UiiiUii Luke rislus 247 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ONEIDA LAKE 



r.y Cll.\kl.l.> C. Al.AM^. 



Location and Physical Features. Oneida Lake lies about 1 1 miles north of 

 SvraciiM-. X. V. it i^ liie lar},'est lake lying wholly within the State. Lakes Erie, 

 Ontario and Chaniplain arc of course larger but extend beyond the limits of the 

 State. .\s the glacial lakes which formed the ancestors of the present Great Lakes 

 were drained, one of the depressions became Oneida Lake. It lies largely in an 

 east and west direction, is 21 miles long, and has a maximum width of about 5.5 

 miles. The prevailing westerly and southwesterly winds are thus allowed a long 

 sweep. The lake is 369 feet above the sea, and has a ma.ximum depth uf about 55 

 feet near the north shore, off the village of Cleveland. Its area is about 80 S(|uare 

 miles (51,200 acres) and its shore line totals 65 miles. It drains through the 

 Oneida and Oswego Rivers into Lake Ontario at Oswego. Baker ("lO, p. 31 ) 

 estimated from the Lake Survey maj) (Chart Xo. 4, X. Y. State Canals, I^ke 

 .Survey, U. S. War Dept.) that the shallow water area, 6 feet or less in dej)th, 

 includes about 6.8 .square miles or 4,352 acres. If a depth of 12 feet or less be 

 ch(jsen, there would be 8.343 acres or slightly over 13 square miles of shallow 

 waters. The lake is thus primarily a shallow water lake with low, extensive and 

 swampy wooded shores (Figs. 194, 195, 196), bordered by cultivated fields. 

 The main inflowing streams are Fish Creek, Oneida Creek, and Chitteiiango Creek. 

 The ice averages between one and two feet in thickness and has l>ecn known to 

 nach a thickness of three feet. It generally forms in December and "goes out"' 

 in .\pril. 



Waves iin a lake of this character have considerable influence. The State 

 I 'large Canal passes lengthwise through the lake, and the storms and waves 

 have la-en recognized as a serious menace here as compared with the ci'ndilion in 

 the usual canal waters. .\n examination of the bottom soundings (Maj) 16) alniut 

 the larger islands, "reefs," and the exi)osed points or headlands, clearly shows 

 wave-cut terraces resulting from wave erosion and transportation (Figs. 212. 217 

 and 218). There are no rock <iutcrn])s along the shores of the lake, all being com- 

 [Mised of unciinsiilidated glacial and postgl.icial dei)<>sits. The materi.ils from cut 

 terraces ami truncated forelands have been carrie<l to dee|HT waters and into the 

 bays, where, with drifting .sand aiul organic debris, de|H)sition has l)ecn active. 

 The ]aTi<K|ic lluctualinns of the lake level, and the canalization (cf. Whit ford, 05 ) 

 of its waters with its dams .uid hnks, have h.nd their influence also. 



The drainage area of the lake, according to Rafter ('05. p. 211)), includes 

 1.2(15 sqtiare miles. Much of this area is low swampy land (Figs. ic/\, 11)7), with 

 an abundance of vegetable clebris. ami there are considerable areas of sandy soil. 

 The lake itself lies wholly in the Clinton shales ami limestones, and a large jiart of 

 the drainage is from the Medina sandstone area on the north. The e\ten>-ive 

 sandy glacial de|xisits along the north side of the lake are largely from this source, 

 ami the sandy delta-U-ach formed at the east end of the lake by Fish and Oneida 

 Creeks — Sylvan Hcach — is from these glacial snnds (Fig. 2if>). Tlic significance 

 . f ibis is that the drainage from the-e lands brings into the lake soluble minerals 



