ria

[prettygoodword]

ria (REE-uh) - n., a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley.


Which means that typically a ria has dendritic branches from tributaries that were also submerged, but some are straight. All are deeper at the oceanic outlet than at the head. Borrowed in the late 1890s from Galician (the language/dialect of northwestern Spain) ría, river, from río, river, from Vulgar Latin rius, river, from Latin rīvus, small stream.


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

Comments

[mount_oregano]

I have been to the rias on the western Atlantic shore of Galicia in Spain. They are beautiful, and a traditional Galician legend has an explanation for their beauty. After God made the world, he was a little tired, so he leaned his hand on the world. The five rias were made by the pressure of his fingers and thumb, and being of direct divine origin, of course they are beautiful.

[prettygoodword]

Sweet. I wanted to use a picture of a Galician ria but couldn't quickly find a good one.