An interruption in a barrier beach, maintained by tidal flow, is commonly referred to as a tidal inlet . Such an inlet usually consists of the following elements (Figure 1): the gorge or main tidal channel, which may be straight or slightly sinuous; flanking shallow shoulders or shoals; adjacent barrier beaches, which under littoral drift develop as updrift and downdrift points; flood delta on the lagoon or bay side; and ebb delta on the ocean side. Both the flood and ebb deltas develop distinctive morphology in response to tidal currents (q.v.). The geometry of the inlet points, which may be symmetrical, offset, or overlapping, can be related to: magnitude of the littoral current, quantity of longshore drift; magnitude of the tidal current; or geometry of the bay or lagoon (Bruun and Gerristen, 1958). Inlets may originate as original initial interruptions in a developing barrier beach, as openings remaining as a baymouth spit develops, or by breakthroughs by storm or hurricane waves....
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References
Barwis, J. E., 1976. Annotated Bibliography on the Geologic, Hydraulic, and Engineering Aspects of Inlets. Vicksburg, Miss.: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station, General Investigation of Tidal Inlets Rept. 4, 333p.
Brunn, P., and Gerritsen, F., 1958. Stability of coastal inlets, Am. Soc. Civil Engineers Proc., Jour. Waterways and Harbors Div. 3, 1–19.
Johnson, D. W., 1919. Shore Processes and Shoreline Development. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 584p.
Lucke, J. B., 1934. Tidal inlets: A theory of evolution of lagoon deposits on shorelines of emergence, Jour. Geology 42, 561–584.
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© 1982 Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company
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Fisher, J.J. (1982). Inlets and inlet migration . In: Beaches and Coastal Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_237
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_237
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