Sorber 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 drainag ...

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 To ...

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county ...

and Wyoming 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, Ma ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Lake Township in Luzerne County and Noxen Township in Wyoming County. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The surficial geology in the stream's vicinity consists of alluvium and Wisconsinan Till. The watershed is designated as Exceptional Value waters and a Migratory Fishery. The stream is one of two Wilderness Trout Streams in Wyoming County.

Course

Sorber Run looking upstream in its upper reaches

Sorber Run begins in a valley on a mountain in Lake Township, Luzerne County. It flows east-northeast for a few tenths of a mile before turning northeast for a short distance. The stream then turns north for several tenths of a mile, flowing through a valley to the west of Sorber Mountain. It then exits Lake Township, Luzerne County and enters Noxen Township, Wyoming County. In this reach, the stream turns north-northwest for some distance before turning north. After a while, it turns north-northwest, leaves its valley, and turns north, reaching its confluence with Bowman Creek. Sorber Run joins Bowman Creek upstream of its mouth.

Geography and geology

Sorber Run looking downstream in its upper reaches

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 t ...

of Sorber 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 standardise ...

. The elevation of the stream's source is between above sea level. For most of the length of Sorber Run, 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, beac ...

immediately next to it 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 ...

. However, the surficial geology of alluvium does not extend very far from the stream before being replaced by a

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 Wisconsinan Till. In the stream's upper reaches, the surficial geology consists of Wisconsinan Till. During the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

, when the receding

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

in the valley of Bowman Creek reached the mouth of Sorber Run, the lower outlets of

Glacial Lake Bowman 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 betwe ...

opened. Sorber Run is classified as a High-gradient Clearwater Creek.

Watershed

Sorber Run looking upstream near its mouth

The watershed of Sorber 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 Noxen. Most of the length of Sorber Run is located within Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 57.

History

Sorber 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 1199562. In 2005, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission considered adding Sorber Run to its list of

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. ...

Biology

The drainage basin of Sorber Run is designated as Exceptional Value waters 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-sa ...

naturally reproduce in the stream from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. It is classified by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a separ ...

as a Wilderness Trout Stream for wild brook trout from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. This makes it one of two Wilderness Trout Streams in Wyoming County, the other being Cider Run. When Sorber Run was surveyed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in 2002, it was given a

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms biom ...

class of A. The biomass of trout was more than . Sorber Run is listed on the Wyoming County Natural Areas Inventory. It was once designated as

` for brook trout.

References