Butler Creek (Nine Partners Creek)
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Butler Creek is a tributary of
Nine Partners Creek Nine Partners Creek (also known as Leslie Creek) is a tributary of Tunkhannock Creek (Susquehanna River), Tunkhannock Creek in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through New Milford Township ...
in
Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Susquehanna County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,434 Its county seat is Montrose. The county was created on February 21, 1810, from part ...
, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Jackson Township, Gibson Township, and Harford Township. 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 creek has an area of . The creek has one named tributary, which is known as Little Butler Creek, and is not designated as an impaired waterbody. The creek's valley is a "beaded valley", at least in its upper reaches, and has thick deposits of till in its valley. The headwaters of Butler Creek are in a lake known as Butler Lake. A number of bridges have also been constructed over the creek. Wild trout naturally reproduce within it, and forested blocks occur along the creek.


Course

Butler Creek begins on an unnamed pond on a hill in Jackson Township. It flows south for a short distance, entering a wetland where it turns east for a few tenths of a mile, entering another wetland and passing through Butler Lake. From the southern end of the lake, the creek flows south-southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning west for a short distance and then turning south-southwest again. After several tenths of a mile, it crosses Pennsylvania Route 492 before continuing south-southwest. After several tenths of a mile, it turns south-southeast and then southwest for a few tenths of a mile, receiving the tributary Little Butler Creek from the right. It then turns south-southwest for several tenths of a mile, entering Gibson Township. After more than a mile, the creek turns southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning south-southwest and entering Harford Township. In this township, it flows south-southwest for a few miles before turning southeast and then south. After several tenths of a mile, the creek turns southwest for several tenths of a mile before crossing Interstate 81 and reaching its confluence with Nine Partners Creek. Butler Creek is approximately long. The creek joins Nine Partners Creek upstream of its mouth.


Tributaries

Butler Creek has one named tributary, which is known as Little Butler Creek. Little Butler Creek joins Butler Creek upstream of its mouth, near Gibson, and drains an area of .


Hydrology

Butler Creek is not designated as an impaired waterbody. The average annual
discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...
of Butler Creek at Gibson between 1974 and 1979 ranged from in 1976 to in 1979. In 1974 and 1975, the discharges were , respectively. In 1977 and 1978, the average annual discharges were . Between October 1973 and September 1979, the months where Butler Creek had the highest average discharge at Gibson were March and January; the discharges were , respectively. The months with the lowest average discharge were August and July, with average discharges of , respectively.


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 Butler Creek is above sea level. The elevation near the creek's source is above sea level. 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 ...
along Butler Creek near its mouth mainly consists of alluvium, although there is one patch of alluvial fan nearby. The sides of the valley are lined with a till known as Wisconsinan Till and there are some patches of
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 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 ...
on nearby hills. Further upstream, the surficial geology along the creek continues to consist mainly of alluvium, but there are several patches of Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift nearby, as well as one small patch of alluvial fan. Wisconsinan Till continues to line the sides of the valley and bedrock is present on nearby hills. In the upper reaches, the surficial geology along the creek mainly includes Wisconsinan Till, but there are patches of alluvial fan, alluvium, and wetlands. At the headwaters, there is Butler Lake and patches of wetlands and peat bogs. In the Harford quadrangle, the alluvium in the valley of Butler Creek can be up to thick. The creek is separated from its tributary Little Butler Creek by two broad, low cols partially filled by till. The valley of Butler Creek in its upper reaches includes a "
beaded valley A bead is a decorative object. Bead may also refer to: * Bead (woodworking) * Beadwork, an ornament or utensil made from beads * Ferrite bead, a typically non-decorative passive electric component used to suppress high frequency noise in electron ...
" that was little affected by glacial erosion but considerably affected by
glacial deposition A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
, to the point that large amounts of glacial till partly or fully block off individual valleys. Along with Bell Creek and the
West Branch Lackawanna River The West Branch Lackawanna River (also known as Ball Creek) is a tributary of the Lackawanna River in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Ararat Township, Herrick Township, and Unio ...
, the valley of Butler Creek is one of the best examples of such beaded valleys in the Thompson quadrangle.


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 Butler Creek has an area of . The mouth of the creek is in the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Lenoxville. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Thompson. The creek also flows through the quadrangle of Harford. Its mouth is located within of Harding Corners. A lake known as Butler Lake is on Butler Creek in its upper reaches. There is a stream gage on Butler Creek at Gibson. The area of the creek's watershed at this gage is .


History and recreation

Butler Creek was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1170794. By the 1870s, there was a village known as Burrow's Hollow in the vicinity of Butler Creek. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying T-548/Podunk Road over Butler Creek was built south of Harford in 1920 and repaired in 1982 and is long. Two prestressed box beam or girders bridges carrying Interstate 81 over the creek and T-582 were built in 1961 in Harford Township and are long. One was repaired in 1984 and the other in 2009. Another steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying T-548/Podunk Road over the creek was built in 1968 east of Harford and is long. A two-span concrete
culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...
bridge carrying
Pennsylvania Route 547 Pennsylvania Route 547 (PA 547) is an state highway located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 11 (US 11) in Harford Township. The northern terminus is at PA 492 in Jackson Tow ...
over the creek was built in Gibson Township in 1999 and is long. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying T-582/Penny Hill Road over the creek southeast of Harford was built in 2009 and is long. There are several boat docks on Butler Lake, a lake on Butler Creek. The Susquehanna County Natural Areas Inventory has recommended removing these and replacing them with a single boat launch in the lake's northeastern corner. Although there is recreational development pressure, the Susquehanna County Natural Areas Inventory also opposed flooding the bog with a dam.


Biology

Wild trout naturally reproduce in Butler Creek from its headwaters down to an unnamed tributary unofficially known as Gibson Creek, a distance of . The creek serves as a transition between cold headwater streams and larger, warmer creeks.
Brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...
were observed in the creek in the 1930s. Butler Lake, a lake on Butler Creek, is listed on the Susquehanna County Natural Areas Inventory. The lake is a
bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
habitat, though there is some residential development along its shoreline. There is a large floating bog mat in the southern part of the lake. One of the largest forested blocks in Harford Township is situated along Butler Creek and its tributaries. It forms a "critical starting point" for riparian buffer conservation there. A block of forested land is also present along the creek in Gibson Township.


See also

*
Leslie Creek (Nine Partners Creek) Leslie Creek is a tributary of Nine Partners Creek in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through New Milford Township and Harford Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The ...
, next tributary of Nine Partners Creek going upstream * List of rivers of Pennsylvania


References

{{authority control Rivers of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Tunkhannock Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania