Cove
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/McWay_cove_1.jpg/300px-McWay_cove_1.jpg)
A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are often considered coves.
Colloquially, the term can be used to describe a sheltered bay. Geomorphology describes coves as precipitously walled and rounded cirque-like openings as in a valley extending into or down a mountainside, or in a hollow or nook of a cliff or steep mountainside. A cove can also refer to a corner, nook, or cranny, either in a river, road, or wall, especially where the wall meets the floor.
A notable example is Lulworth Cove on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England. To its west, a second cove, Stair Hole, is forming.
Formation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/Figure_lulworth_formation.png)
Coves are formed by differential erosion, which occurs when softer rocks are worn away faster than the harder rocks surrounding them. These rocks further erode to form a circular bay with a narrow entrance, called a cove.
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)
- Jackson, Julia A (1997). Glossary of Geology (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Geological Institute. pp. 146–147. ISBN 0-922152-34-9.
- Clark, John O. E.; Stiegler, Stella (2000). The Facts on File: Dictionary of Earth Science. New York: Market House Books Ltd.
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