Gat (landform)
A narrow, deep channel connecting coastal waters to the open sea.
A gat is a narrow, deep inshore channel or strait linking coastal waters to the open sea, or separating two landmasses like islands or an island from a peninsula. Tidal currents often erode these features, which are common along the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts.
Quick Facts
- Alternate terms
- Seegat, Gatje
- Similar term
- gut (mainly North America)
- Example proper names
- Kattegat
- Veerse Gat
- Fisherman's Gat
- Digby Gut
- Hull Gut
- Gut of Canso
- German proper name example
- Seegatt (Neues [Pillauer] Tief)
Facts from the source article.
Description
The term gat is applied primarily to waterways of the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts of Europe, while the similar term gut is used mainly for channels on the Atlantic coast of North America. Passages between inner and outer coastal waters, such as at the ends of spits of lagoons or along bodden coasts, are also called gats. The large volumes of water flowing quickly through a gat cause heavy erosion, creating a channel deeper than the surrounding seabed and endangering neighboring islands. When ebb currents surge out from mud flats behind the islands, they flow rapidly through the narrow gat, then spread out and slow down upon reaching the open sea. This causes sand and mud particles to settle and form an ebb delta with shallower waters between the islands; these sandbanks are often called plate in Germany. The shallowest part of the gat for shipping, where water runs over these banks, is the sand bar. A flood delta forms similarly on the landward side. Navigation channels are usually marked by authorities, and the bar area is the most dangerous spot, where rip tides and ground swells may occur.
Etymology
The name comes from the Low German and Dutch word "gat," meaning "gap." It appears in Dutch and Dutch-derived proper names of passages, such as Kattegat and Veerse Gat, though these may or may not be proper gats. In English names, both "gat" (e.g., Fisherman's Gat) and "gut" (e.g., Digby Gut) are seen. In German, "Gat" can refer to an arm of the sea not necessarily subject to strong tidal currents; for instance, the Prerower Strom is a gat. The name Hell Gate in New York City derives from archaic Dutch Hellegat, meaning possibly "clear opening."
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