Coral reef to form fringing reefs, and can eventually grow become a barrier reef. Where the bottom is rising, fringing reefs can grow around the coast, but coral raised above sea level dies. If the land subsides slowly, the fringing reefs keep pace by growing upwards on a base of older, dead coral, forming a barrier reef enclosing a lagoon between the reef and the land. A barrier reef can encircle an island, and once the island sinks below sea level a roughly circular atoll of growing coral continues to keep up with the sea level, forming a central lagoon. Barrier reefs
Open Polar Sea project that by the end of the 21st century, the annual summer withdrawal of the polar ice cap could expose large areas of the Arctic Ocean as open water, and an ice-free Arctic is possible in the future due to Arctic shrinkage. Although the North Pole itself could potentially remain ice-covered in winter, a navigable seasonal sea passage from Europe to the Pacific could develop along the north coast of Asia. Russell Potter, "The Open Polar Sea," "Encyclopedia of the Arctic" (Routledge, 2004) Michael Robinson, "The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture" (Chicago, 2006). Michael Robinson, "Reconsidering the Theory