Spit (landform)

Activities such as logging and farming upstream can increase the sediment load of rivers, which may hurt the intertidal environments around spits by smothering delicate habitats.Roads or bulkheads built along bluffs can drastically reduce the volume of sediment eroded, so that not enough material is being pushed along to maintain the spit.If the supply of sediment is interrupted the sand at the neck (landward end) of the spit may be moved towards the head, eventually creating an island.[8] The longest spit in a freshwater body of water is Long Point, Ontario, which extends approximately 32 km (20 mi) into Lake Erie.In some cases, these sites have been chosen for proximity to marine resource exploitation; the Chumash Native American prehistorical settlement on the Morro Bay is one such location.
Diagram showing a spit
A spit contrasted with other coastal landforms.
Curonian Spit , divided between Russia and Lithuania
Dungeness Spit in the Strait of Juan de Fuca , on the U.S. Pacific coast.
Farewell Spit , on New Zealand 's South Island
Curonian SpitRussiaLithuaniacognaterotisseriedepositioncoastsheadlandslongshore drifttransport sedimentheadlandsalt marshDungeness SpitStrait of Juan de FucarefractionlagoontomboloList of spitsFarewell SpitNew ZealandArabat SpitSea of AzovYounghusband PeninsulaSouth AustraliaBodie IslandNorth CarolinaOregon InletLong Point, OntarioLake ErieSouth IslandSouthern AlpsGolden BaySpurn PointHumberChesil BeachIsle of PortlandKaliningrad OblastCuronian LagoonBaltic SeaVistula SpitVistula LagoonGdańsk BayPolandZlatni RatAdriaticHvar Channelresource exploitationChumashNative AmericanMorro BayBarrier islandIsthmusList of geographical spitsStraitList of spits of UkraineCoastal geographyLandformsAnchialine poolArchipelagoAvulsionBoddenBrackish marshChannelCoastal plainCoastal waterfallContinental marginContinental shelfCoral reefcliff-topEstuaryFreshwater marshFundusIntertidal wetlandIslandMachairMudflatNatural archPeninsulaSkerryStrand plainSubmarine canyonTidal islandTidal marshTide poolTied islandWaitunaWindwattBeachesBeach cuspsBeach evolutionBeach ridgeBeach wrackBeaches in estuaries and baysBeachrockCoastal morphodynamicsPocket beachRaised beachRecessionShell beachShingle beachStorm beachWash marginRiver mouthsDebouchMouth barRiver deltaregressiveProcessesBlowholeCliffed coastCoastal biogeomorphologyCoastal erosionConcordant coastlineCurrentCuspate forelandDiscordant coastlineEmergent coastlineFeeder bluffFlat coastGraded shorelineIngression coastLarge-scale coastal behaviourMarine regressionMarine transgressionRaised shorelineRip currentRocky shoreSea caveSea foamperesypSteep coastSubmergent coastlineSurf breakSurf zoneSurge channelUndertowVolcanic arcWave-cut platformWave shoalingWind fetchWind waveManagementAccretionCoastal managementIntegrated coastal zone managementSubmersionBulkhead lineCoastal engineeringGrain sizebouldercobblegranulegravelpebbleshingleIntertidal zoneLittoral zonePhysical oceanographyRegion of freshwater influenceRiver plume