The term barrier, when used to characterize a beach, island, or spit, describes a depositional feature that is composed of sand- to cobble-size sediments that are permanently above the high-tide level. Barrier beaches, barrier islands, and barrier spits differ from similar features in that barriers tend to be parallel to, but separated from, the mainland by a lagoon, estuary, or bay. The barrier may be divided by inlets to form a barrier chain. The inlets connect the sea (or large lake) with the lagoon and allow water to pass landward and seaward during the tidal cycle.
Barrier beaches tend to be less than 200 m in width with a single ridge or line of low dunes. This type of barrier is subject to frequent overwash during storms and has little, if any, vegetation cover. Barrier islands tend to be 0.5–5 km in width, vary in length from 1 to 100 km, and have mean elevations of about 6 m (individual dunes may reach as high as 100 m). When seen in profile (Figure B1), a barrier island...
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Daniels, R.C. (1999). Barrier beaches and Barrier islands. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_27
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