Van Brunt 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 Roaring Brook in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Roaring Brook Township and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The creek has one named tributary, which is known as Langan Creek. At least two bridges have been constructed across Van Brunt Creek.

Course

Van Brunt Creek begins in Mullen Swamp in Roaring Brook Township. It flows southeast for several tenths of a mile before turning south and entering Moscow. After a few tenths of a mile, the creek turns southeast for several tenths of a mile, crossing

Pennsylvania Route 690 Pennsylvania Route 690 (PA 690) is a state highway located in Lackawanna and Wayne counties in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at PA 502 in Spring Brook Township. The eastern terminus is at PA 590 in Salem Townsh ...

, before turning east. After several tenths of a mile it receives Langan Creek, its only 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 ...

. It then crosses

Pennsylvania Route 435 Pennsylvania Route 435 (PA 435) is a state highway located in Monroe, Wayne, and Lackawanna counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at Interstate 380 (I-380) near Gouldsboro. The northern terminus is at I-84 and I- ...

and turns north-northeast for a few tenths of a mile before reaching its confluence with Roaring Brook.

Tributaries

Van Brunt Creek has one named tributary, which is known as Langan Creek, which joins Van Brunt Creek in Moscow. It also has a number of unnamed tributaries.

Hydrology

Upstream of Langan Creek, the peak annual

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 Van Brunt Creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching 428 cubic feet per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 731 cubic feet per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching 884 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 1307 cubic feet per second. Approximately upstream of Cross Section Letter K, the peak annual discharge of Van Brunt Creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching 379 cubic feet per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 647 cubic feet per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching 784 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 1160 cubic feet per second. The North Pocono Public Library in Moscow once applied for a permit to discharge

stormwater Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed la ...

into Van Brunt Creek for construction purposes.

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 Van Brunt 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. A

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

known as the Wellsboro extremely stony loam occurs in the vicinity of Van Brunt Creek. 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 creek's vicinity mainly consists of a glacial or resedimented till known as Wisconsinan Till. However,

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 ...

is present along the creek in its middle and upper reaches and there are some patches of Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Drift in the watershed, as well as a few patches of

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 conglomeratic sandstone,

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 ...

. There are also

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 ...

s in the creek's headwaters and two patches of fill near the creek.

Watershed and biology

Van Brunt 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 Moscow. Upstream of the tributary Langan Creek, its watershed has an area of . The creek is a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Van Brunt Creek is one of the main sources of

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing in Moscow, as its tributary Langan Creek.

History

Van Brunt 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 1200124. A concrete arch bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 435 was built over Van Brunt Creek in 1940. It is long and is situated in Moscow. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge was built over the creek in Moscow in the same year. This bridge is long and carries Pennsylvania Route 690. The latter bridge has been given a weight limit of 28 tons, or 38 tons for combination loads. One case of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

was observed in the vicinity of Van Brunt Creek in the early 1910s.

References

External links

Google Street View image of Van Brunt Creek
{{authority control Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Roaring Brook (Lackawanna River) Rivers of Pennsylvania