Shoreline

A body of water, generally shallow, which runs along the sea from which it is separated by a narrow strip of land called the "littoral cord", and with which it is generally in communication through narrow passes silted during periods of low water. It is usually fed with fresh water from a watershed of its own. Exchanges with the sea often make its water more or less brackish depending on the season (by "inlets"). Lagoons are frequent on shores of seas without strong tides and with rich sedimentary inputs (for example, the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico, etc.).