Talk:Tombolo

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A tombolo is a deposition landform such as a spit or bar which forms an isthmus between an island or offshore rock and a mainland shore, or between two islands or offshore rock. They usually form because the island causes wave refraction, depositing sand and shingle carried in suspension where the waves meet. Long shore drift may also contribute material, or even be the principal contributor of material, as in the case of Chesil Beach which connects the Isle of portland to Dorset in England.

Actually, longshore drift was almost certainly not the way that chesil beach was formed. it is far more likely that chesil beach was formed when sea levels rose after the last ice age, and collected beach material from across Lyme Bay to form a barrier beach, parallel to the coast. Chesil beach stopped before it hit land as the sea levels stopped rising far enough for the beach to move right against the shore, and hence the Fleet lagoon was formed. Chesil beach is, beacause of this reason, not a standard orthodox tombolo, as it just happened to join to the north side of the Isle of Portland due to currents and the shape of the sea bed between Portland and the mainland. -Ross, portland.

[edit] Curonian spit

Is Curonian Spit in Lithuania a tombolo in (wide or narrow) sense of the word? If so, it should be mentioned, as it would certainly make one of the world's largest. If not, why? Thanks. Duja 12:18, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

Erm, forget it, I found the answer in Spit (landform). Duja 12:19, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merger proposal

An article has been created at Tombola (island), which appears to be a mis-spelling or variant spelling of Tombolo. It looks as if they need to be merged. PamD (talk) 19:09, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't think it's a mispelling, it's likely as not a diminutive. --MacRusgail (talk) 17:59, 10 February 2008 (UTC)