Bay

Click on the bay landforms to make the picture larger. The picture will keep you on this page.

A bay has 2 main characteristics

1.Part of a body of salt water

2. Reaches into the land

Bay Examples:
San Francisco Bay
Bay of Biscay

What is a Bay Landform?

In general terms, a bay landform is a body of water that is partially surrounded by land. You may think of it as a large lake opened to a bigger body of water such as an ocean. Bays can be both large and small. It is also much different than a gulf. A gulf goes inland but a bay has a much smaller opening. A gulf is also much larger than a bay and usually has to do with oceans. Overall, a bay is smaller than a gulf.

Some of the most famous bays in the world are the Bay of Biscay and the San Francisco Bay. They are both gorgeous in their own right. The San Francisco Bay gets a lot of fog that is picture worthy while the Bay of Biscay has a history for the World Wars.

How are Bays formed?

Bays are formed through a variety of ways. First there must be land and there must be water. Oceans have created many bays through erosion of land and deposits to the land. The Ice Age formed a lot of the bays we have today too. They created land that surrounded huge holes of water that let out to openings.

Bay Definition

• a wide semicircular indentation of a shoreline usually between two headlands or peninsulas