Tombolo

A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo,

from the Italian tombolo, meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion',
and sometimes translated incorrectly as ayre (an ayre is
a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform
by which an island becomes attached to the mainland
by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar.[1] Once
attached, the island is then known as a tied island.

Several islands tied together by bars which rise above

the water level are called a tombolo cluster.[2] Two or
more tombolos may form an enclosure (called a
lagoon) that can eventually fill with sediment.
Tombolo near Karystos, Euboea, Greece
Formation
The shoreline moves toward the island (or detached
breakwater) due to accretion of sand in the lee of the
island, where wave energy and longshore drift are
reduced and therefore deposition of sand occurs.

Wave diffraction and refraction

Tombolo contrasted with other coastal landforms.
True tombolos are formed by wave refraction and
diffraction. As waves near an island, they are slowed
by the shallow water surrounding it. These waves then
bend around the island to the opposite side as they approach. The wave pattern created by this water
movement causes a convergence of longshore drift on the opposite side of the island. The beach sediments
that are moving by lateral transport on the lee side of the island will accumulate there, conforming to the
shape of the wave pattern. In other words, the waves sweep sediment together from both sides. Eventually,
when enough sediment has built up, the beach shoreline, known as a spit, will connect with an island and
form a tombolo.[3]

Unidirectional longshore drift

In the case of longshore drift due to an oblique wave direction, like at Chesil Beach or Spurn Head, the
flow of material is along the coast in a movement which is not determined by wave diffraction around the
now tied island, such as the Isle of Portland, which it has reached. In this and similar cases like Cádiz, while
the strip of beach material connected to the island may be technically called a tombolo because it links the
island to the land, it is better thought of in terms of its formation as a spit, because the sand or shingle ridge
is parallel rather than at right angles to the coast.

Morphology and sediment distribution

Tombolos demonstrate the sensitivity of shorelines. A small piece of land, such as an island, or a beached
shipwreck can change the way that waves move, leading to different deposition of sediments. Sea level rise
may also contribute to accretion, as material is pushed up with rising sea levels. Tombolos are more prone to
natural fluctuations of profile and area as a result of tidal and weather events than a normal beach is.
Because of this susceptibility to weathering, tombolos are sometimes made more sturdy through the
construction of roads or parking lots. The sediments that make up a tombolo are coarser towards the bottom
and finer towards the surface. It is easy to see this pattern when the waves are destructive and wash away
finer grained material at the top, revealing coarser sands and cobbles as the base.

Examples
Adam's Bridge (until 1480), between India and Sri Lanka
Aupōuri Peninsula, New Zealand
Barrenjoey Headland, Pittwater, New South Wales, Australia
Beavertail Point, Conanicut Island, Rhode Island, United States
Bennett Island, De Long Group, Russia
Biddeford Pool, Maine, United States[4]
Bijia Mountain, China
Broulee Island, New South Wales, Australia
Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia
Burgh Island, Devon, England
Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain
Chausey, Manche département, France (two features connecting the main island and two
smaller outcrops)
Chappaquiddick Island, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States
Charles Island, Connecticut, United States
Chesil Beach, Portland, Dorset, England
Cheung Chau, Hong Kong
Crimea, Ukraine
Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania, Australia
S'Espalmador, Formentera, Spain
Fingal Bay, New South Wales, Australia
The Rock of Gibraltar
Grand Island National Recreation Area, Michigan, United States
Gugh, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, England
Gwadar, Pakistan
Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan
Howth Head, Dublin, Ireland
Inishkeel Island, Narin, Ireland
Kapıdağ Peninsula, Balıkesir, Turkey
Knappelskär, Nynäshamn, Sweden
Konet Island, Kuala Sungai Baru, Malacca, Malaysia
Kurnell, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Lake Pomorie, Bulgaria
Langness, Derbyhaven, Isle of Man
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Little Heart's Ease, Newfoundland and Labrador beach, Newfoundland Canada
Llandudno, North Wales
Louds Island at Muscongus Bay, Maine, United States
Maharees, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
Mare Island, Vallejo, California, United States
Maria Island, Tasmania
Maury Island, Washington, United States
McMicken Island State Park, Washington, United States
Miquelon, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, France
Monemvasia, Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece
Monte Argentario, Tuscany, Italy
Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France
Moses' Pass (Whale Tail), Ballena National Marine Park, Uvita, Costa Rica
Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
Mount Taipingot, Rota, Northern Marianas
Nahant, Massachusetts, United States (a natural tombolo, but connected to the mainland by
a causeway)
Nissi beach, Ayia Napa, Cyprus
Ormara, Pakistan
Palisadoes, Kingston, Jamaica
Peniche, Portugal
Peniscola, Castellon, Spain
Porchat Island, Itararé Beach, São Vicente, Brazil[5][6]
Presqu'ile Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Presque Isle, Michigan, United States
Presqu'ile de Giens, Hyères, France
Quiberon, France
Ras Hafun, Somalia
Sainte-Marie, Martinique, France
Scotts Head, Dominica
Shaman's Island, Douglas, Alaska, United States
Sharp Island, Sai Kung District, Hong Kong
Silver Strand (San Diego), Coronado, California, United States
St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, England
St Ninian's Isle, Shetland Islands, Scotland
Sveti Stefan, near Budva, Montenegro
Tam Hai, Quang Nam province, Vietnam
University Beach, Ward Island, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Uummannaq in North Star Bay, Greenland
Vatersay, Scotland – the island comprises two sections connected by a broad tombolo
 Zhifu Island, Yantai, China

