Tied island

Not to be confused with Tidal island.
View from the Isle of Portland looking towards the mainland of Great Britain. Chesil Beach on the left connects the tied island to the mainland.
St Ninian's Isle, a tied island during all but the very highest tides.

Tied islands, or land-tied islands as they are often known, are landforms consisting of an island that is connected to land only by a tombolo: a spit of beach materials connected to land at both ends. St Ninian's Isle, in the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland, is an example of this; it was once an island but is now linked to the Mainland. Other examples include: Maury Island, Washington in the Puget Sound, Coronado, California and Nahant, Massachusetts in the U.S.; Barrenjoey, New South Wales in Australia; and Wedge Island in Western Australia.

The Isle of Portland is also referred to as a tied island, although geographers now believe that Chesil Beach (which connects the island to the mainland) is a barrier beach which has moved eastwards, rather than a tombolo, which would have been formed by the effect of the island on waves.

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