Introduction
Gibraltar is a high and narrow limestone peninsula 5 km long from north to south and up to 1.5 km wide, rising to a height of 421 m at Rock Gun. It originated as a double tombolo, attached to mainland Spain by a sandy isthmus containing a lagoon that has been reclaimed, and it has a coastline 12 km in length. The west coast, facing the Bay of Algeciras has a harbour sheltered by large breakwaters and an airport runway protruding into the sea; southwest is the Strait of Gibraltar, opening to the Atlantic Ocean. The westward slopes are steep and terraced (partly artificially) while the eastern side has great cliffs descending to the Mediterranean Sea (Fig. 8.14.1.1 ).
The plunging cliffs of Gibraltar, seen from the south. (Courtesy Geostudies).
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Bailey EB (1953) Notes on Gibraltar and the Northern Rif. Q J Geol Soc Lond 108:157–176
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Bird, E. (2010). Gibraltar. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of the World's Coastal Landforms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_117
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