Coastal and Oceanic Landform (11.Bight)

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bight has two meanings.

                                           -bend

                                           -curve

• A bend or curve in the line between land and water.

• Alternatively, the term can refer to a large bay.

• It is distinguished from a sound by being shallower.

• Traditionally explorers defined a bight as a bay.

Most popular bights are;

The Great Australian Bight

•  Large bight.

• The coast line is characterised by;

                                                            -cliff faces

                                                           -surfing beaches

                                                           -rock platforms

                                                           -ideal for whale-watching. 

• The waters of the Great Australian Bight, despite being relatively shallow, are not fertile. 

• Great Australian Bight receives very little of the runoff that fertilises most continental shelves.

The Bight of Benin

• Located on the western African coast.

• From Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of the Niger River.

• The bight is part of the Gulf of Guinea.

•  The Republic of Benin and this bight were both named after the Benin Empire.

• Which expanded greatly after the arrival of European powers and turned into a global trade with the colonization of the Americas.

German Bight

German Bight, Jutland to the right

• Southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands & Germany to the south

• The Bight contains the Frisian and Danish Islands. 

• The Wadden Sea is approximately10to 12 km  wide at the location of the German Bight.

• Now referred to as German Bight.

The Heligoland Bight

• The southern part of the German Bight

• Located at the mouth of the Elbe river

• From the mouth of the River Elbe to the islands of Heligoland

• Lies between the East Frisian island of Wangerooge & the North Frisian peninsula of Eiderstedt.

• The bight is up to 56 metres deep.

The New York Bight

• A slight indentation along the Atlantic coast of the United States.

• Extending northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island.

• The sea floor of the bight consists largely of continental shelf.

•  Formed by the Hudson River during the ice ages.

The South Taranaki Bight

• From the south coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island.

• The size of the bight depends to a large extent on the Kaupokonui Stream of Mount 

• Taranaki to the mouth of the Patea River.

Southern Bight

• Bounded by the coasts of the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Great Britain.

• The Southern Bight is south west of the German Bight and the Wadden Sea.

• The North Sea similar to the Atlantic ocean.