A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean , a lake , or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf , sea , sound , or bight . A cove is a small, circular bay with a narrow entrance. A fjord is an elongated bay formed by glacial action. The term embayment is also used for related features , such as extinct bays or freshwater environments.
17-645: Kimmeridge Bay ( / ˈ k ɪ m ə r ɪ dʒ / ) is a bay on the Isle of Purbeck , a peninsula on the English Channel coast in Dorset , England , close to and southeast of the village of Kimmeridge , on the Smedmore Estate . The area is renowned for its fossils , with The Etches Collection in the village of Kimmeridge displaying fossils found by Steve Etches in the area over a 30-year period. It
34-552: A bight . There are various ways in which bays can form. The largest bays have developed through plate tectonics . As the super-continent Pangaea broke up along curved and indented fault lines, the continents moved apart and left large bays; these include the Gulf of Guinea , the Gulf of Mexico , and the Bay of Bengal , which is the world's largest bay. Bays also form through coastal erosion by rivers and glaciers . A bay formed by
51-482: A surfer and diver area. The Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve and Fine Foundation Marine Centre are located here. The geology of the area around Kimmeridge Bay is world-renowned. It comprises bedrock formed in the Late Jurassic epoch, overlain in many places by superficial Quaternary head deposits . The bedrock is mostly Kimmeridge clay , except for the top of Smedmore Hill and along to Swyre Head, which
68-438: A glacier is a fjord . Rias are created by rivers and are characterised by more gradual slopes. Deposits of softer rocks erode more rapidly, forming bays, while harder rocks erode less quickly, leaving headlands . Lulworth Ranges The Lulworth Ranges are military firing ranges located between Wareham and Lulworth in Dorset , England. They cover an area of more than 2,830 hectares (7,000 acres), are leased in
85-462: A network of connected reserves; however the yield is decreasing year on year. The oil is transported by tanker to the Perenco site at Wytch Farm from whence it is piped to the main refinery on Southampton Water. Kimmeridge Bay is a surfing area which breaks infrequently due to its lack of exposure to Atlantic Ocean swells, but can produce walls of water in the right conditions. Below the cliffs to
102-627: A rolling contract from the Weld Estate by the Ministry of Defence and are part of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School based at Lulworth Camp . The ranges were established in 1917. The ranges are about 10 km (6 mi) west of Swanage and about 15 km (9 mi) east of Dorchester . They lie within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and stretches along the coastline between
119-502: A steep upper foreshore with a broad, flat fronting terrace". Bays were significant in the history of human settlement because they provided easy access to marine resources like fisheries . Later they were important in the development of sea trade as the safe anchorage they provide encouraged their selection as ports . The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines a bay as
136-437: A well-marked indentation in the coastline, whose penetration is in such proportion to the width of its mouth as to contain land-locked waters and constitute more than a mere curvature of the coast. An indentation, however, shall not be regarded as a bay unless its area is as large as (or larger than) that of the semi-circle whose diameter is a line drawn across the mouth of that indentation — otherwise it would be referred to as
153-616: Is a popular place to access the coast for tourists. To the east are the Kimmeridge Ledges , where fossils can be found in the flat clay beds. Kimmeridge Bay forms part of the Jurassic Coast , a World Heritage Site . The coast is also part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest , and the whole area is part of the Dorset National Landscape . Kimmeridge is the type locality for Kimmeridge clay ,
170-617: Is formed from Portland stone . Between this and the Kimmeridge clay, and outcropping just beneath the top of the hill, is a thin band of Portland sand . Landslip deposits from the Portland stone cover most of the steep southwest-facing slopes of the hills. Within the Kimmeridge clay are bands of bituminous shale and dolomite , which form flat ledges within Kimmeridge Bay that are exposed at low tide. Kimmeridge gives its name to
187-609: Is northwest of Kimmeridge Bay. On the cliff west of the village is the Perenco "nodding donkey" oil pump which has been pumping continually since the late 1950s, making it the oldest working oil pump in the UK. The well currently yields around 65 barrels per day (10.3 m/d) from the Middle Jurassic strata that lie around 1,150 feet (350 m) below the cliff. The well has been operating for this long because it has tapped into
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#1732771936044204-414: Is visible on Google Earth and from the surrounding hills. The railway consists of a four track shed on a short branch, which is connected to a small within a large loop. For safety reasons, access to the public is only permissible when the ranges are not in operation. Large red flags are flown and flashing warning lamps on Bindon Hill and St Alban's Head are lit when the ranges are in use. At such times
221-585: The Kimmeridgian , the division of the Jurassic period in which the beds were laid down, because of the quality of the cliffs and the fossils they yield. Kimmeridge is also the type locality for the Jurassic age Kimmeridge Clay formation, which is well represented in southern England, and provides one of the source rocks for hydrocarbons found in the Wessex and North Sea Basins. The Kimmeridge Oil Field
238-545: The Susquehanna River . Bays may also be nested within each other; for example, James Bay is an arm of Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada . Some large bays, such as the Bay of Bengal and Hudson Bay, have varied marine geology . The land surrounding a bay often reduces the strength of winds and blocks waves . Bays may have as wide a variety of shoreline characteristics as other shorelines. In some cases, bays have beaches , which "are usually characterized by
255-532: The east are the Kimmeridge Ledges , with slow left- and right-hand breaking waves; the right-handers can spiral for 70 yards (64 m) or more into the bay. To the west is the Broad Bench promontory, within the Ministry of Defence firing range and only accessible when the ranges are open to the public. Bay A bay can be the estuary of a river, such as the Chesapeake Bay , an estuary of
272-615: The east of Lulworth Cove to just west of Kimmeridge . The coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The range includes the ghost village of Tyneham , deserted in 1943 and abandoned permanently following its compulsory purchase by the Army in 1948. The ranges are used for static and mobile live-firing practice by tanks and other armoured vehicles . The ranges are cleared for use by tank main armament and other vehicle-mounted heavy weapons. Lulworth Ranges has an electrically powered rail targetry system which
289-401: The geological formation that covers most of the area. Within the clay are bands of bituminous shale . An oil well has operated on the shore of Kimmeridge Bay since 1959. The bay is roughly semi-circular, facing southwest. It is backed by low cliffs of Kimmeridge clay, and beneath the cliffs is a large wave-cut platform and a rocky shore with rock pools and attendant ecology. Kimmeridge Bay is
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