Headland and bay are related coastal features often found on the same coastline.

A bay is a body of
water, usually seawater (salt water) but sometimes fresh water, that is mostly surrounded by land. A
headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterised by breaking waves, rocky
shores, intense erosion and steep sea cliffs. Bays generally have less wave activity and typically have
sandy beaches. Headlands and bays form on discordant coastlines, where the land consists of bands of
rock of alternating resistance running perpendicular to the coast.

Contents

1 Geology and geography

2 Beach stability

3 References

4 External links

Geology and geography

Beachy Head cliffs and bay

East Sussex, England

Bays form where less resistant rocks, such as sands and clays, are eroded, leaving bands of stronger, or
more resistant rocks, (such as chalk, limestone, and granite), which form a headland or peninsula.
Refraction of waves occurs on headlands concentrating wave energy on them, so many other landforms,
such as caves, natural arches, and stacks, form on headlands. Wave energy is directed at right angles to
the wave crest, and lines drawn at right angles to the wave crest (orthogonals) represent the direction of
energy expenditure. Orthogonals converge on headlands and diverge in bays, which concentrates wave
energy on the headlands and dissipates wave energy in the bays.[1]

In the formation of sea cliffs, wave erosion undercuts the slopes at the shoreline, which retreat
landward. This increases the shear stress in the cliff-forming material and accelerates mass movement.
[1] The debris from these landslides collects at the base of the cliff and is also removed by the waves,
usually during storms, when wave energy is greatest. This debris provides sediment, which is
transported through longshore current for the nearby bay. Joints in the headlands are eroded back to
form caves, which erode further to form arches. These gaps eventually collapse and leave tall stacks at
the ends of the headlands. Eventually these too are eroded by the waves.[2]

Wave refraction disperses wave energy through the bay, and along with the sheltering effect of the
headlands, this protects bays from storms. This effect means that the waves reaching the shore in a bay
are weaker than the waves reaching the headland, and the bay is thus a safer place for water activities
like surfing or swimming. Through the deposition of sediment within the bay and the erosion of the
headlands, coastlines eventually straighten out. But then the same process starts all over again.