Rock Bottom Creek

Last updated
Rock Bottom Creek
Physical characteristics
Main source lake in Jefferson Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
between 1,720 and 1,740 feet (520 and 530 m)
River mouth Roaring Brook in Roaring Brook Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
1,306 ft (398 m)
41°23′23″N75°33′14″W / 41.3898°N 75.5540°W / 41.3898; -75.5540 Coordinates: 41°23′23″N75°33′14″W / 41.3898°N 75.5540°W / 41.3898; -75.5540
Length 3.2 mi (5.1 km)
Basin features
Progression Roaring Brook → Lackawanna River → Susquehanna River → Chesapeake Bay
Basin size 3.06 sq mi (7.9 km2)

Rock Bottom Creek is a tributary of Roaring Brook in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 3.2 miles (5.1 km) long and flows through Jefferson Township and Roaring Brook Township. [1] The watershed of the creek has an area of 3.06 square miles (7.9 km2). Wild trout naturally reproduce within it. The surficial geology in the creek's vicinity consists of Wisconsinan Till, alluvium, bedrock, fill, peat bogs, lakes, and wetlands.

Tributary stream or river that flows into a main stem river or lake

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater, leading the water out into an ocean.

Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania County in Pennsylvania, United States

Lackawanna County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 214,437. Its county seat and largest city is Scranton.

Jefferson Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Jefferson Township is a township in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,731 at the 2010 census.

Contents

Course

Rock Bottom Creek begins in a lake in Jefferson Township. It flows south-southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning northwest and then southwest. After several tenths of a mile, it turns west-northwest, entering Roaring Brook Township and reaching Interstate 84 and flowing southwest in its median strip for several tenths of a mile. The creek then turns west and leaves behind the median strip. A short distance further downstream, it crosses Pennsylvania Route 435 and reaches its confluence with Roaring Brook. [1]

Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the northeastern United States that extends from Dunmore, Pennsylvania, at an interchange with I-81 east to Sturbridge, Massachusetts, at an interchange with the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90). Among the major cities that the road passes through is Hartford, Connecticut. I-84 has distance-based exit numbering in Pennsylvania. Otherwise, exit numbers are roughly sequential. Another highway named I-84 is located in the northwestern United States.

Median strip the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways

The median strip or central reservation is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways, such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also applies to divided roadways other than highways, such as some major streets in urban or suburban areas. The reserved area may simply be paved, but commonly it is adapted to other functions; for example, it may accommodate decorative landscaping, trees, a median barrier or railway, rapid transit, light rail or streetcar lines.

Pennsylvania Route 435 highway in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Route 435 (PA 435) is a 14.9-mile-long (24.0 km) state highway located in Monroe, Wayne, and Lackawanna Counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at Interstate 380 (I-380) near Gouldsboro. The northern terminus is at I-84 and I-380 in Dunmore. The route heads north from I-380 and the southern terminus of PA 507 in Monroe County as a four-lane road, passing through a small section of Wayne County before entering Lackawanna County. PA 435 becomes a two-lane road at the PA 307 junction and continues north to intersect PA 502 in Daleville and PA 690 in Moscow. After intersecting PA 590, the route becomes a four-lane divided highway and intersects PA 348 before merging into I-84/I-380.

Rock Bottom Creek joins Roaring Brook 9.84 miles (15.84 km) upstream of its mouth. [2]

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Rock Bottom Creek is 1,306 feet (398 m) above sea level. [3] The elevation of the creek's source is between 1,720 and 1,740 feet (520 and 530 m) above sea level. [1]

River mouth end of a river

A river mouth is the part of a river where the river debouches into another river, a lake, a reservoir, a sea, or an ocean.

Sea level Average level for the surface of the ocean at any given geographical position on the planetary surface

Mean sea level (MSL) is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earth's oceans from which heights such as elevation may be measured. MSL is a type of vertical datum – a standardised geodetic datum – that is used, for example, as a chart datum in cartography and marine navigation, or, in aviation, as the standard sea level at which atmospheric pressure is measured to calibrate altitude and, consequently, aircraft flight levels. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a mean low and mean high tide at a particular location.

River source The starting point of a river

The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the furthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river.

Rock Bottom Glen is in the watershed of Rock Bottom Creek, in Roaring Brook Township. The Muni Bogs are in the watershed in Jefferson Township. [4]

The surficial geology in the vicinity of Rock Bottom Creek mainly consists of a glacial or resedimented till known as Wisconsinan Till. However, there are also large patches of bedrock consisting of congloemratic sandstone, sandstone, and shale. There are smaller patches of wetlands, peat bogs, lakes and fill. There is also an area of alluvium at the mouth of the creek. [5]

Till Unsorted glacial sediment

Till or glacial till is unsorted glacial sediment.

Bedrock Lithified rock under the regolith

In geology, bedrock is the lithified rock that lies under a loose softer material called regolith at the surface of the Earth or other terrestrial planets. The broken and weathered regolith includes soil and subsoil. The surface of the bedrock beneath the soil cover is known as rockhead in engineering geology, and its identification by digging, drilling or geophysical methods is an important task in most civil engineering projects. Superficial deposits can be extremely thick, such that the bedrock lies hundreds of meters below the surface.

Sandstone A clastic sedimentary rock composed mostly of sand-sized particles

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.

Watershed and hydrology

The watershed of Rock Bottom Creek has an area of 3.06 square miles (7.9 km2). [2] The creek is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Olyphant. [3]

The Jefferson Township Sewer Authority once applied for a permit to discharge into an unnamed tributary of Rock Bottom Creek. [6]

History

Rock Bottom Creek was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1199396. [3]

In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan recommended that Roaring Brook Township and Jefferson Township include protection of Keyser Creek in their zoning plans. [4]

Biology

Wild trout naturally reproduce in Rock Bottom Creek from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. [7] An unnamed tributary of the creek is considered to be a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery. [6] Rock Bottom Creek was stocked with trout in the early 1900s. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Painter Creek river in the United States of America

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Roaring Run (Bowman Creek tributary) river in the United States of America

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References

  1. 1 2 3 United States Geological Survey, The National Map Viewer , retrieved April 8, 2015
  2. 1 2 Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams (PDF), November 2, 2001, retrieved April 9, 2015
  3. 1 2 3 Geographic Names Information System, Feature Detail Report for: Rock Bottom Creek , retrieved April 9, 2015
  4. 1 2 Lackawanna River Corridor Association (2001), Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan (PDF), pp. 63, 66, 115, 120, retrieved April 10, 2015
  5. ↑ Duane D. Braun (2006), Surficial geology of the Olyphant 7.5-minute quadrangle, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, p. 14, retrieved April 10, 2015
  6. 1 2 "NPDES Stormwater Individual Permit", Pennsylvania Bulletin , retrieved April 10, 2015
  7. ↑ Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (January 2015), Pennsylvania Wild Trout Waters (Natural Reproduction) - Jan 2015 (PDF), p. 46, retrieved April 9, 2015
  8. ↑ "Streams to Be Stocked", The Scranton Republican , p. 7, March 14, 1914, retrieved April 10, 2015
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