Bight (geography)

Short description: Shallowly concave bend or curve in a coastline, river, or other geographical feature

A stretch of coastline of the Great Australian Bight

In geography, a bight (/baɪt/) is a concave bend or curvature in a coastline, river or other geographical feature,[1] or it may refer to a very open bay formed by such a feature.[2] Such bays are typically broad, open, shallow and only slightly recessed.[3]

## Description

Bights are distinguished from sounds, in that sounds are much deeper. Traditionally, explorers defined a bight as a bay that could be sailed out of on a single tack in a square-rigged sailing vessel, regardless of the direction of the wind[citation needed] (typically meaning the apex of the bight is less than 25 degrees from the edges).

The term is derived from Old English byht ("bend, angle, corner; bay, bight") with German Bucht and Danish bugt as cognates, both meaning "bay". Bight is not etymologically related to "bite" (Old English bītan).

## Notable examples

* Bay of Campeche
* Bay of Plenty
* Bight of Benin
* Bight of Biafra or Bight of Bonny
* Canterbury Bight
* German Bight or Heligoland Bight
* Great Australian Bight
* McKenzie Bight
* Mecklenburg Bight
* Mid-Atlantic Bight
* New York Bight
* North Taranaki Bight
* Robson Bight
* Santa Monica Bay
* South Taranaki Bight
* Southern Bight
* Southern California Bight
* Trinity Bight, Newfoundland and Labrador

## References

1. ↑ "Definition of bight in English". Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bight.
2. ↑ "bight". Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bight.
3. ↑ "What is a bight?". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bight.html.

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Coastal geography

Landforms|

* Anchialine pool
* Archipelago
* Atoll
* Avulsion
* Ayre
* Barrier island
* Bay
* Baymouth bar
* Bight
* Bodden
* Brackish marsh
* Cape
* Channel
* Cliff
* Coast
* Coastal plain
* Coastal waterfall
* Continental margin
* Continental shelf
* Coral reef
* Cove
* Dune
* cliff-top
* Estuary
* Firth
* Fjard
* Fjord
* Förde
* Freshwater marsh
* Fundus
* Gat
* Geo
* Gulf
* Gut
* Headland
* Inlet
* Intertidal wetland
* Island
* Islet
* Isthmus
* Lagoon
* Machair
* Marine terrace
* Mega delta
* Mouth bar
* Mudflat
* Natural arch
* Peninsula
* Reef
* Regressive delta
* Ria
* River delta
* Salt marsh
* Shoal
* Shore
* Skerry
* Sound
* Spit
* Stack
* Strait
* Strand plain
* Submarine canyon
* Tidal island
* Tidal marsh
* Tide pool
* Tied island
* Tombolo
* Windwatt

Beaches|

* Beach cusps
* Beach evolution
* Coastal morphodynamics
* Beach ridge
* Beachrock
* Pocket beach
* Raised beach
* Recession
* Shell beach
* Shingle beach
* Storm beach
* Wash margin

Processes|

* Blowhole
* Cliffed coast
* Coastal biogeomorphology
* Coastal erosion
* Concordant coastline
* Current
* Cuspate foreland
* Discordant coastline
* Emergent coastline
* Feeder bluff
* Fetch
* Flat coast
* Graded shoreline
* Headlands and bays
* Ingression coast
* Large-scale coastal behaviour
* Longshore drift
* Marine regression
* Marine transgression
* Raised shoreline
* Rip current
* Rocky shore
* Sea cave
* Sea foam
* Shoal
* Steep coast
* Submergent coastline
* Surf break
* Surf zone
* Surge channel
* Swash
* Undertow
* Volcanic arc
* Wave-cut platform
* Wave shoaling
* Wind wave
* Wrack zone

Management|

* Accretion
* Coastal management
* Integrated coastal zone management
* Submersion

Related|

* Bulkhead line
* Grain size
* boulder
* clay
* cobble
* granule
* pebble
* sand
* shingle
* silt
* Intertidal zone
* Littoral zone
* Physical oceanography
* Region of freshwater influence

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