Editing Lagoon (section)

==Coastal lagoons==
[[File:Caspian Sea covered with plants near Bandar-e Anzali - Barry Kent.jpg|thumb|[[Anzali Lagoon]] in southwestern [[Caspian Sea]] coast, [[Iran]]]]
[[File:Hiddensee (2011-05-21).JPG|thumb|Coastal lagoon landscapes around the island of [[Hiddensee]] near [[Stralsund]], [[Germany]]. Many similar coastal lagoons can be found around the [[Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park]].]]

Coastal lagoons form along gently sloping coasts where barrier islands or reefs can develop offshore, and the sea-level is rising relative to the land along the shore (either because of an intrinsic rise in sea-level, or [[subsidence]] of the land along the coast). Coastal lagoons do not form along steep or rocky coasts, or if the range of tides is more than {{convert|4|m|ft}}. Due to the gentle slope of the coast, coastal lagoons are shallow. A relative drop in sea level may leave a lagoon largely dry, while a rise in sea level may let the sea breach or destroy barrier islands, and leave reefs too deep underwater to protect the lagoon. Coastal lagoons are young and dynamic, and may be short-lived in geological terms. Coastal lagoons are common, occurring along nearly 15 percent of the world's shorelines. In the United States, lagoons are found along more than 75 percent of the [[East Coast of the United States|Eastern]] and [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coasts]].<ref name=Kusky/><ref name=Nybakken/>

Coastal lagoons can be classified as leaky, restricted, or choked.<ref name=Kjerfve1986>{{cite book | last=Kjerfve | first=Björn | author-link=Björn Kjerfve | title=Estuarine Variability | chapter=Comparative oceanography of coastal lagoons | publisher=Elsevier | year=1986 | isbn=978-0-12-761890-6 | doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-761890-6.50009-5 | pages=63–81}}</ref>
Coastal lagoons are usually connected to the open ocean by [[inlet]]s between barrier islands. The number and size of the inlets, precipitation, evaporation, and inflow of fresh water all affect the nature of the lagoon. Lagoons with little or no interchange with the open ocean, little or no inflow of fresh water, and high evaporation rates, such as [[Lake St. Lucia]], in [[South Africa]], may become highly saline. Lagoons with no connection to the open ocean and significant inflow of fresh water, such as the [[Lake Worth Lagoon#History|Lake Worth Lagoon]] in Florida in the middle of the 19th century, may be entirely fresh. On the other hand, lagoons with many wide inlets, such as the [[Wadden Sea]], have strong tidal currents and mixing. Coastal lagoons tend to accumulate sediments from inflowing rivers, from runoff from the shores of the lagoon, and from sediment carried into the lagoon through inlets by the tide. Large quantities of sediment may be occasionally be deposited in a lagoon when storm waves overwash barrier islands. [[Mangrove]]s and [[Salt marsh|marsh]] plants can facilitate the accumulation of sediment in a lagoon. [[Benthos|Benthic organisms]] may stabilize or destabilize sediments.<ref name=Kusky/><ref name=Nybakken/> 

=== Largest coastal lagoons ===
{{Cleanup list|section|date=October 2023}}
{{redirect-distinguish|List of largest lagoons|List of largest atoll lagoons}}

{| class="wikitable"

|-
! Lagoon!! Area  !!Country
|-
|[[New Caledonian lagoon]]|| {{Convert|24,000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}||{{country|New Caledonia}}
|-
|[[Garabogazköl]]|| {{Convert|18,000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}||{{country|Turkmenistan}} 
|-
|[[Lake Maracaibo]]|| {{convert|13512|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}||{{country|Venezuela}}
|-
|{{Lang|pt|[[Lagoa dos Patos]]|italic=no}}{{efn|The largest choked coastal lagoon.<ref name=Kjerfve1986/>}} || {{Convert|10,100|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}}||{{country|Brazil}}
|-
|[[Albemarle Sound|Albemarle]]-[[Pamlico Sound|Pamlico]] sound system|| {{Convert|3000|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|order=flip}}||{{country|United States}}
|-
|[[Lagos Lagoon]]|| {{convert|6354.7|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}||{{country|Nigeria}}
|-
|[[Curonian lagoon]]|| {{Convert|1,619|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}||{{country|Lithuania}} /{{country|Russia}}
|-
|[[Mayotte lagoon]]|| ~{{Convert|1,500|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}}||{{country|France}}
|-
|[[Rangiroa lagoon]]|| {{Convert|1,446|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}}||{{country|French Polynesia}}
|-
|[[Chilika Lake]]|| {{Convert|1165|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} during monsoon season, {{Convert|906|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} during dry season||{{country|India}}
|-
|-
|[[Caratasca Lagoon]]|| {{Convert|1110|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} ||{{country|Honduras}}
|-
|[[Indian River Lagoon]]|| {{Convert|353|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|order=flip}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Fast facts about the Indian River Lagoon |url=https://www.sjrwmd.com/waterways/indian-river-lagoon/facts/ |access-date=12 July 2024 |website=St. Johns River Water Management District}}</ref>||{{country|United States}}
|-
|[[Vistula lagoon]]|| {{Convert|838|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}||{{country| Russia}} /{{country|Poland}}
|-
|[[Biscayne Bay]] System<br />—Biscayne Bay (traditional)|| {{Convert|703|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Ned P.|date=Summer 2001|title=Tides of Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, Little Card Sound, Barnes Sound, and Manatee Bay, Florida|journal=Florida Scientist|volume=64|page=224|jstor=24321024}}</ref><br />{{Convert|572|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite report|last=Milano|first=Gary R.|title=Island Restoration and Enhancement in Biscayne Bay, Florida|date=2000|url=https://www.miamidade.gov/environment/library/reports/island-restoration.pdf|access-date=April 21, 2021|website=Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management|section=Introduction}}</ref>
||{{country|United States}} 
|-
|[[Marovo lagoon]]|| {{Convert|700|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=3}}||{{country|Solomon Islands}}
|-
|[[Szczecin Lagoon]] || {{convert|689|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}||{{country|Germany}} / {{country|Poland}}
|-
|[[Venetian Lagoon]]|| {{Convert|550|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}||{{country|Italy}}
|}