Rocky Run (also known as Rocky Run 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 ...

in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Salem Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . In the early 1900s, the stream had a high level of water quality and was proposed for use as a water supply. The construction of a dam on it was proposed, but no formal plans were ever made. There are coal mines in the watershed, but they have been abandoned since the late 1800s. Wisconsinan Till, Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, Boulder Colluvium, Wisconsinan Bouldery Till, coal dumps, and bedrock consisting of sandstone and shale all occur in the watershed. The drainage basin is designated as a Coldwater Fishery.

Course

Rocky Run begins in a deep valley between Lee Mountain and another mountain in Salem Township. It flows east for several tenths of a mile before turning slightly northeast. After some distance, it loses its flow, but continues eastward. It runs alongside Rocky Run Road for a short distance before crossing

US Route 11 {{Infobox road , country=USA , type=US , route=11 , map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map , map_custom=yes , map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...

and reaching its confluence with the Susquehanna River at the community of Dogtown. Rocky Run joins the Susquehanna River upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

In 1909, the

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

of Rocky Run was measured by the

Pennsylvania Department of Health Pennsylvania Department of Health is a cabinet-level agency in Pennsylvania. Secretaries See also * Health department * List of Pennsylvania state agencies State related agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Agencies *Pennsylvania A ...

to be 170,000 gallons per day. The minimum discharge at that time was 90,000 gallons per day. In the early 1900s, the concentration of total solids in the waters of Rocky Run was measured to be 180 parts per million. The concentration of

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

was 3.48 parts per million. The calcium sulfate concentration was 19 parts per million, the

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

concentration was 8 parts per million, the concentration of

magnesium carbonate Magnesium carbonate, (archaic name magnesia alba), is an inorganic salt that is a colourless or white solid. Several hydrated and basic forms of magnesium carbonate also exist as minerals. Forms The most common magnesium carbonate forms are ...

was 4.5 parts per million, and the concentration of

iron oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...

and aluminum oxide was 2 parts per million. The concentration of temporary

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 ...

was 4.7 parts per million and the concentration of permanent water hardness was 11.2 parts per million. A 1911 report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health stated that waters of Rocky Run were "of excellent quality in every respect".

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 Rocky Run is between 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 stream's source is between above sea level. The valley of Rocky Run is situated to the north of Lee Mountain. An abandoned

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

is located in the northern part of the watershed of Rocky Run approximately upstream of its mouth. A 1911 report mentioned two tunnels leading from the mine and entering loose rocks on a hillside. The report noted that the tunnels had a low discharge and their waters were slightly

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

ic and stated that during rainy conditions they might drain into Rocky Run. The watershed of Rocky Run has experienced

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

. A meltwater sluiceway with a depth of cuts through the Little Shickshinny-Rocky Run divide between the valleys of Rocky Run and Little Shickshinny Creek. The surficial geology in the vicinity of Rocky Run mostly consists of a glacial or resedimented till known as Wisconsinan Till. Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, which contains stratified

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

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 ...

s, also occurs in the valley, as does

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 ...

. Boulder Colluvium and Wisconsinan Bouldery Till occur to the north of the stream and Wisconsinan Bouldery Till also occurs in the southeastern part of the watershed. Coal dumps, or large piles of coal waste, occur in some small areas in the watershed. In the watershed's northernmost and southernmost reaches, the surficial geology features

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 ...

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 Rocky Run has an area of . The stream 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 Shickshinny. The stream is downriver of

Shickshinny Shickshinny is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 630 at the 2020 census. The borough is named after Shickshinny Creek, which runs through the municipality and the surrounding area. According to the book ...

. A 1911 report described the watershed of Rocky Run as being heavily

wooded A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

. The stream was described as flowing "virtually unseen" through a forest in the 1978 Luzerne County Critical Areas Inventory. Part of the stream is in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 260. The watershed is in the Wyoming Valley.

History

Rocky Run 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 1185367. In the early 1900s, Rocky Run was considered for use as a

water supply 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 ...

for the Insane Hospital and Almshouse in Retreat, Pennsylvania, on the opposite side of the river in Newport Township. The Pennsylvania Department of Health stated that the use of the stream as a water supply would "not be prejudicial to public health". The construction of a

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 ...

at a narrow part of the stream's valley approximately upstream of its mouth was proposed. No formal plans were made for the proposed dam, but it was to be wide, made of earth with a

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 ...

core wall, and to have a capacity of 5,000,000 gallons. The water was to be supplied to the Insane Hospital and Almshouse by means of an 8 or 10 inch pipe with a length of . In the 1800s, there were

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

mines in the watershed of Rocky Run. The mines were known as the Rocky Run Mines or the Shickshinny Mines. They were opened by Nathan Beach and ownership of them passed to Nathan Beach Crary in 1858. They were also leased to Jesse Beadle for a short time. The mines were abandoned by the 1890s. The stream was historically used along with Paddy Run as an industrial water supply for the E.E. Stackhouse Coal Company.

Biology

The entire drainage basin of Rocky Run is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Hemlock forests surround Rocky Run. A number of very old trees have been discovered along the stream.

References

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