gulf

gulf, any large coastal indentation. More specifically, such a feature is the reentrant of an ocean, regardless of size, depth, configuration, and geologic structure. The nomenclature for gulfs is far from uniform; names that may refer to sizable gulfs in various places include bay, bight, firth, sound, and fjord. In addition, a number of pronounced concavities of oceanic margins have no proper name at all. As such, many of the characteristics of gulfs may also apply to bays and other similar geographies.

This problem of nomenclature extends to the difference between gulfs and seas. There are many small seas, such as the Sea of Marmara (11,000 square km [about 4,200 square miles]) and the Sea of Azov (38,000 square km [about 14,700 square miles]), which, strictly speaking, are really gulfs of the ocean or other seas (the Sea of Azov is a gulf of the Black Sea). The Gulf of Aden (about 270,000 square km [about 104,000 square miles]), another example, is part of the Arabian Sea, and these water bodies have a common regime (similar tides, precipitation, evaporation, and so forth). The narrow sound of Bab el-Mandeb connects the gulf with the vast Red Sea (438,100 square km [about 169,000 square miles]) and exhibits a number of specific geomorphic features. The Red Sea in turn has two small gulfs to the north—namely, those of Suez and Aqaba.

The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are both gulfs, approximately the same size and having the same monsoonal water circulation. The Bay of Bengal is, however, the largest of the gulfs, with a surface area of 2,172,000 square km (838,600 square miles), a length of 1,850 km (1,150 miles), and a width of about 1,600 km (1,000 miles).

In some cases, the width of a gulf may exceed its length. The Great Australian Bight has the widest mouth (2,800 km [1,740 miles]). The Gulf of Guinea is the deepest; its maximum depth (6,363 metres [20,876 feet]) exceeds that of the Bay of Bengal by more than 1,000 metres (about 3,300 feet).

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Water and its Varying Forms

Topographic characteristics

Single gulfs usually are formed along linear shores of the continents. If the shoreline is irregular and has a complex geologic structure, groups of gulfs of a similar nature may occur. Most shorelines have small reentrants of various size that are called bays.

The shape and bottom topography of gulfs are amazingly diverse. They are determined by the geologic structure and development of the region. Homogeneous bedrock of low strength or resistance results in simple shapes and shallow depths. The Gulf of Riga (of the Baltic Sea) is a possible example of the type. Long, narrow arms with approximately parallel shores of the south Kara Sea extend inland for about 800 km (about 500 miles). They occupy troughs that originated by erosion during a period of lower sea level (Baidaratskaya Bay, Obskaya Bay with Tazovskaya Bay tributary, Yenisey Bay, Gydanskaya Bay). Deep, angular gulfs, on the other hand, are created along fractures, faults, and rifts (e.g., Varanger Fjord); they usually have irregular bottom topography. Parallel fractures form extremely deep, narrow gulfs with parallel shores, such as the Gulf of California. Genuine fjord-gulfs are notable for their very high length-to-width ratios (up to 50:1). In regions that have undergone nonuniform deformation and uplift, gulfs of complicated and irregular shape and bottom topography are consequently formed; the Gulf of St. Lawrence is an example.

Gulfs are connected with the sea by means of one or more straits. Sometimes there may be an archipelago in the mouth of the gulf, as in the Gulf of Bothnia. There are some gulfs that open into the sea or into another gulf on opposite sides (Baffin Bay, the Gulf of Aden, and the Gulf of Oman).

Factors that affect the characteristics of gulfs

Gulfs may differ from the adjacent ocean (or sea) by virtue of water properties and dynamics and processes of sedimentation. Such differences are determined by the size and the shape of a given gulf, by the depth and bottom topography, and, to a considerable extent, by the degree of isolation from the ocean. Climatic conditions also are important. Isolation from an adjacent ocean depends on the ratio of width of mouth to total surface area of a gulf or on the cross section of the mouth to total water volume. If there is a sill (a submarine ridge or rise), the ratio of depth above the sill to the depth of the gulf is of great importance. No extensive comparisons of these ratios have been made to date; hence, any analysis of controlling variables must remain somewhat qualitative.

A high sill hampers the water exchange between an ocean and gulf and may lead to stagnation (oxygen deficiency), as is found in some fjords of Norway, in the Red Sea, and, particularly, in the Black Sea. Also, the presence of a sill causes independent circulation of gulf waters, generated by local winds and the runoff of rivers. Sills are not indispensable for the formation of an independent circulation, however. A narrow mouth, as in the Gulf of Bothnia, leads to the same result.

In humid climates, the waters of gulfs are freshened by river runoff. Salinity is particularly low in the gulfs of the Baltic Sea and along the southern coast of the Kara Sea. Water becomes almost fresh in their heads, especially in the spring when snow begins to thaw. Gulfs of the arid zone suffer from intensive evaporation and receive little river runoff. Thus, salinity increases markedly in this climatic regime—up to 60 parts per thousand in the Persian Gulf and up to 350 parts per thousand in the Kara-Bogaz-Gol (a gulf of the Caspian Sea). In addition to its effect on salinity, river runoff delivers organic matter and nutrient salts that may determine the specific features of life in the gulfs. The number of genera and species of organisms is small, but the organisms present tend to develop in quantities. That is why shrimp, oyster, and other fisheries are concentrated in many gulfs.

Funnel-shaped gulfs, in which the depth gradually decreases headward, usually have resonant tides. The tidal range at the head of such gulfs is several times greater than that in the open ocean (e.g., Bristol Channel, Río de la Plata, Mezenskaya Bay, Shelikhova Gulf). The world maximum tidal range has been registered in the Bay of Fundy (18 metres [59 feet]). The regularity (magnitude and frequency) of the flood tide may be distorted in such instances, and the duration of the flood tide may become much shorter than that of the ebb tide. This may cause the phenomenon of tidal bore, in which a steep wave will move rapidly upstream for dozens of kilometres.

Gulfs of simple shape with a narrow mouth and a high degree of isolation from the ocean are often subject to seiches. These free oscillations can result from rapid changes of atmospheric pressure and, of course, from tectonic movements such as earthquakes. Seiches gradually decrease, but some oscillation continues long after their cause disappears. A high rise of the water (storm surge) occurs in long and shallow gulfs if winds from the sea are protracted. Such phenomena are difficult to predict, and the high water levels may cause floods. Seiches commonly occur at the heads of Helgoländer Bay in the North Sea and in the Gulf of Finland.

Certain aspects of sedimentation are affected by the isolation of gulfs from the ocean and river runoff. The rate of sediment accumulation in gulfs of limited area may be very high. This, of course, is a function of river discharge; sediment composition is usually similar to that of the load transported by entering rivers. Deposition of calcium carbonate often occurs in shallow gulfs in the arid zones where few if any perennial streams exist. The bottoms of long gulfs (or gulfs having sills) are usually covered with silt even at the shallowest depths (e.g., Hudson Bay, the Bo Hai [Gulf of Chihli], the inlets or gubas of the Kara Sea, the Gulf of Riga). Only strong tidal currents can prevent this siltation and, in some cases, cause the opposite phenomenon of bottom erosion. Currents maintain the existence of or actively deepen bottom troughs in narrow-mouthed gulfs whose depths are more than 200 metres (about 660 feet), whereas depths of adjacent parts of the open ocean are only on the order of some dozens of metres.

Waves of the open ocean either do not penetrate into comparatively isolated gulfs or—if they do—they become greatly reduced after entry. Small local waves that are related to gulf size prevail there. This tends to make gulfs quite navigable, and seaports and harbours have generally been situated on them.