Central america, coastal morphology
Central America is the land-bridge between North and South America. The distance from northwest to southeast is about 2200 km. The narrowest part is the Isthmus of Panama, where the width is about 50 km. The widest part is in the Honduras-Nicaragua border region, where the width is about 500 km. The west coast opens on the Pacific Ocean; the east coast, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Morphology
The Pacific coast is more crenulated than the Caribbean coast. The Pacific coast has peninsulas, gulfs, and bays, while the Caribbean coast has some large-scale gulfs (Honduras, Mosquito, Darien) and some small-scale lagoons. Thus the coastline is represented partly by continental land and partly by coastal barriers.
Profiles of the coasts of Central America show a variety from flat coasts, such as wadden areas (q.v.) and large littoral plains, to steep coasts with cliffs.
The submarine profile is generally gently sloped nearshore, with shelves of varying width (10-50 km). On the...
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