SAND DUNE REGION OF SAGINAW BAY. 19 



3. There is now and has been since sometime during the formation 



of the beaches in the sand region a westward movement of 

 sand along this coast that results in an accumulation be- 

 hind (west side) the points, and the elongation of Sand Point. 

 That this is taking place at the present time is evidenced ])y the 

 projecting bars behind (west side) Oak, Little Oak and Hat Points, 

 and at the end of Sand Point. That Sand Point is being elongated 

 is shown by the fact that the present beach has recently (see next) 

 been built and extends well out into the water, and is replaced off 

 shore by another bar that extends far out in the lake. The em- 

 ployes of the W. J. Orr Fish Company assert that within the 

 past five years the fishing boats have been compelled to keep 

 farther and farther out in rounding the Point, and this com- 

 pany has even added flat-l)ottomed boats to its fleet in order 

 that they may stand in closer to shore. Furthermore, the 

 logs on the fossil beach (Plate IV a), now several hundred 

 yards from the ])resent l^each, show by the mill marks that they 

 were cast up since lumbering operations began in the region. 

 The direction of all the ridges composing the Point shows that 

 practically all of its growth has been in this way. 



4. The beaches have been formed by the elevation above water (during 



storms) of the off-shore bars. These beaches are first tied to the 



land on the eastern side and then extended westward. This is 



shown in the flats that extend westward from Hat, Little Oak 



and Oak Points and particularly well at the end of Sand Point 



where the present beach swings away from the dunes and extends 



out into the water for a considerable distance, while just off shore 



is another bar covered by but a few inches of water and extending 



far out into the lake. That the last abandoned beach was along the 



dunes is shown by the drift logs strewn along the foot of the ridge, 



although at present several hundred yards from the water (Plate 



IV a). These beaches on Sand Point are also joined with the 



mainland by others formed by a return drift that builds them to 



the southward as sand spits, enclosing lakes, ponds, marshes or 



low flats between the main ridges, or, in the case of those just 



forming, bays that will become enclosed between the low paralled 



ridges. 



The only areas examined outside of the sand region were the islands 



in Saginaw Bay and the clay country about Rush Lake. The latter 



region needs little discussion, as it was not worked in detail. It forms 



a part of the broad flat plain intervening between the high land of the 



central part of the count}^ and Saginaw Bay. It is mostly cleared and 



under cultivation, and the onlv wooded areas examined were the ex- 



