladesh)
**
Bohai Gulf (
China)
***
Bohai Bay***
Laizhou Bay***
Liaodong Bay**
Gulf of Cambay (
Gulf of Khambhat),
Gujarat (
India)
**
Gulf of Kutch,
Gujarat (
India)
**
Manila Bay on
Luzon island in the
Philippines**
Persian Gulf between
Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait,
Iraq, and
Iran**
Red Sea**
Subic Bay on
Luzon island in the
Philippines, the site of a former
US Navy base*
North America,
Central America and the
Caribbean**
Baffin Bay, between
Canada and
Greenland**
Bahía de Banderas,
Mexico**
Bay of Green Bay in
Wisconsin**
Bay of Pigs on
Cuba**
Bay of Fundy, between
Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick**
Buzzards Bay in
Massachusetts**
Cape Cod Bay in
Massachusetts**
Chesapeake Bay mostly in
Maryland**
Delaware Bay between
Delaware and
New Jersey**
Galveston Bay in
Texas**
Georgian Bay on
Lake Huron**
Grand Traverse Bay in
Michigan**
Gulf of California between the
Baja California peninsula and the
Mexican mainland.
**
Gulf of Santa Catalina in
California**
Gulf of Maine in
Maine**
Gulf of Mexico between
Mexico and the
United States**
Gulf of Panama in
Panama**
Hudson Bay, between the
Canadian provinces and territories of
Manitoba,
Ontario,
Quebec and
Nunavut**
James Bay, between Ontario and Quebec, opens to Hudson Bay to the north
**
Massachusetts Bay in
Massachusetts**
Mobile Bay in
Alabama**
Monterey Bay in
California**
Narragansett Bay in
Rhode Island **
Penobscot Bay in
Maine**
Saginaw Bay in
Michigan**
San Francisco Bay in
California**
Tampa Bay in
Florida**
Thunder Bay in
Ontario,
Canada*
South America**
Gulf of Venezuela in
Venezuela**
San Matias Gulf**
Golfo San Jorge**
*
Oceania**
Great Australian Bight off the south coast of
Australia**
Botany Bay, near
Sydney,
Australia**
Gulf of Carpentaria,
Australia**
Bay of Islands,
New Zealand**
Bay of Plenty,
New Zealand**
Hauraki Gulf,
New Zealand**
Hawke Bay,
New Zealand**
North Taranaki Bight,
New Zealand**
Port Phillip Bay,
Australia**
South Taranaki Bight,
New Zealand**
Tasman Bay,
New ZealandA couple of non-gulfs (actually
straits) are:
*
Gulf of Oman*
Gulf of Aden*
List of bays of the British Isles*
Great capes*
GeoResources - diagrams of headland and bay formation
