1887 Science Apr. 29 425/2 On the map of the German Ocean (No. 23) we find the..rias of the north coast of Spain.

1915 Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers 5 82 The Spanish word, ria, introduced into German by Richthofen, and now widely adopted, means any broad or estuarine river mouth, and not necessarily an embayment produced by the partial submergence of an open valley in a mountainous coast, in the sense that Richthofen originally proposed.

1946 L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery v. 49 The best example of a coastline of drowned valleys or ria coast is the south-west of Ireland. Soundings show that the floor of the ria..slopes steadily seawards and there is no ‘lip’ as there is in the case of a glaciated valley.

1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia IX. 560/2 Generally occurring along a rugged coast perpendicular to a mountain chain, many rias were formed by the rise in sea level after the melting of the vast continental glaciers.

2001 Guardian 21 May (Weekend Suppl.) 48/1 Every possible species, from scallops and gooseneck barnacles to razor clams and lampreys, are harvested, and every ria has its own oyster and mussel beds.