Pine Creek (also known as Pine Run) 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 ...

Solomon Creek Solomon Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Fairview Township, Hanover Township, and Wilkes-Barre. The creek is affected by acid mine d ...

in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Bear Creek Township, Laurel Run, and Hanover Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery and its watershed is inhabited by several species of macroinvertebrates and

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 ...

, including trout. A reservoir known as the Pine Run Reservoir is situated on the creek. It is dammed by the Pine Run Dam Number 1.

Course

Pine Creek begins on a mountain in Bear Creek Township. It flows northwest for a short distance before turning north and flowing off the mountain. After several tenths of a mile, the creek enters the borough of Laurel Run and begins flowing through a valley. It turns west, receives an unnamed 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 ...

and enters Hanover Township. The creek continues west for more than a mile, receiving two unnamed tributaries 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 ...

and one more from the right. It then turns west-southwest for several tenths of a mile, crossing Pennsylvania Route 309. The creek then turns northwest, passing through a small

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 ...

and then reaching its confluence with Solomon Creek after a few tenths of a mile. Pine Creek joins Solomon Creek upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

The water temperature of Pine Creek ranges from . No

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 ...

has been recorded in the creek. Its pH ranges from 5.5 to 6.5, the concentration of acidity ranges from 17.1 to 51.3 milligrams per liter, and the concentration of alkalinity is 17.1 milligrams per liter. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in the creek is between 10 and 13 milligrams per liter, depending on the site.

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 Pine 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 is between above sea level. Pine Creek is described as "relatively intact" in the Solomon Creek Coldwater Conservation Plan in 2009. A

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

known as the Pine Run Reservoir is situated on Pine Creek. The reservoir has a capacity of 7.5 million gallons and is

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

med by a masonry and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

dam of intermediate size. The dam is known as Pine Run Dam Number 1. As of 1980, it is in a deteriorated condition. Its spillway is considered to be "seriously inadequate" and the dam itself is designated as an "unsafe non-emergency dam".

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 Pine Creek has an area of . It is in the southeastern part of the watershed of Solomon Creek. There are of streams in the watershed. The creek's mouth 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 Wilkes-Barre West. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Wilkes-Barre East. The watershed of Pine Creek is heavily

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed. The surrounding terrain shields it from being significantly impacted by severe rainstorms. Pine Creek flows alongside Pine Run Road for some distance.

History

Pine 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 1183778. The

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

of Pine Creek was historically known as Solomon Creek around 1894. In the late 1800s, Pine Creek was one of the

water supplies Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

of the Crystal Spring Water Company. The creek was said to have fair

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

in 1895.

Biology

Pine Creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. However, the creek has had low densities of

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 ...

in the past, but more recently, their numbers have increased. The watershed of the creek contains the only Approved Trout Waters in the watershed of Solomon Creek. Pine Creek could potentially be upgraded to

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 ...

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 ...

longnose dace The longnose dace (''Rhinichthys cataractae'') is a freshwater minnow native to North America. ''Rhinicthys'' means snout fish (reference to the long snout) and ''cataractae'' means of the cataract (first taken from Niagara Falls). Longnose dace ...

, eastern blacknose dace, and

creek chub ''Semotilus'' is the genus of creek chubs, ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The term "creek chub" is sometimes used for individual species, particularly the common creek chub, ''S. atromaculatus''. The creek chub species of minnows can ...

all inhabit the watershed of Pine Creek. Wild trout naturally reproduce in the creek from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. Roach-like stoneflies and common shredders inhabit Pine Creek. Of the

macroinvertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate s ...

taxa in the creek, between 60 and 83 percent are of the orders '' Ephemeroptera'', ''

Plecoptera Plecoptera is an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the mo ...

'', and '' Trichoptera''. Between 0 and 33 percent are

mayflies Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the orde ...

References

{{authority control Rivers of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Susquehanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania