Morphometric assessment of intermittently open/closed coastal lagoons in New South Wales, Australia

This paper provides a framework for the assessment of the natural sensitivity of coastal lagoons to anthropogenic and other external inputs. The assessment framework is based on analysis and consideration of morphometric characteristics of coastal lagoons, and is demonstrated in this paper using eight example intermittently open coastal lagoons from New South Wales, Australia. The framework presented extends to a rudimentary classification of the eight example coastal lagoons, relative to the other 70 or so intermittently open coastal lagoons in NSW, which can be used to provide an indication of the relative importance of these lagoons with respect to future management, such as remediation or conservation.