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Lagoon
A '''lagoon''' is a body of comparatively shallow sea water|salt or brackish water separated from the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed Bar (landform)|sandbank, reef|coral reef, or similar feature. Thus, the enclosed body of water behind a reef|barrier reef or Bar|barrier islands or enclosed by an atoll reef is called a ''lagoon''. This application of ''lagoon'' in English language|English dates from 1769. It adapted and extended the sense of the Venetian ''laguna'' (''cf'' Latin ''wikt:lacuna|lacuna'', ‘empty space’), which specifically referred to Venice’s shallow, island-studded stretch of saltwater, protected from the Adriatic Sea|Adriatic by the bar (landform)|barrier beaches of the Lido (''see Venetian Lagoon''). ''Lagoon'' refers to both coastal lagoons formed by the build-up of sandbanks or reefs along shallow coastal waters, and the lagoons in atolls, formed by the growth of coral reefs on slowly sinking central islands. Lagoons that are fed by freshwater streams are also called Estuary|estuaries.
Many lagoons do not include "lagoon" in their common names. Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, Great South Bay, between Long Island and the barrier beaches of Fire Island, New York|Fire Island in New York; Isle of Wight Bay, which separates Ocean City, Maryland from the rest of Worcester County, Maryland; Banana River in Florida; and Lake Illawarra in New South Wales are all lagoons, despite their names. In the UK there are lagoons at Montrose, Angus|Montrose, (Scotland) and Tywyn, (Wales), whilst the expanse of water inside Chesil Beach, England, known as The Fleet, could also be described as a lagoon. There is also one near the small town of Dingle in Western Ireland. Some of the famous lagoons in India are the Chilika Lake in Orissa, near Puri, and the Vembanad Lake in Kerala. Both are connected to the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea respectively through a narrow channel.
In Latin America often the use of “laguna”, which lagoon translates to, is used to describe a lake, such as Laguna Catemaco.
Images
Image:GlenrockLagoonFromLeichhardtLookout.JPG|Glenrock Lagoon in Australia
Image:Lagoa dos Patos PIA03444 lrg.jpg|Lagoa dos Patos lagoon in Brazil
Image:Buada Lagoon.jpg|Buada Lagoon in Nauru
Image:Flores hocheebene.jpg|Lagoa Comprida in the Azores.
Image:Lagoon-of-venice-landsat-1 Names.jpg|Lagoon of Venice as seen by Landsat 7
Image:Zalewszczecinski.jpeg|Szczecin Lagoon as seen by Landsat c. 2000.
Image:Baltic spits.png|Vistula Spit|Vistula and Curonian Spit|Curonian lagoons on the Baltic Sea.
Image:Kiritimati-EO.jpg|Nearly half the area of Kiritimati is covered with lagoons, some freshwater and some seawater.
See also
- Anaerobic lagoon
- Aerated lagoon
- Kerala backwaters
Category:Lagoons
be-x-old:Лягуна
Related Images
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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