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Tidal island

Diagram of tidal island at low tide and high tide
St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, at high tide, c. 1900
Cramond Island, Scotland, at high tide: the causeway is submerged, but the anti-boat pylons are still visible

A tidal island is a raised area of land within a waterbody, which is connected to the larger mainland by a natural isthmus or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide, causing the land to switch between being a promontory/peninsula and an island depending on tidal conditions.

Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of religious worship, such as Mont-Saint-Michel with its Benedictine abbey. Tidal islands are also commonly the sites of fortresses because of the natural barrier created by the tidal channel.


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