CAPF AC 2020 Q42: Geography – Physical Geography & Geomorphology

CAPF AC 2020, Paper I (General Ability and Intelligence) · Geography

A long narrow stretch of sand and/or shingle with one end attached to the mainland is called

Answer: (a) Sand spit

Explanation

Sand spit

How to think: the clue is one end attached to the mainland.

The other end is free in the sea.

That is a spit.

Landform	Shape	Ends
Spit	Long narrow ridge of sand or shingle	One end joined to the land, the other free in the sea
Bar	Ridge of sand lying across a bay or along the coast	Often closes a bay and forms a lagoon
Tombolo	Ridge of sand	Joins an island to the mainland
Sand dune	Mound of sand	Built by wind, on land

How a spit forms:

Step	Detail
1	Waves move sand along the coast (longshore drift)
2	The coast bends, but the sand keeps moving straight
3	The sand is dropped in the sea and a spit grows out

Answer: (a) Sand spit.

(a) CORRECT. A spit is a narrow ridge of sand or shingle with one end joined to the mainland.
(b) Incorrect. A bar lies across a bay or offshore; it is not defined by one attached end.
(c) Incorrect. A dune is a mound of sand piled up by wind.
(d) Incorrect. A tombolo links an island to the mainland.

Coastal deposition: spit (one end on land), bar (across a bay, makes a lagoon), tombolo (joins island to mainland). All built by longshore drift.

Spit = sand ridge with one end tied to the mainland.

Mixing up a spit with a bar; a spit that grows across a bay becomes a bar.
Thinking a tombolo has a free end; it is tied at both ends.
Calling these erosional features; they are made by deposition.

Count the attached ends: one end on land is a spit; island tied to land is a tombolo.

NCERT Class XI Geography — Fundamentals of Physical Geography: Landforms and their Evolution (coastal landforms)
G. C. Leong — Certificate Physical and Human Geography, Coastal Landforms