"What Was That?" -- Lake and Coastal Features

Lakes and Coastal Features

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How to Use This Tool: Say you just flew over some interesting coastal feature, and now you want to know what it is. Scroll down through some of the possibilities below. If you find what you're looking for, you can open it in Google Earth by clicking the Google Earth icon:

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Sinkhole- A lake made from the collapse of an underground cave. Most sinkholes don't hold water, but when they do, they're noticeable and cool. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Kettle Hole - A lake formed from a retreating glacier. These are typically found in the northern areas of the U.S.: Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, etc. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Playa - An ephemeral lake bed, usually in a desert. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Crater Lake - A lake in the caldera of a volcano. It's unusual to fly over these types of lakes, unless you're in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Barrier Island - A long, thin island running parallel to a coastline. They form from a variety of mechanisms and can shield the mainland from waves and storms. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude higher than 35,000 feet, and so are each ~15 miles across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Baymouth Bar- A long, thin bar of sand that completely cuts off a bay from the rest of the ocean. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Tombolo - A long, thin bar of sand that connects the main land to an island. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Estuary - A transition zone between a river and an ocean, usually partially enclosed but open to the sea. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Salt Lake / Alkaline Lake - A lake with a high concentration of salt. You can usually identify them by the rings of white salts along their edges. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude higher than 35,000 feet, and so are each ~3 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Sea Stack- A rock isolated by coastal erosion. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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Coastal Dunes - Dunes form on beaches when waves bring more sand than they take away, winds blow sand inland, and vegetation or another obstacle blocks sand from blowing too far inland. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

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