What is a bay and how it is produced?

1 Answer
May 25, 2017

A bay is the term used to describe a recessed area off of the coast that is connected to the ocean or a lake. Bays can be produced or formed a few ways.

Explanation:

A bay is the term used to describe a recessed area off of the coast that is connected to some sort of larger body of water. It is a body of water that is partially surrounded by land.

A gulf is a large bay with a more narrow mouth, a fjord is a steep bay that was shaped by glaciers, and a cove is a small bay with a narrow entrance. In the images below, Wineglass Bay and Ha Long Bay below both are connected to the ocean whereas Emerald Bay is connected to a lake (Lake Tahoe).

Wineglass Bay, Australia
http://www.australia.com/en-us/places/freycinet/tas-wineglass-bay.html

Emerald Bay, US
http://www.visitcalifornia.com/uk/attraction/emerald-bay-state-park

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
https://nature.new7wonders.com/wonders/ha-long-bay-vietnam/

Bays can be produced or formed a few ways. Plate tectonics is behind the largest bay in the world, the Bay of Bengal. Bays are also formed by erosion of the coast and by glaciers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z3ndmp3/revision/3

You can read more about bays and how they are formed here.