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Lagoons are relatively shallow bodies of water, mostly-enclosed,
with an oceanic source, separated by a low-lying swatch of land,
such as a spit or barrier island. This oceanic source may be continual
or episodic, such as storm-induced overwash, and generally has a
different salinity as a result of its restricted access. Lagoons
hare protected from the waves and currents of the ocean by barrier
islands, sand bars or reefs. The margins of lagoons are generally
composed of marshy environments, overwash flats, and are salty,
brackish, or hyper-saline depending upon the amount of runoff input into the lagoon
versus oceanic input and evaporation.
Larger than lagoons, Bays are irregularly shaped bodies of water
between the mainland and strips of land such as a barrier island,
or peninsula.
A sound is larger and deeper than a lagoon. It acts as a long,
wide conduit between two bodies of water, such as the ocean and
a river. There is more flow and mixing associated with a sound than
a lagoon, and tides can be large, but the protection of the island
or reef insulates the body of water from wind and waves, allowing
for wetland production on the edges. Because of the sheltered nature
of these bodies of water the sediments they collect provide a particularly
interesting history of the coast and environmental change. Investigate current
research is investigating these deposits.
Salt flats are areas of overwash by the ocean into a region that
has more evaporation than oceanic or runoff input. Due to the high
level of evaporation the salts within the ocean and run-off waters
are present in the soils of the area is highly concentrated amounts.
This high concentration of salts makes it difficult for plants to
grow, leaving apparently barren areas of soil on the coast. When
inundated with water, either by overwash, rainfall or from episodic
runoff the water dissolves some of these salts. These flows of highly
saline (high levels of salts) can flow and redistribute the salts,
which are left behind as the new source of water dries up. The minerals
and salts of these areas are of great interest, as are the few species
of plants that can live within and on the perimeters of these areas.
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