Irondequoit Bay

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Irondequoit Bay is a large body of water located in northeastern Monroe County, New York. The bay, roughly 0.5 miles wide and four miles in length, is fed by Irondequoit Creek to the south and flows into Lake Ontario at its northern end. On average, the surface of Irondequoit Bay rests at 245 feet above sea level and is 68 feet deep at its deepest point a short distance north of the Irondequoit Bay Bridge carrying the six-lane New York State Route 104 over the bay.[1]

The center of the bay acts as the eastern border for the town of Irondequoit and the western border of the towns of Penfield and Webster. The Irondequoit-Penfield boundary continues along the center of Irondequoit Creek south of the New York State Route 404 float bridge.[1]

During the past million years there were four glacial ages that covered the Rochester area with ice and impacted the geography of the area. The most recent glacier that left evidence here was about 100,00 years ago and it caused compression of the earth by as much as 2,500 feet. [2]. About 12,000 years ago the area underwent massive changes which included rerouting of the Genesee River and other water bodies. As the earth rebounded from the melting glaciars more rapidly in Canada than in this area, water spilled over New York. "The original outlet of the river has also flooded, forming Irondequoit Bay."[3].

On an early French map of the area, LeLac Ontario[4] , Ontario Bay was referred to as “swamp of the Senecas”. [5]


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b USGS Topographic Map - Irondequoit Bay
  2. ^ Timeline: Geology 100,000 Years Ago Rochester History
  3. ^ Timeline: Geology 12,000 Years Ago Rochester History
  4. ^ 1688 Map of Lake Ontario
  5. ^ French Mapping of New Yorik and New England - Stony Brook University
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