Beaver Run is a tributary of

County Line Branch County Line Branch (also known as the County Line Branch of Chillisquaque Creek) is a tributary of West Branch Chillisquaque Creek in Northumberland County and Montour County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and ...

in Northumberland County and

Montour County Montour County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,136. Its county seat is Danville. The county is named for Andrew Montour, a prominent Mét ...

, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Lewis Township in Northumberland County and Anthony Township in Montour County. The

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of the stream mostly consists of agricultural land. The watershed lies over rock of the Onondaga and Old Port Formation, the Keyser and Tonoloway Formation, and the Hamilton Group. It lies over soil of the Chanango-Pope-Holly series, the Hagerstown-Edom-Washington series, and the Watson-Berks-Alvira series. The stream experiences siltation and organic enrichment. A. Joseph Armstrong described Beaver Run as "small and overgrown" in his book ''Trout Unlimited's Guide to Pennsylvania Limestone Streams''.

Course

Beaver Run begins in eastern Lewis Township, Northumberland County. It flows southeast for a short distance before turning southwest and then south. The stream then crosses

Pennsylvania Route 44 Pennsylvania Route 44 (PA 44) is a -long state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route, which is signed north-south, is designated from Interstate 80 (I-80) and PA 42 in Buckhorn northwest to the New York state line near New York S ...

and

Pennsylvania Route 54 Pennsylvania Route 54 (PA 54) is a state highway which runs for in eastern Pennsylvania. It runs from U.S. Route 15 (US 15), which is three miles (5 km) west of Montgomery, Lycoming County, in the west, to US 209 in Nesquehoning, ...

before crossing a

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

railroad and turning southeast. It flows in this direction for some distance before passing by the community of

Schuyler Schuyler may refer to: Places United States * Schuyler County, Illinois * Schuyler County, Missouri * Schuyler, Nebraska, a city * Schuyler County, New York * Schuyler, New York, a town * Schuyler Island, Lake Champlain, New York * Schuyler Creek ...

and leaving Lewis Township. Upon leaving Lewis Township, Beaver Run enters Limestone Township, Montour County. Here it turns east for a short distance and then turns southeast. The stream then crosses a set of

railroad track A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

s and further downstream reaches its confluence with County Line Branch near the eastern border of Limestone Township.

Hydrology

Portions of Beaver Run and its tributaries are affected by

siltation Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

and

organic enrichment Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product o ...

due to

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. The entirety of the stream and its tributaries are listed as "not attaining" in the 305B Stream Listings. The water of Beaver Run is relatively warm. Beaver Run has low levels of

dissolved oxygen Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the given temperature. It ca ...

Geography and geology

The watershed of Beaver Run is in the Appalachian Mountain section of the

ridge and valley The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

physiographic region. Most of Beaver Run and the area in its vicinity lies over rock of the Onondaga and Old Port Formation. However, the southern part of the watershed is on rock of the Keyser and Tonoloway Formation and the upper reaches of the watershed, including some of the northern tributaries, lies over

Hamilton Group The Hamilton Group is a Devonian-age geological group in the Appalachian region of the United States. It is present in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, northwestern Virginia and Ontario, Canada. It is mainly composed of mar ...

rock. The soils in a small area in the lower reaches of the watershed of Beaver Run are of the Chenango-Pope-Holly

soil series Soil series as established by the National Cooperative Soil Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service are a level of classification in the USDA Soil Taxonomy classification system hierar ...

. The stream's southern tributaries and the rest of the lower and middle reaches of the watershed are on soil of the Hagerstown-Edom-Washington series. The upper reaches of the watershed lie over the Watson-Berks-Alvira soil series.

Hydric soil Hydric soil is soil which is permanently or seasonally saturated by water, resulting in anaerobic conditions, as found in wetlands. Overview Most soils are aerobic. This is important because plant roots respire (that is, they consume oxygen and ...

s also occur on the stream. Beaver Run is not influenced by

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The elevation of Beaver Run near its mouth is above sea level.

Watershed

Nearly all of the watershed of Beaver Run is agricultural land. However, there are some small patches of forested land. In addition to the townships that the stream flows through, the community of

Turbotville Turbotville Borough is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 705 at the 2010 census. Geography Turbotville is located at (41.102454, –76.771188). According to the United States Census Bureau, th ...

is also in the watershed. There are of streams in the watershed of Beaver Run. The Beaver Run Bridge was built over Beaver Run in its lower reaches in 1915. It is a closed-spandrel arch bridge that is long. The bridge is open to traffic.

Biology

Beaver Run has been described as overgrown. The Montour County Natural Areas Inventory recommends planting

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

trees along the stream.

References