Some of these may be simple isthmuses, and not have the deposition creation that defines a true tombolo.[7]

Image gallery

The tombolo connecting St Monte Argentario, Tuscany, Italy

Ninian's Isle with the Shetland
Mainland

Chesil Beach, seen from the Isle The Angel Road of Shōdoshima,
of Portland looking towards Japan
mainland Dorset
Looking south from the summit of The eastern end of Bennett Island
Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, with its glaciated tombolo in the
to the city of Tauranga background

Satellite view of Gwadar, Pakistan An aerial photo of the isthmus of

Sutton which connects Howth
Head and County Dublin

See also
Geography portal

Islands portal

Ayre (landform)
Bar
Causeway
Cuspate foreland
Isthmus
Tied island
 Shoal

References
1. De Mahiques, Michel Michaelovitch (2016). "Tombolo" (https://link.springer.com/referencewo
rkentry/10.1007%2F978-94-017-8801-4_349). Encyclopedia of Estuaries. Encyclopedia of
Earth Sciences Series. pp. 713–714. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4_349 (https://doi.org/1
0.1007%2F978-94-017-8801-4_349). ISBN 978-94-017-8800-7. Archived (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20210614210520/http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-017
-8801-4_349) from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
2. Glossary of Geology and Related Sciences. The American Geological Institute, 1957
3. Easterbrook, Don T. (1999). Surface Processes and Landforms (Second ed.). Prentice Hall.
ISBN 0-13-860958-6.
4. Neal, William; Orrin H. Pilkey; Joseph T. Kelley (2007). Atlantic Coast Beaches: A Guide to
Ripples, Dunes, and Other Natural Features of the Seashore. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press
Publishing Company. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-87842-534-1.
5. Venancio, Kelly Kawai; Garcia, Patrícia Dalsoglio; Gireli, Tiago Zenker; Corrêa, Thiago
Bezerra (2020). "Hydrodynamic modeling with scenario approach in the evaluation of
dredging impacts on coastal erosion in Santos (Brazil)" (https://www.researchgate.net/public
ation/341030281). Ocean & Coastal Management. 195: 105227.
doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105227 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ocecoaman.2020.1052
27). S2CID 225314966 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:225314966) – via
ResearchGate.
6. Brazilian Beach Systems (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-30394-9).
Coastal Research Library. Vol. 17. 2016. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30394-9 (https://doi.org/10.1
007%2F978-3-319-30394-9). ISBN 978-3-319-30392-5. S2CID 133158096 (https://api.sema
nticscholar.org/CorpusID:133158096).
7. Owens, Edward H. (1982). Beaches and Coastal Geology (https://link.springer.com/referenc
eworkentry/10.1007%2F0-387-30843-1_474). Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series.
pp. 838–839. doi:10.1007/0-387-30843-1_474 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F0-387-30843-1_4
74). ISBN 978-0-87933-213-6. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20220322032423/http
s://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F0-387-30843-1_474) from the original
on 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

External links
Geology.About.com's page on tombolos (http://geology.about.com/library/bl/images/bltombol
o.htm) (useful for its descriptive photograph)
Tombolo in Sainte-Marie, Martinique (http://alyssawrites.com/tombolo-sainte-marie/) (useful
for its photos and description)
further reading on Detached breakwaters from Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee in Belgium (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20151112071446/http://www.vliz.be/wiki/Detached_breakwaters)
further reading on coastal structures from Prof. Leo van Rijn in Holland (https://web.archive.o
rg/web/20150723225935/http://www.leovanrijn-sediment.com/papers/Coastalstructures201
3.pdf)

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