One coastal landform resulting from both the constructive and destructive forces of the ocean is a spit. Spits are elongate ridges of sand or gravel that project from land and end in open water. The development of spits is mainly related to a type of wave-induced current called a longshore current. A longshore current is caused by waves that strike the beach diagonally, and as a result, move sediment parallel to the shoreline. Such wave action along the shore will erode and carry particles until they reach the tranquil, deep waters of bays, estuaries or the open ocean. The particles are then dropped and deposited due to a decrease in velocity. Spits are essentially seaward continuations of beaches and will continuously expand in the direction of the longshore current unless other water motions or human influences interfere with the growth process. Newfoundland has a number of spits like this one (ABOVE and RIGHT) that formed along the province's western shore. Flat Island is a 12-kilometre-long spit that is anchored to the coast at Youngs Cove. It was formed as sand and gravel drifted north from eroding coastal cliffs. The northeast end (RIGHT) hosted one of the province's earliest settlements, known as Sandy Point. Advertisement Toronto also has a well-known spit, the Leslie Street Spit (now called Tommy Thompson Park), which was not formed by ocean forces, but is an artificial landform that juts into Lake Ontario at the southern end of Leslie Street. This five-kilometre-long, 471-hectare geographical feature (BELOW), which was formed by the disposal of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of construction waste, rubble and other waste sediment into the lake, is the largest (and still expanding) lakefill along the Toronto lakeshore. Natural forces have managed to transform the spit into an urban plant and wildlife refuge. (For more on Tommy Thompson Park, visit www.trca.on.ca/ttp.html.)   (Newfoundland spit images provided courtesy of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador, Newfoundland Department of Mines and Energy. Their website can be found at: www.geosurv.gov.nf.ca/)