Tidal island

Diagram of tidal island at low tide and high tide
St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, at high tide, c. 1900
Cramond Island, Scotland, at high tide: the causeway is submerged, but the anti-boat pylons are still visible

A tidal island is a raised area of land within a waterbody, which is connected to the larger mainland by a natural isthmus or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide, causing the land to switch between being a promontory/peninsula and an island depending on tidal conditions.

Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of religious worship, such as Mont-Saint-Michel with its Benedictine abbey. Tidal islands are also commonly the sites of fortresses because of the natural barrier created by the tidal channel.

List of tidal islands

[edit]

Asia

[edit]

Hong Kong

[edit]

Iran

[edit]

Japan

[edit]

Taiwan

[edit]

South Korea

[edit]

Europe

[edit]

Denmark

[edit]

Denmark/Germany

[edit]

France

[edit]
Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy

Germany

[edit]

Guernsey

[edit]

Iceland

[edit]

Grótta in Seltjarnarnes, the Capital Region

Ireland

[edit]

Italy

[edit]

Jersey

[edit]

Spain

[edit]

United Kingdom

[edit]
Rough Island opposite Rockcliffe, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland
Worm's Head at the end of Gower, Wales
England
[edit]
Northern Ireland
[edit]
Gunns Island, connected to Ballyhornan Bay, Northern Ireland at low tide
Scotland
[edit]
Wales
[edit]

43 (unbridged) tidal islands can be walked to from the UK mainland.[1]

North America

[edit]

Canada

[edit]

United States

[edit]
Bar Island in Maine, U.S.

Oceania

[edit]

Australia

[edit]

New Zealand

[edit]
Rangitoto Island forms a backdrop to a wave-cut platform off Achilles Point, Auckland, New Zealand.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Peter Caton (2011). No Boat Required – Exploring Tidal Islands. Troubador Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1848767-010.
  2. ^ longpointisland.com Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
[edit]