Coastal dune landform that forms by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Barrier island" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Mantoloking, New Jersey rests on the barrier island of Barnegat Bay. Note how the barrier island shields the inland Barnegat Bay (left) from the more powerful wave action of the open Atlantic Ocean (right).Barrier island contrasted with other coastal landforms
Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast.[1] They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen. They are subject to change during storms and other action, but absorb energy and protect the coastlines and create areas of protected waters where wetlands may flourish. A barrier chain may extend for hundreds of kilometers, with islands periodically separated by tidal inlets. The largest barrier island in the world is Padre Island of Texas, United States, at 113 miles (182 km) long.[2] Sometimes an important inlet may close permanently, transforming an island into a peninsula, thus creating a barrier peninsula,[3] often including a beach, barrier beach.
Though many are long and narrow, the length and width of barriers and overall morphology of barrier coasts are related to parameters including tidal range, wave energy, sediment supply, sea-level trends, and basement controls.[4] The amount of vegetation on the barrier has a large impact on the height and evolution of the island.[5]
Chains of barrier islands can be found along approximately 13-15% of the world's coastlines.[6] They display different settings, suggesting that they can form and be maintained in a variety of environments. Numerous theories have been given to explain their formation.
A human-made offshore structure constructed parallel to the shore is called a breakwater. In terms of coastal morphodynamics, it acts similarly to a naturally occurring barrier island by dissipating and reducing the energy of the waves and currents striking the coast. Hence, it is an important aspect of coastal engineering.
^US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "What is a barrier island?". oceanservice.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
^Garrison, J.R., Jr., Williams, J., Potter Miller, S., Weber, E.T., II, McMechan, G., and Zeng, X., 2010, "Ground-penetrating radar study of North Padre Island; Implications for barrier island interval architecture, model for growth of progradational microtidal barrier islands, and Gulf of Mexico sea-level cyclicity:" Journal of Sedimentary Research,' v. 80, p. 303–319.
^Blevins, D. (2017). North Carolina's Barrier Islands: Wonders of Sand, Sea, and Sky. University of North Carolina Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4696-3250-6. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
^Davis & FitzGerald (2004), p. 144.
^Durán Vinent, Orencio; Moore, Laura J. (2015). "Barrier island bistability induced by biophysical interactions". Nature Climate Change. 5 (2): 158–162. Bibcode:2015NatCC...5..158D. doi:10.1038/nclimate2474.
^Smith, Q.H.T., Heap, A.D., and Nichol, S.L., 2010, "Origin and formation of an estuarine barrier island, Tapora Island, New Zealand:" Journal of Coastal Research, v. 26, p. 292–300.
Barrierislands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel...
Great BarrierIsland (Māori: Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-east of central Auckland. With an area of...
The Texas barrierislands are a chain of barrierislands in the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas Gulf Coast. The islands enclose a series of estuaries along...
Little BarrierIsland, or Hauturu in Māori (the official Māori title is Te Hauturu-o-Toi), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located...
The Outer Barrier, also known as the Long Island and New York City barrierislands, refers to the string of barrierislands that divide the lagoons south...
The Virginia BarrierIslands are a continuous chain of long, narrow, low-lying, sand and scrub barrierislands separated from one another by narrow inlets...
Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrierislands and the world's longest barrierisland. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of...
Assateague Island is a 37-mile (60 km) long barrierisland located off the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean. The northern...
where it survived only on Little BarrierIsland, although it has been translocated to some other predator-free island conservation areas. This very large...
service operated only from Great BarrierIsland to Auckland, the reverse route being considered uneconomic. On the island, pigeongram agencies were established...
the outer barrierislands off the south coast of Long Island, New York, United States. Long Beach is the westernmost of these barrierislands, fronting...
is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where water current loses some of its carrying capacity. This includes: barrierislands, which...
Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrierislands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally...
Anna Maria Island is a barrierisland on the coast of Manatee County, Florida, in the United States. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, on...
Hatteras Island (historically Croatoan Island, sometimes referred to as Hatorask) is a barrierisland located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the...
Alaska has more. Major island chains include the Florida Keys, the Ten Thousand Islands, the Sea Islands, and the barrierislands of the Atlantic coast...
Keewaydin Island is a primary barrierisland located off the coast of Naples, in Collier County, Florida, United States. It can be reached only by boat...
tide, and become directly attached to the mainland when at low tide. Barrierisland formation includes mechanisms such as offshore bar theory, spit accretion...
Galveston Island (/ˈɡælvɪstən/ GAL-vis-tən) is a barrierisland on the Texas Gulf Coast in the United States, about 50 miles (80.5 km) southeast of Houston...
Frenchman Island, Whangārei Heads Goat Island / Rakiriri Great BarrierIsland/Aotea Great Island Green Island (Okaihe) Green Island Guano Island, Whangārei...
one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrierislands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining...
Global Information
