from the wind except when it blows from the northeast. The bay is very 

 shallow except for the narrow ship channel, which has a depth of 6.U 

 meters. The current of Maumee River is subject to periodic reversals 

 and is never very strong during the summer period of small discharge, 

 but the water is extremely turbid and carries a large amount of organic 

 debris. A large part of the organic debris is deposited near the. mouth 

 of the river, but apparently the ship channel tends to operate as an 

 extension of the river channel for a distance of about nine miles. 

 That is, there is a tendency for the river water and some of its organic 

 debris to be retained within the channel and thus to be carried much 

 farther from the mouth of the river than if the channel were not there. 



Three regular stations were established along the ship channel 

 and were studied in 1929 and 1930. Two of them were sampled also in 1928. 

 Station 250 is located at the red buoy just out of the river's mouth, 

 where the depth in 1929 was 3 meters. Early in 1930, dredging operations 

 for the improvement of the harbor increased the depth to about 6,k 

 meters, except for a very small area close to the buoy. Station 252 is 

 located at the range lights, a little more than h miles from Station 250. 

 Bottom samples were taken on either side of the crib, depending on which 

 gave the greater protection from the wind. The depth here is h meters 

 at a distance of about 3 meters from the crib. Station 25^4 is located 

 on the east side of the channel, opposite Toledo Harbor Light, where the 

 depth is 6,2 meters. This station is It miles from Station 252, 



In 1929 the bottom at Station 250 consisted of fine silt which 

 contained a large amount of organic matter in all stages of decomposi- 

 tion. Most of the bottom material was in a finely divided state but 

 contained, also, a large number of vegetable fibers which would not pass 

 through the meshes of the sieves or net. Its odor was similar to that 

 of sludge, with the addition of a distinct oily odor. The oily matter 

 could be seen readily when the sample was mixed with water; the surface 

 would be covered immediately with a film of oil. In 1930, in the course 

 of dredging operations, much of the accumulated organic debris was 

 removed from Station 250 and deposited some distance west of the channel. 

 As a result there was a noticeable improvement in the appearance and 

 odor of the bottom samples. The bottom at Stations252 and 25h contained 

 much less organic debris and oily matter than at Station 250, even after 

 the marked improvement at the latter. At the two stations farther from 

 the river, there was some sand present. 



The data on bottom organisms collected at these three stations 

 are shown in Table 87, The outstanding feature at Station 250 was the 

 presence of large numbers of tubificid worms, especially in 1929, The 



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