Marsh 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 ...

Bowman Creek Bowman Creek (also known as Bowmans Creek or Bowman's Creek) is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County and Wyoming County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Ross Township and Lake T ...

Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Wyoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,069. Its county seat is Tunkhannock. It was created in 1842 from part of Luzerne County. W ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Northmoreland Township, Eaton Township, and Monroe Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek is not designated as an impaired waterbody. Wild trout naturally reproduce within it. The watershed of Marsh Creek is designated as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. The creek has several bridges crossing it.

Course

Marsh Creek looking downstream from Jenks Road

Marsh Creek begins at the base of a ridge in Northmoreland Township. It flows northeast for a short distance before turning north for more than a mile and passing through a large

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 ...

. The creek then turns northwest for a few tenths of a mile before turning north for a few tenths of a mile and crossing

Pennsylvania Route 292 Pennsylvania Route 292 (PA 292) is an state highway located in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at PA 29 near Evans Falls. The eastern terminus is at PA 92 in Exeter Township. The route is a two-lane undivided road tha ...

. At this point, it turns west-northwest for several tenths of a mile before crossing Pennsylvania Route 292 again, passing through Eaton Township, and receiving Sugar Run, its only named tributary, 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 ...

. For almost all of the rest of its length, it flows along the border of Eaton Township and Monroe Township. The creek then turns north-northwest for several tenths of a mile, crossing Pennsylvania Route 292 for a third time. It then turns west for several tenths of a mile as its valley narrows. The creek then turns north for several tenths of a mile before turning northeast for several tenths of a mile and reaching its confluence with Bowman Creek. Marsh Creek joins Bowman Creek upstream of its mouth.

Tributaries

Marsh Creek has one named tributary, which is known as Sugar Run. It joins Marsh Creek upstream of its mouth and its watershed has an area of .

Hydrology

Marsh Creek is not designated as an impaired waterbody.

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 Marsh 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 between above sea level. Marsh Creek is a very small stream; it has been described as "tiny". At the point where the creek meets Bowman Creek, there is a deep pool of water on the latter creek, known as Barn Pool. 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 mouth of Marsh Creek consists of

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 ...

and Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift. Further upstream, the surficial geology consists of Wisconsinan

Till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

and

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 ...

, though there are some patches of alluvium, Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, 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 Marsh Creek has an area of . The creek is entirely within 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 Center Moreland. Marsh Creek is one of the major tributaries of Bowman Creek. Some residential and/or commercial land infringes upon the 100-year

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of Marsh Creek and its tributaries. A road known as Jenks Road crosses the creek at its mouth.

History

Marsh Creek 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 1199111. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying T-338/Jenks Road over Marsh Creek was built in 1920 and repaired in 1982. It is northwest of Vernon and is long. A 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 292 was built over the creek in 1955 in Northmoreland Township and is long. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 292 was constructed across the creek in 1955 in Northmoreland Township and is long. Another steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 292 over the creek was built in 1955 at the Monroe Township/Eaton Township line and is long.

Biology

The drainage basin of Marsh Creek is designated as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Wild

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

naturally reproduce in the creek from its headwaters downstream to its mouth.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Bowman Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania