What is Lagoon?
[[File:PortlandBillAndChesilBeach(Landsat).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Satellite view of Chesil Beach (line in blue running diagonally NW-SE) from Abbotsbury to the Isle of Portland. Between the land and the beach is the Fleet lagoon]] A '''lagoon''' is a body of salt water partly separated from the sea. There is usually some sort of barrier which separates and protects the lagoon. This may be a [[pebble]] or [[shingle beach]], [[sand]] bank, or perhaps a [[coral reef]] surrounding an [[atoll]]. An atoll is an oceanic island formed by a [[volcano]]. ''Lagoon'' refers both to coastal lagoons, and the lagoons in atolls, formed by the growth of coral reefs on slowly [[erosion|eroding]] central islands. <gallery> File:ChesilBeachPanorama.jpg|[[Chesil Beach]], the Fleet and the [[Isle of Portland]], from the north-west over Abbotsbury File:Blaketown.jpg|Blaketown Lagoon, [[New Zealand]]: it is connected to the sea. File:Fangataufa.JPG|[[Fangataufa]] is an atoll in the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Its lagoon is about 5km by 8 km. The whole atoll is about 9.5 km by 9.5km, with a landmass of about 5 km<sup>2</sup> File:Kara-Bogaz Gol from space, September 1995.jpg|[[Kara-Bogas-Gol]] in [[Turkmenistan]] </gallery> {{geo-stub}} [[Category:Lagoons| ]]