BAY OF QTJINTE SECTION 233 



the valley wall is 2 miles in width and has a maximum depth of 83 

 feet, the depth of the water in the valley being 230 feet. At present it 

 has not been possible to determine satisfactorily whether this main val- 

 ley, whose submerged portion forms the Twelve Mile reach, is to be con- 

 sidered as the southwest extension of the valley through which Collins 

 creek traverses the limestone areas. The valley of Collins creek is one 

 of the rock valleys of the first type running through the limestone region 

 from the inner lowland. The lower submerged portion forms Collins 

 bay. This valley and the Twelve Mile Reach valley are directly in line, 

 and this suggests that they may be parts of the same ancient valley. 

 On the other hand, the charts show the existence of a depression of con- 

 siderable depth (106 feet below water-level) between the Brother islands 

 and the main shore, suggesting that Collins creek may have here 

 turned eastward to join the valley which forms the next section of the 

 bay — a case of pre-Glacial stream capture. Another alternative is that 

 the valley of the next section of the bay and the Twelve Mile Reach val- 

 ley were continuous. On the other hand, the maximum depth of the sub- 

 merged divide across the Lower gap (4i miles wide) between Amherst 

 island and Simcoe island is only 6 feet higher than the greatest depth in 

 the adjacent part of the bay, the latter being 106 feet below present water- 

 level. So far as known, the bottom in this locality is all rock, with but 

 a very small amount of drift. As will be seen by a reference to the 

 map, the Lower gap is a continuation of the Bateau channel east of King- 

 ston (described below), and from the general field relations it seems 

 best to interpret it as the lower, and hence wider, portion of this valley 

 rather than to consider it as a breach in the side of a valley which 

 might have been continuous from East lake to below Kingston. 



Kingston section. — The next section of the bay heads on the Archean 

 areas east of Kingston, and runs southwest as a narrow valley, with 

 steep rock scarps on either side at its eastern end. Between Howe island 

 and the mainland, where it is narrowest and the rock sides are steep, it 

 is known as the Bateau channel. The valley walls rise to a considerable 

 height, over 100 feet, above present water-level. The south side is inter- 

 rupted in one place by a~ cross-channel between Howe island and Wolfe 

 island. So far as the present soundings are concerned, the present line 

 of deepest water turns through this channel from the upper portion of 

 the bay. The general field relations, on the other hand, are very strongly 

 in favor of considering that the portion of the bay north of Wolfe island 

 is a direct continuation of the Bateau channel. 



Tributary to the bay, Cataroqui creek enters from the north. It crosses 

 the limestone area in a deep broad valley, carving a typical " shut-in " 



