The Reserve contains all three common defining characteristics of a Great Lakes freshwater estuary including a ) presence of a drowned river mouth b ) adequate zone of transition between lake and river water and c ) influence from tide or seiche.
2.
Bradford B . van Diver has described the eastern Lake Ontario dunes as " similar in many details to the south shore of Long Island, with drowned river mouths forming lagoons behind a smooth curving line of barrier bars . " The lagoons to which van Diver refers are the notable ponds of this region, including ( from north to south ) Black, Lakeview, North Sandy, and South Sandy.