Tombolo
Topic: Landforms and their Evolution: Rivers, Groundwater, Glaciers, Waves and Wind · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A tombolo is a bar of sand or shingle that joins an island to the mainland, or one island to another. It forms where waves bend around an island and slow down in the calm water behind it. There they drop sand, which builds a ridge that finally reaches the shore. An island joined by a tombolo is called a tied island. Tombolos are built by deposition, as bars and spits are.
Example
Monte Argentario, on the coast of Tuscany in Italy, was once an island. Two tombolos now join it to the mainland, with a lagoon between them.
Don't confuse with
- Spit: only one end of a spit is attached to the land, and the other end lies in open water. A tombolo is attached at both ends.