Definition and occurrence
Barrier islands are elongate, shore-parallel accumulations of unconsolidated sediment (primarily sand), some parts of which are supratidal, that are separated from the mainland by bays, lagoons, or wetland complexes. They are most abundant along the coastlines of the trailing edges of continental plates and of epicontinental seas and lakes (e.g., Caspian and Black Seas). They do not occur on coasts with tidal ranges greater than around 4 m, because their primary mechanism wave action is not focused long enough at a single level during the tidal cycle to form the island and the strong tidal currents associated with such large tides transport the available sand to offshore regions. Barrier islands do occur, primarily as spit forms, on leading edge and glaciated coasts, but they are a minority coastline type in those areas.
Barrier islands are the dominant coastline type along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, most of them having been formed...
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Cross-references
Barrier
Changing Sea Levels
Spits
Tidal Inlets
Tide-Dominated Coasts
Wave-Dominated Coasts
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Hayes, M.O. (2005). Barrier Islands. In: Schwartz, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3880-1_25
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