Coastal landforms can be either erosional or depositional. ... A spit will create a sheltered area between it and the land, here fine silt is deposited and mud flats or salt marshes form.

In geography, spit is a landform made by the deposition of sand by the movement of tides. Spits are narrow and elongated—one end is attached to the mainland and the other is out in open water.

Mangawhai sandspit has lost more than 420,000 tonnes of its locally-unique non-replenishing sand. Many in the community worry ...