A spit is a ridge or embankment of sediment with one end attached to the shore and the other ending in open water. Spits usually form where longshore drift transports material(of wave- erosional or fluvial origin) along the shoreline to deeper water where deposition occurs. These features often form at the entrance to a bay where a spit builds into deeper water across a baymouth. The long axis of a spit is often parallel to the shoreline, but can be oriented at any angle.
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Coastal Depositional Features Burchfield, B. Clark; Foster, Robert; Keller, Edward; Melhorn, Wilton; Brookins, Douglas; Mintz, Leigh; Thurman, Harold.
Physical Geology.
Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1982.
