Rough 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 ...
of
West Branch Fishing Creek
West Branch Fishing Creek is one of the northernmost major tributaries of Fishing Creek in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania and Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is long and flows through Davidson Township, Sullivan County a ...
in
Sullivan County and
Columbia County, in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through
Davidson Township in Sullivan County and
Sugarloaf Township in Columbia County.
The watershed of the stream has an area of . Glacial till and bedrock consisting of shale and sandstone can be found along the stream. It is named for the speed of its waters and the foliage along the sides of the stream.
Course
Rough Run begins on a
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, not far from the edge of the West Branch Fishing Creek watershed. The stream flows south-southwest for a short distance before turning south-southeast and dropping off the plateau. It begins to descend steeply in a valley. After a few tenths of a mile, the stream turns south-southwest again and exits Sullivan County after several tenths of a mile.
Upon exiting Sullivan County, Rough Run enters Sugarloaf Township, Columbia County. It continues flowing south-southwest and steeply descending. After several tenths of a mile, the stream turns southwest for several hundred feet. It then turns south-southeast for several hundred feet and reaches the slope. The stream reaches its confluence with West Branch Fishing Creek immediately afterwards.
Rough Run joins West Branch Fishing Creek upstream of its mouth, only downstream of the mouth of
Peterman Run
Peterman Run is a tributary of West Branch Fishing Creek in Sullivan County and Columbia County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Davidson Township in Sullivan County and Sugarloaf Township in C ...
.
Geography and geology
The elevation near the mouth of Rough 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 of the stream's
source is between .
For most of its length, Rough Run is on a
glacial 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 ...
known as the Wisconsinan Bouldery Till. The surface is largely covered with
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 and it is a
diamict. The Wisconsinan Boulder Till is typically at least thick. It is upper reaches, the stream flows over
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 ...
. The sandstone and shale are
interbedded
In geology, interbedding occurs when beds (layers of rock) of a particular lithology lie between or alternate with beds of a different lithology. For example, sedimentary rocks may be interbedded if there were sea level variations in their sedimen ...
and are red and gray in color. The bedrock's diamict is reddish-brown to yellowish-brown.
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 Rough 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 Elk Grove.
Its mouth is in the northernmost part of Sugarloaf Township, Columbia County.
History and etymology
Rough 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 1185512.
Rough Run is named for the rapid speed which its waters flow at and also for the dense foliage that occurs along it.
See also
*
References
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Rivers of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Columbia County, Pennsylvania
Tributaries of Fishing Creek (North Branch Susquehanna River)
Rivers of Pennsylvania