Maple Spring Brook (also known as Maple Spring Branch
or Maple Spring Run
) is a
tributary of
Kitchen Creek in
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through
Fairmount Township.
The watershed of the stream has an area of . There is a waterfall in the stream's upper reaches and hemlock trees occur in the vicinity. The surficial geology in the area consists mainly of Wisconsinan Till, Wisconsinan Bouldery Till, wetlands, and bedrock consisting of shale and sandstone.
Course
Maple Spring Brook begins on a
mountain in Fairmount Township, not far from
Red Rock Mountain
Red Rock Mountain is a mountain located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. This summit is actually on the North Mountain escarpment. The escarpment in which Red Rock Mountain is located is a part of the Allegheny Plateau. This summit features a fi ...
. It flows southeast for a short distance and enters a deep valley before turning south. The stream then turns east-southeast for a short distance before reaching its confluence with Kitchen Creek.
Maple Spring Brook joins Kitchen Creek upstream of its mouth.
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 Maple Spring Brook is above
sea level.
The elevation near the
source of the stream is between above sea level.
The surficial geology in the vicinity of the lower reaches of Maple Spring Brook mainly features a glacial or resedimented
till known as Wisconsinan Till. Further upstream, there is
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 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 ...
. Near the headwaters, there is Wisconsinan Bouldery Till and a patch of
wetland.
Watershed and biology
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 Maple Spring Brook has an area of .
The stream is entirely within the
United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Red Rock.
There is a
waterfall with a height of on Maple Spring Brook. It is in the stream's upper reaches and is situated several hundred feet downstream of the Ganoga View Trail.
A
white ash tree with a height of was observed in the vicinity of Maple Spring Brook on September 15, 2004. Its height was measured via the
laser-
clinometer method.
There are numerous
hemlock trees in the vicinity of the stream's upper reaches.
History and recreation
Maple Spring Brook was entered into the
Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1180366.
Maple Spring Branch is in
Ricketts Glen State Park.
The Ganoga View Trail in Ricketts Glen State Park crosses the stream near its headwaters.
See also
*
Boston Run, next tributary of Kitchen Creek going downstream
*
Shingle Cabin Brook, next tributary of Kitchen Creek going upstream
*
List of rivers of Pennsylvania
References
{{authority control
Rivers of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Tributaries of Fishing Creek (North Branch Susquehanna River)
Rivers of Pennsylvania