30 College of Forestry 
shore elevations seldom exceed 400 feet, or 30 feet above lake 
level. 
The construction of the Caughdenhoy dam in the Oneida 
Ktiver, completed in 1909, as a part of the State Barge Canal 
system, raised the water level several feet, thereby flooding 
large areas, one especially notable area being on the east side 
of Big Bay. Large natural swamp areas also occur at Maple 
Bay, west of Constantia, west of Lower South Bay, and at 
the east end of the lake. These large swampy tracts cover 
areas of from four to five square miles. To the south, at a 
distance of about two miles, hes the large Cicero Swamp, 
having an area of eight square miles. Several miles west of 
this swamp area another but smaller swamp occurs. 
Oneida Lake is the largest of the inland lakes in the State, 
having an approximate area of about 80 square miles 
(51,200 acres) and a shore line of approximately 65 miles. 
Cross sections of the lake (see figure 2) indicate the basin to 
be a somewhat saucer-shaped depression, deepening toward 
the eastern end. The areas bordering the shores are always 
shallow and usually deepen rather abruptly, forming, in many 
places, submerged terraces of greater or less width. These 
terraces are either sandy or bouldery in character, and usu- 
ally the latter, the rough water washing out the fine particles 
and removing them to the quieter bays and protected areas 
near the points. For this reason the points are always stony 
or bouldery and the bays sandy. A notable fact recognized 
very early in the investigation was the almost total absence 
of mud on the shores of the west end of the lake. Muddy 
areas were observed in several places, notably at the mouths 
of small creeks, but in the greater part of the area examined 
there was a hard, sandy or stony bottom. 
The wind currents of the lake have cut many points, car- 
rying the eroded material into quieter water, and have in 
some places formed wave cut terraces, as on Frenchman and 
Dunham Islands, and along the south shore near Shepard 
Point. Shallow bars and sand spits have been formed in 
many places, notably near Long Point and in parts of Lower 
er a. 
