Little Crooked Run is a tributary of

Tomhicken Creek Tomhicken Creek (also known as Tomhickon Creek) is a stream in Luzerne County and Schuylkill County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and is the largest tributary of Catawissa Creek. Named tributaries of the creek ...

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the popula ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through North Union Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is considered to be a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and

Class A Wild Trout Waters Class A Wild Trout Waters are the highest biomass class given to streams in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. They are considered to contain the highest-quality naturally reproducing trout populations in Pennsylvania. Th ...

. The main rock formations in the stream's watershed are the Mauch Chunk Formation and the Pottsville Formation and the main soil is the Hazleton soil.

Course

Little Crooked Run begins a in a valley in southeastern North Union Township, a few hundred feet from the border between North Union Township and East Union Township. The stream flows northeast for a few tenths of a mile before turning north and slightly west and leaving the valley. After several tenths of a mile, it crosses Miller Road and T872. A short distance downstream, it reaches its confluence with Tomhicken Creek. Little Crooked Run joins Tomhicken Creek upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

Little Crooked Run is not considered to be impaired. However, it is infertile and acidic, and has the potential to be affected by

acid precipitation Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but aci ...

. The concentration of

alkalinity Alkalinity (from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is the capacity of water to resist acidification. It should not be confused with basicity, which is an absolute measurement on the pH scale. Alkalinity is the strength of ...

in Little Crooked Run is 4 milligrams per liter. The pH of the stream is 6.6. The level of

water hardness Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbo ...

in its waters is 6 milligrams per liter. At 12:25 P.M. on July 11, 1997, the air temperature in the vicinity of Little Crooked Run was measured to be . The water temperature of the stream at that time was measured to be . The

specific conductivity Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the fina ...

of its waters is 32 umhos.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Little Crooked 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 at the source of the stream is just over above sea level. The entire length of Little Crooked Run is on rock of the

Mauch Chunk Formation The Mississippian Mauch Chunk Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. It is named for the township of Mauch Chunk, now known as borough of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and for nearby Mauch Chunk Ridge where th ...

. However, an area of rock of the

Pottsville Formation The Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Alabama. It is a major ridge-former in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the eastern United States. The Pottsville Fo ...

is also found near the stream. The stream flows over Hazleton

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

for its entire length. Little Crooked Run is a small stream, with a width of . It has a high gradient of 57.4 meters per kilometer. Some areas in the vicinity of Little Crooked Run in its lower reaches are prone to

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing. However, few other areas in the watershed of the stream are prone to flooding. A mountain known as

Green Mountain Green Mountain is a common name for "The Peak", the highest point on Ascension Island, which has gained some fame for claims that it is one of very few large-scale artificial forests. History and vegetation Many early 19th-century accounts, in ...

is present at the headwaters of the stream.

Watershed and history

The watershed of Little Crooked Run has an area of . Most of the watershed is in North Union Township. However, a small portion of it is in East Union Township. There are some

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 ...

lands to the west of the stream in its middle reaches. A residential area is situated near the headwaters of the stream. Little Crooked Run 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 Nuremberg. Major roads in the watershed of Little Crooked Run include Nuremberg Mountain Road, which runs along the northeastern border of the watershed. 40 percent of the length of the stream is within of a road, 59 percent is within of a road, and 71 percent is within of a road. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of the watershed in 1990 was 22 people per square kilometer. In the 1990s, there was a period of residential development in the vicinity of the headwaters of Little Crooked Run.

Biology

Little Crooked Run is considered by the

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. ...

to be a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery, but was historically only considered to be a Coldwater Fishery. Additionally, it is considered by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a separ ...

to be Class A Wild Trout Waters. The only species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

inhabiting Little Crooked Run is

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 ...

, which are wild as opposed to being stocked. The

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

of wild brook trout in the stream is 52.74 kilograms per hectare, including 46.64 kilograms per hectare of trout that are less than 175 millimeters long and 6.10 kilograms per hectare that are more than 175 millimeters long. The lengths of the trout range from 25 to 199 millimeters. There are 889 wild brook trout per kilometer in the stream. 869 of them are less than 175 millimeters long and 20 are more than 175 millimeters long. The total number of fish per hectare is 4544, of which 4444 are less than 175 millimeters long and 100 are more than 175 millimeters long.

References

External links

Map of the Catawissa Creek watershed
{{authority control Rivers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Catawissa Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania