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File:Cape Cornwall.jpg, Cape Cornwall, England
File:Nasa photo cape fear.jpg, Satellite image of
In geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
, a cape is a headland
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, J ...
or a promontory of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 80. . A cape usually represents a marked change in trend of the coastline
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...
, often making them important landmarks in sea navigation. This also makes them prone to natural forms of erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...
, mainly tidal actions, which results in them having a relatively short geological lifespan. Capes can be formed by glaciers, volcanoes, and changes in sea level. Erosion plays a large role in each of these methods of formation.
List of some well-known capes
Gallery
Cape Fear, North Carolina
Cape Fear is a prominent headland jutting into the Atlantic Ocean from Bald Head Island on the coast of North Carolina in the southeastern United States. It is largely formed of barrier beaches and the silty outwash of the Cape Fear River as i ...
File:Cape McLear, Malawi (2499273862).jpg, Cape MacLear, Malawi
File:Cape horn.png, Map depicting Cape Horn at the southernmost portion of South America
File:Spain.Santander.Cabo.Mayor.jpeg, Photograph of Cabo Mayor in Santander, Spain
File:Cape Campbell sunrise.jpg, Photograph of Cape Cambell, New Zealand, at sunrise
See also
*Extreme points of Africa The extreme points of Africa are the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent.
Latitude and longitude
Geographic coordinates expressed in WGS 84.
Africa
:Africa
* Northernmost point — Iles d ...
* Extreme points of Asia
* Extreme points of Europe
This is a list of the extreme points of Europe: the geographical points that are higher or farther north, south, east or west than any other location in Europe. Some of these positions are open to debate, as the definition of Europe is diverse. ...
* Extreme points of North America
This is a list of the extreme points of North America: the points that are highest and lowest, and farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent. Some of these points are debatable, given the varying definitions of N ...
* Extreme points of South America
The extreme points of South America are the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent. The continent's southernmost point is often said to be Cape Horn, but Águila Islet of the Diego Ramírez Isla ...
References
External links
{{Authority control Coastal geography *Cape Coastal and oceanic landforms Oceanographical terminology