Sandusky Bay is bounded on the north by Ottawa Peninsula. The 

 peninsula is narrow at the base and expands into two prominent headlands, 

 Marblehead on the east and so-called Catawba Island (a peninsula) on the 

 west. Between the two headlands, on which the shores are relatively steep 

 and rocky, there is an expanse of low grounlin which are the lagoons known 

 as East Harbor and VJest Harbor. 



Just west of Ottawa Peninsula, Portage River empties into the lake. 

 It has the usual characteristics of a drovmed valley. For ten iniles above 

 its mouth it is very broad, but at the mouth it narrows sharply due to the 

 presence of a sand spit on the west bank. The discharge of Portage River is 

 not known but it is certainly small, for the current reverses periodically 

 in much the same way that Krecker (1928 and 1931) has described for East 

 Harbor and West Harbor. According to reports of fishermen at Port Clinton, 

 the frequency of reversal is not constant, but depends upon direction and 

 intensity of the wind. With a strong on-shore wind the current flows up- 

 river, often for many hours, in which case the water level rises for several 

 miles back from the mouth. When the wind is offshore, the current flows 

 outward. But even in calm weather the reversals persist and not infrequently 

 take place several times a day. During the present investigation reversing 

 currents have been observed also in Maumee River and River Raisin, and they 

 are probably coramDn to all the tributaries of Western Lake Erie with the 

 exception of Detroit River. 



Between the mouth of Portage River and Maumee Bay the shore is low and 

 regular, and much of the bordering land is marshy. The only tributaries worthy 

 of mention are Toussaint River and Crane Creek. They are smaller than 

 Portage River but have the same general characteristics. Maumee Bay, at the 

 southwest corner of the lake, is partially enclosed by two peninsulas. Little 

 Cedar Point on the east, and the long, narrow Bay Point on the northwest. 

 The south shore of the bay is regular, but the west shore is much indented, 

 and fringed by small islands. Except where it has been deepened artificially 

 the bay is very shallow, not exceeding 3 feet (2 .I4 meters). A steamship chan- 

 nel has been dredged from the mouth of Maumee River to a point 9 miles (lU.S 

 kilometers) distant on a NF. by E I/8 E courae. The entrance to Toledo harbor 

 is thus some distance outside of the natural limits of Maumee Bay. The chan- 

 nel has a depth of 21 feet (6.i4 meters), Maumee River empties in at the apex 

 of the triangular bay. At its mouth the river is more than a half mile wide 

 but the discharge is meager. Data on the combined discharge of Maumee River 

 and Miami -Erie Canal at Waterville, Ohio, about 23 miles above the mouth, are 

 available for the nine years prior to September 30, 1930 (United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, 1925-1932) . The mean discharge for the nine-year period was 

 5,Ul7 cubic feet (1$3.U cubic meters) per secorid. Ottawa RLver empties into 

 Maumee Bay inmediately west of the mouth of Maumee River. 



The west shore of the lake is less regular than the south shore, but 

 is generally low with sandy beaches. A notable exception is stony Point, 

 which is located a few miles north of the ncuth of River Raisin. The tribu- 

 taries are rather numerous but most of them are small in size (See Sherzer, 

 1900). River Raisin empties into the lake near Monroe, Michigan. The river 

 has built a considerable delta with a number of dis-tributaries, some of which 



28 



