Nescopeck Creek - Geology

Geology

Nescopeck Creek has coal veins near its source. These coal veins first appeared 300 million years ago. The thickness of these coal seams ranges from 3 feet in the Tracy Bed up to 50-114 feet in the Mammoth Bed. Nearly all of the Eastern Middle coal field is in the watershed of Nescopeck Creek. Sugarloaf Mountain is near Nescopeck Creek. Nescopeck Creek has a number of rapids. At its mouth, Nescopeck Creek carries 914.9 pounds of aluminum, 1285 pounds of iron, and 1127 pounds of manganese per day.

Nescopeck Creek is in the geological region known as the Ridge and Valley region. This region is characterized by fertile valleys and steep ridges. However, the eastern reaches of the Nescopeck Creek watershed are near the border of the Appalachian Plateau region.

Nescopeck Creek's watershed contains several major rock formations. These are the Mauch Chunk formation, the Llewellyn formation, the Pocono formation, and the Pottsville formation. The Mauch Chunk formation is associated with large amounts of high-quality groundwater. This formation consists of a 3000-foot (910-meter) layer of shale, sandstone, and silt. It is situated under the Hazleton valley. The Mauch Chunk formation contains outcrops of reddish rock. Sugarloaf Mountain is formed from this formation. The Mauch Chunk formation is softer than many of the nearby rock formations. This formation makes up most of the Nescopeck Creek watershed. The Llwellyn formation contains more coal than any of the other formations in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. This formation is 1500 feet (470 meters) thick and is composed of brownish-gray sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Buck Mountain, Mammoth Mountain, and Gamma Mountain are all carved out of the Llwellyn formation and contain coal seams. The formation used to be more extensive, but has been worn down by erosion over millions of years. The Pottsville formation also contains a large number of aquifiers. This formation is 250 to 300 feet (75 to 91 meters) thick, and is composed of gray conglomerate and sandstone. While there is no anthracite in the Pottsville formation, it does contain 3-foot seams of other varieties of coal. Groundwater from this formation is acidic and high in manganese and iron. It is the Pottsville formation that makes up the valleys directly surrounding Nescopeck Creek. The Pocono formation consists of conglomerate and sandstone and surrounds the Pottsville formation. The rock formations are typically more varied in the northern and western part of the watershed than the southern part.

There are also several less significant rock formations in Nescopeck Creek's watershed. These include the Spechty Kopf formation, the Hamilton formation, and the Catskill formation. Little is understood about the Spechty Kopf formation, but it occurs between the Catskill and Pocono formations. The Catskill formation is grayish-red shale, siltstone, and sandstone.

A total of 246,594 metric tons of material have eroded into Nescopeck Creek. Black Creek has the most erosion for an individual stream in the Nescopeck Creek watershed, with 123,825 metric tons of erosion. The main stem of Nescopeck Creek and Little Nescopeck Creek B also have high amounts of erosion, with 74,365 and 44,876 metric tons, respectively.