Laurel Run (also known as Laurel Run Creek) is a tributary of Huntington Creek, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Ross 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 stream has an area of . Wild trout naturally reproduce in the stream. The surficial geology in the area mainly consists of Wisconsinan Till, Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, and bedrock consisting of sandstone and shale. The stream is designated as a Least Disturbed Stream.

Course

Laurel Run begins in a valley in Ross Township. It flows west-southwest for nearly a mile alongside Dobson Road before turning southwest for a short distance. The stream then turns west-southwest again for several tenths of a mile before crossing State Route 4024 and reaching its confluence with Huntington Creek. Laurel Run joins Huntington Creek upstream of its mouth.

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 Laurel Run is above sea level. The elevation of the stream's source is between above sea level. Laurel Run is in the Susquehanna Lowlands 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 province. For most of the length of Laurel Run, the surficial geology in its vicinity consists of a glacial or resedimented till known as Wisconsinan Till. On the sides of its valley, there is

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 ...

. At the mouth of the stream, the surficial geology features Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, which contains stratified sand and

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

, as well as some

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

Watershed

The

of Laurel Run has an area of . The stream is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Sweet Valley. Laurel Run is classified as a Least Disturbed Stream by the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. Such streams are described as "high-quality stream segments" that "ideally have little disturbance from human influences and demonstrate natural ecological function". Less than 0.75 percent of the watershed of Laurel Run is developed and less than 32.5 percent is

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 ...

land. More than 75 percent of the watershed is on forested land. More than 80 percent of the stream's riparian zone is forested, while less than 15 percent is agricultural and less than 1 percent is developed. There are no dams or instances of point source pollution in the watershed of Laurel Run. There are fewer than five road crossings.

History

Laurel Run was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1178994. In the early 1900s, the

Commissioners A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of Luzerne County requested permission to construct a bridge over Laurel Run. The road was to be a reinforced concrete slab bridge on the road from Mooretown to Sweet Valley.

Biology

Wild trout naturally reproduce in Laurel Run from its headwaters downstream to its mouth.

References