Talk:Chesil Beach

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"the largest tombolo in the world"? At 29 km long, 200 metre wide? The Aupouri Peninsula is a considerably bigger tombolo than this, for one. Nurg 09:26, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC) ---

i disagree because my geography teacher said it was a tombolo ---

I refer to a response I gave on Talk:Isle of Portland :- Some people also describe Portland as a tombolo (like my old High School Geography teachers from a good few years ago!), however this is also incorrect, as Chesil Beach is the tombolo, not Portland. A tombolo is defined as a sand or shingle bar which connects an island to the mainland, so hence that is what Chesil Beach is, not Portland.

Somewhat confusingly, the feature is still more unusual than that, however, as Chesil Beach is not a true tombolo (which formed by wave refraction) but is more likely to be a barrier beach or a bar, formed by sea level rise, which just happened to join onto Portland at one end.

There is also some evidence to show that the land to the immediate east of Chesil Beach, upon which Portland Beach road is built, may have been formed by a second tombolo, making Portland still even more unusual. This information can be found on http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/portharb.htm, along with any other information to clarify this quite complex and interesting subject.

It is always annoying when tourist guides write about Portland, and use phrases like ...'almost an island'... or ...'explore the 'island' of Portland'... Those people should do some research! (Rossportland 20:44, 13 June 2006 (UTC))

For views on what the second tombolo looked like 100 years ago go to www.chesilbeach.org/pictures/postcards. Regrettably all trace of this tombolo has now been submerged beneath the railway line and the heliport. 212.183.134.130 (talk) 19:04, 12 December 2007 (UTC)