Inland sea (geology)
An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland sea may have high salinity. Definition. What constitutes an "inland sea" is complex and somewhat necessarily vague. The United States Hydrographic Office defined it as "a body of water nearly or completely surrounded by land, especially if very large or composed of salt water". Geologic engineers Heinrich Ries and Thomas  L. Watson say an inland sea is merely a very large lake. Rydén, Migula, and Andersson and Deborah Sandler of the Environmental Law Institute add that an inland sea is "more or less" cut off from the ocean. It may be semi-enclosed, or connected to the ocean by a strait or "arm of the sea". An inland sea is distinguishable from a bay in that a bay is directly connected to the ocean. The term "epeiric sea" was coined by Joseph Barrell in 1917. He defined an epeiric sea as a shallow body of water whose bottom is within  the wave base (e.g., where bottom sediments are no longer stirred by the wave above). An epeiric sea as one with limited connection to an ocean, and shallow. An inland sea is only an epeiric sea when a continental interior is flooded by marine transgression due to sea level rise or epeirogenic movement. An epicontinental sea is synonymous with an epeiric sea. The term "epicontinental sea" may also refer to the waters above a continental shelf. This is a legal, not geological, term. Epeiric, epicontinental, and inland seas occur on a continent, not adjacent to it. The law of the  sea does not apply to inland seas. Modern inland seas. In modern times, continents stand high, eustatic sea levels are low, and there are few inland seas. Modern examples might also include the recently (less than 10,000 years ago) reflooded Persian Gulf, and the South China Sea that presently covers the Sunda Shelf. Former epicontinental seas in Earth's history. At various times in the geologic past, inland seas covered central areas of continents during periods of high sea level that result in marine transgressions. Inland seas have been greater in extent and more common than at present. Inland sea