ribbons Straight to sinuous, thin bodies of sand, with a narrow width in relation to their length. Sand ribbons develop on sediment-poor, tide-swept shelves (see SHELF), oriented parallel to the tidal stream. The term is also used more generally to describe the large-scale geometry of a preserved sandbody with a width to length ratio in excess of 1 : 100, and a thickness to width ratio greater than 1 : 10.

ribbons Straight to sinuous, long, narrow, thin bodies of sand that develop on sediment-poor, tide-swept shelves (see shelf), oriented parallel to the tidal stream. More generally, the large-scale geometry of a preserved sand-body with a width-to-length ratio in excess of 1:100 and a thickness-to-width ratio greater than 1:10.