Little Wapwallopen Creek 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 ...

of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Rice Township, Dorrance Township, Conyngham Township, and Hollenback Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery and is not considered to be impaired. It has two named tributaries: Pond Creek and Nuangola Outlet. Wild trout naturally reproduce in the creek. Little Wapwallopen Creek ranges from slightly acidic to slightly basic. It is a significant source of flooding in Conyngham Township, Dorrance Township, and Rice Township. Numerous bridges have been constructed across the creek. The surficial geology in its vicinity consists of alluvium, alluvial terrace, alluvial fan, Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, Wisconsinan Till, and wetlands. Numerous bridges have also been constructed across the creek.

Course

Little Wapwallopen Creek from Pennsylvania Route 239

Little Wapwallopen Creek begins in Boyle Pond in Rice Township. It flows west for several tenths of a mile and passes through another

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 ...

before turning south-southwest for more than a mile (two kilometers). It then turns west for a few tenths of a mile and receives

Nuangola Outlet Nuangola Outlet is a tributary of Little Wapwallopen Creek in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Rice Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . Wisconsinan Till and bedrock ...

, its first named tributary, from the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

. The creek turns south-southwest for more than a mile before turning southwest and crossing

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...

and entering Dorrance Township. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it passes through Andy Pond and turns west-northwest for a short distance. It then turns west-southwest for considerably more than a mile before turning west and then west-northwest. The creek then turns north for a few tenths of a mile before turning west for several tenths of a mile. For the next few miles, it flows roughly west-southwest, entering Conyngham Township. The creek then turns south for several tenths of a mile, briefly entering Hollenback Township before turning north and flowing alongside

Hess Mountain Hess Mountain, also known as Mount Hess, is an elevation glaciated summit located on the crest of the Alaska Range, in Alaska, United States. It is the seventh-highest peak in the Hayes Range, a subset of the Alaska Range. This remote peak is s ...

as it reenters Conyngham Township. Its valley broadens and it flows west-southwest for a few miles, receiving the tributary Pond Creek and crossing

Pennsylvania Route 239 Pennsylvania Route 239 (PA 239) is a state highway located in Luzerne, Columbia and Lycoming Counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at PA 93 in Nescopeck Township. The northern terminus is at PA 42 in North ...

. A short distance further downstream, it reaches its confluence with the Susquehanna River. Little Wapwallopen Creek is approximately long. It joins the Susquehanna River upriver of its mouth.

Tributaries

Little Wapwallopen Creek has numerous unnamed tributaries and two named tributaries: Nuangola Outlet and Pond Creek. Pond Creek joins Little Wapwallopen Creek upstream of its mouth. Its watershed has an area of . Nuangola Outlet joins Little Wapwallopen Creek upstream of its mouth. Its watershed has an area of .

Hydrology

The discharge of Little Wapwallopen Creek near its mouth has been observed to range from . The

turbidity Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids can ...

level of the creek at this location was once measured to be fewer than 5 Jackson Turbidity Units. Its

specific conductance Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allow ...

ranged from 60 to 80 micro-siemens per centimeter at . The creek's pH ranged between a slightly acidic 6.3 and a slightly basic 7.4. The concentration 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 ...

ranged from . The creek is not considered to be impaired as of 2006. The concentration 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 ...

in the waters of Little Wapwallopen Creek was measured in the 1970s to be . The

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

concentration ranged from . The concentration of

bicarbonate In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate (IUPAC-recommended nomenclature: hydrogencarbonate) is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid. It is a polyatomic anion with the chemical formula . Bicarbonate serves a crucial biochemic ...

ranged from and no

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...

was observed. The concentration of

organic 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 ...

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

in Little Wapwallopen Creek was once measured to be and the

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

concentration was once measured to be . The concentration of nitrogen in the form of

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...

s was measured to be and the concentration of nitrogen in the form of

nitrite The nitrite polyatomic ion, ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name ...

s was measured to be . In the 1970s, the concentration of

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

in the waters of Little Wapwallopen Creek were found to range from . The

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

concentration ranged from . The combined concentrations of

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...

ranged from and the recoverable

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

concentration was once measured at . The

sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ar ...

concentration ranged from 12.0 to 16.0 milligrams per liter and the concentration of

chloride The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...

ranged from . The concentration of

dissolved solids In chemistry, a solution is a special type of homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. If the attractive forces between the solvent ...

in Little Wapwallopen Creek was once measured to be . At its mouth, the peak annual discharge of Little Wapwallopen Creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching . It has a 2 percent chance of reaching and a 1 percent chance of reaching . The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching . Upstream of the tributary Pond Creek, the peak annual discharge of the creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching . It has a 2 percent chance of and a 1 percent chance of reaching . The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching . At a point downstream of Blue Ridge Trail, the peak annual discharge of Little Wapwallopen Creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching . It has a 2 percent chance of reaching and a 1 percent chance of reaching . The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching . At a point upstream of Blue Ridge Trail, the peak annual discharge of the creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching . It has a 2 percent chance of and a 1 percent chance of reaching . The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching .

Geography, geology, and climate

Little Wapwallopen Creek in its upper reaches looking upstream

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 Little Wapwallopen Creek 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 creek's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

is approximately above sea level. The course of the creek is

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