Beaver Run (also known as Beaver Dam Run) is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) 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 ...

Little Muncy Creek Little Muncy Creek is the major tributary of Muncy Creek in Lycoming and Sullivan Counties, Pennsylvania, United States. Via Muncy Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna River, it is part of the Susquehanna River drainage basin and waters from it ...

in Sullivan County and Lycoming County, 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 Davidson Township in Sullivan County and Penn Township and Franklin Township in Lycoming County. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is dammed by the Beaver Lake Dam and a number of bridges have been constructed across it. Beaver Run has one named tributary, which is known as Marsh Run.

Course

Beaver Run begins in the North Mountain region in Davidson Township, Sullivan County. It flows west-northwest for more than a mile, crossing Pennsylvania Route 42, reaching the base of the mountain, and entering a valley. The stream then turns south-southwest for several tenths of a mile before passing through two

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s and three

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s and entering Beaver Lake. In Beaver Lake, it enters Penn Township, Lycoming County and from the southern end of the lake, the stream turns south-southwest for several tenths of a mile, flowing past Bad Hill. It then turns south-southeast for more than a mile before receiving its only named tributary, Marsh Run, from the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

and turning south. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it enters Franklin Township and continues flowing south for a few tenths of a mile before turning south-southwest for more than a mile. The stream's valley then widens and it turns southwest for several tenths of a mile before reaching its confluence with Little Muncy Creek. Beaver Run joins Little Muncy Creek upstream of its mouth.

Tributaries

Beaver Run has one named tributary, which is known as Marsh Run. Marsh Run joins Beaver Run upstream of its mouth and drains an area of .

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of Beaver Run is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The elevation of the stream's source is above sea level. A lake known as Beaver Lake is situated on the stream; the lake has an area of approximately . Most of the lake is in Penn Township, Lycoming County, but a portion is in Davidson Township, Sullivan County. Wisconsinan Outwash, which consists of stratified sand and gravel, forms terraces along the flank of the valley of Beaver Run.

Alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

also occurs in the

surficial geology Superficial deposits (or surficial deposits) refer to geological deposits typically of Quaternary age (less than 2.6 million years old). These geologically recent unconsolidated sediments may include stream channel and floodplain deposits, beach ...

in the vicinity of the stream, as does Wisconsinan Bouldery Till and a patch of Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift. Further upstream, there is Wisconsinan Till, alluvial fan, and a lake.

Bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

consisting of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

occurs in the surficial geology near the stream's valley throughout much of its length.

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

has been observed in

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s at the bottom of a bluff on the west side of Beaver Run. During the

Wisconsinan Glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cor ...

, the ice profile in the Beaver Run valley was . The stream's valley, which runs north-to-south (parallel to the glaciers during the Ice Age), has been significantly deepened by glacial scour.

Hydrology and watershed

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 Beaver Run has an area of . The mouth of the stream is in the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Lairdsville. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Sonestown. Its mouth is within of Lairdsville. A

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

known as the Beaver Lake Dam is on Beaver Run. The dam is an earthfill dam with a vertical wall of concrete for an upstream slope. The dam is high, approximately wide at the crest, and long. Its spillway is in the center and is long. A total of of Beaver Run and its unnamed tributaries are designated as impaired waterbodies. The impairment is related to

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

activity.

History

Beaver Run was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1192109. The stream is also known as Beaver Dam Run. This variant name appears in the 1880 book ''The Geology of Lycoming County'' by Andrew Sherwood and Franklin Platt. Historically, there were

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

works on Beaver Run. In the early 1800s, the stream was classified by law as a public highway between the mouth and these copper works. A concrete stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying T-708 over Beaver Run was built in 1920 and repaired in 1968. It is long and is situated northeast of Lairdsville. A concrete frame bridge carrying T-706 over the stream was built in the same year south of Beaver Lake and is long. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying State Route 2061 north of Lairdsville was constructed over the stream in 1939 and repaired in 1990. This bridge is long. A prestressed box beam or girders bridge carrying State Route 2077 over Beaver Run was built in 1985 north of Lairdsville and is long.

References