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

External links[edit]