Isthmus - Wikipedia Isthmus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas For other uses, see Isthmus (disambiguation). The sandy isthmus or tombolo "The Neck" connecting North and South Bruny Island in Tasmania, Australia An isthmus ( /ˈɪsθməs/ or /ˈɪsməs/;[1] plural: isthmuses or isthmi; from Ancient Greek: ἰσθμός, romanized: isthmós, lit. 'neck')[2] is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated.[3] A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus. Canals are often built across isthmuses, where they may be a particularly advantageous shortcut for marine transport. For example, the Panama Canal crosses the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; the Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, cutting across the western side of the Isthmus of Suez, formed by the Sinai Peninsula; and the Crinan Canal crosses the isthmus between Loch Crinan and Loch Gilp, which connects the Kintyre peninsula with the rest of Scotland. Another example is the Welland Canal in the Niagara Peninsula (technically an isthmus). It connects Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. The city of Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand is situated on an isthmus. Contents 1 Isthmus vs land bridge vs peninsula 2 Major isthmuses 3 See also 4 Notes Isthmus vs land bridge vs peninsula[edit] Isthmus and land bridge are related terms with isthmus having a broader meaning. A land bridge is an isthmus connecting the Earth's major landmasses. The term land bridge is usually used in biogeology to describe land connections that used to exist between continents at various times and were important for migration of people, and various species of animals and plants, e.g. Bering Land Bridge and Doggerland.[4] An isthmus is a land connection between two bigger landmasses, while a peninsula is rather a land protrusion which is connected to a bigger landmass on one side only and surrounded by water on all other sides. Technically, an isthmus can have canals running from coast to coast (e.g. the Panama Canal), and thus resemble two peninsulas; however, canals are artificial features distinguished from straits. Major isthmuses[edit] Karelian Isthmus between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga Major isthmuses include the Isthmus of Panama and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the Americas, the Isthmus of Kra in South-East Asia, the Isthmus of Suez between Africa and Asia, and the Karelian Isthmus in Europe. Of historic importance was the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece. See also[edit] Aerial perspective of the isthmus of Bruny Island Geography portal Land bridge – Connection between two land form bodies List of isthmuses List of straits Notes[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Isthmi. ^ "Isthmus". Collins English Dictionary. Collins. Retrieved 19 December 2016. ^ LSJ entry ισθμός ^ "Isthmus". Britannica. Retrieved September 22, 2013. ^ "Land bridge | isthmus". Encyclopedia Britannica. v t e Coastal geography Landforms Anchialine pool Archipelago Atoll Avulsion Ayre Barrier island Bay Baymouth bar Bight Bodden Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune cliff-top Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Förde Freshwater marsh Fundus Gat Geo Gulf Gut Hapua Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Machair Marine terrace Mega delta Mouth bar Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Reef Regressive delta Ria River delta Salt marsh Shoal Shore Skerry Sound Spit Stack Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo Windwatt Beaches Beach cusps Beach evolution Coastal morphodynamics Beach ridge Beachrock Pocket beach Raised beach Recession Shell beach Shingle beach Storm beach Wash margin Processes Blowhole Cliffed coast Coastal biogeomorphology Coastal erosion Concordant coastline Current Cuspate foreland Discordant coastline Emergent coastline Feeder bluff Fetch Flat coast Graded shoreline Ingression coast Large-scale coastal behaviour Longshore drift Marine regression Marine transgression Raised shoreline Rip current Rocky shore Sea cave Sea foam Shoal Steep coast Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Undertow Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind wave Wrack zone Management Accretion Coastal management Integrated coastal zone management Submersion Related Bulkhead line Grain size boulder clay cobble granule pebble sand shingle silt Intertidal zone Littoral zone Physical oceanography Region of freshwater influence  Geography portal  Oceans portal Category Commons Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Isthmus&oldid=998362666" Categories: Isthmuses Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text Commons category link is on Wikidata Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages Afrikaans العربية Asturianu Avañe'ẽ Azərbaycanca বাংলা Беларуская Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Чӑвашла Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Gàidhlig Galego 한국어 हिन्दी Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Interlingua Íslenska Italiano עברית Jawa ქართული Қазақша Kurdî Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Limburgs Lumbaart Magyar Македонски Malagasy മലയാളം मराठी Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本語 Norsk bokmål Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Română Русский Shqip Simple English Slovenčina کوردی Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் Taqbaylit ไทย Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 吴语 ייִדיש 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 5 January 2021, at 01:26 (UTC). 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