Newport Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is in length. Named tributaries of the creek include South Branch Newport Creek. The entire watershed of Newport Creek is considered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to be impaired.
At the headwaters of Newport Creek in Glen Lyon, the daily load of iron is . Downstream of UNT 64681, the iron load in Newport Creek is per day and downstream of UNT 28347, the daily iron load is . Downstream of the Newport Dump Discharge, the load is per day. Downstream of the confluence of South Branch Newport Creek with Newport Creek, there is a daily load of of iron. Downstream of the Susquehanna #7 Mine Discharge, the iron load is and downstream of the Honeypot Discharge, the load is per day.
At the headwaters of Newport Creek, the daily manganese load is . Below UNT 64681, the load of manganese is per day and below UNT 28347 the daily load is per day. Below the Newport Dump Discharge, the manganese load is per day. Downstream of South Branch Newport Creek's confluence with Newport Creek, the daily load of manganese is . Below the Susquehanna #7 Mine Discharge, the load is per day and below the Honeypot Discharge it is per day.
At Newport Creek's source, the daily load of aluminum is . Downstream of UNT 64681 and UNT 28347, the daily load of aluminum is , respectively. Below the Newport Dump discharge, the aluminum load is . Downstream of the mouth of South Branch Newport Creek, the load is per day. Below the Susquehanna #7 Mine Discharge, the load is per day and below the Honeypot Discharge it is per day.
The concentration of dissolved oxygen at the headwaters of Newport Creek ranges from 4.7 to 110.0 milligrams per liter. The pH in this location ranges from 5.8 to 7.6 and the concentration of alkalinity ranges from 2 to 25 milligrams per liter. The concentration of ranges from 6.4 to 24 milligrams per liter. The sulfate concentration in the waters of the Newport Creek watershed was 340 parts per million in 1974.
In the South Branch Newport Creek watershed, the daily load of sediment is per day.
Upstream of South Branch Newport Creek, the discharge of Newport Creek ranges from 0.175 to 8.2 cubic feet per second, with an average of 1.8 cubic feet per second. The 25th percentile is 0.7 cubic feet per second, the 50th percentile is 2.0 cubic feet per second, and the 75th percentile is 3.9 cubic feet per second. Downstream of South Branch Newport Creek, the discharge ranges from 0.428 to 71 cubic feet per second, with an average of 5.6 cubic feet per second. The 25th percentile is 1.6 cubic feet per second, the 50th percentile is 3.0 cubic feet per second, and the 75th percentile is 5.3 cubic feet per second. Newport Creek was described as "a stream of moderate volume" in 1913.
Nearly all (approximately 90%) of the Newport Creek watershed is occupied by interbedding sedimentary rock. The remaining 10% is occupied by sandstone. There are at least 12 in the watershed, which are all in the Llwellyn Formation. Their thickness ranges from under . The coal has a lower-than-average sulfur content of 0.6 to 0.8 percent.
Some areas of quicksand have been observed in the Newport Creek watershed.
The main rock formations in the Newport Creek watershed are the Llwellyn Formation, the Pottsville Formation, the Pocono Formation, the Mauch Chunk Formation, and the Duncannon Member. The Llwellyn Formation occupies much of the northern part of the watershed, including much of Newport Creek itself and some of the South Branch Newport Creek watershed, except for the southern part. South of the Llwellyn Formation is a band of the Pottsville Formation. South of the Pottsville Formation are larger areas of the Mauch Chunk Formation and the Pocono Formation. On the southern edge of the watershed is an area of the Duncannon Member. The Pottsville Formation is unusually thin (less than in the watershed, but is the lowest rock formation in the watershed in terms of distance below ground.
The Udorthents-Urban Land-Volusia soil association and the Lackawanna-Arnot-Morris soil association together occupy 95% of the watershed. The remaining 5% is occupied by the Wellsboro-Oquaga-Morris and the Chenango-Pope-Holly soil associations.
There are five major sources of acid mine drainage in the Newport Creek watershed. One of these is the Glen Lyon Borehole, which is located at the creek's headwaters. The Susquehanna #7 Mine Discharge, the largest source of pollution in the watershed, is from the mouth of the creek. It has a discharge of 4.7 to 19 cubic feet per second.
The temperature in the area of the Newport Creek watershed ranges from in January to in July. As of 1974, the average snowfall in the watershed is per year. On average, of rainfall in the Newport Creek watershed per year. In the watershed of South Branch Newport Creek, there is an average annual Surface runoff of .
Communities in the Newport Creek watershed include Alden, Glen Lyon, Nanticoke, Newport Center, Sheatown, and Wanamie. Wilkes-Barre is northeast of the watershed and Hazleton is south of the watershed. Pennsylvania State Route 3002 and a number of are found in the watershed. The creek drains much of a coal sheet known as Sheet No. 2. Its tributaries drain part of the coal sheet Mine Sheet No. 1.
Much of the Newport Creek watershed is forested. However, there are significant areas of developed land in the eastern part of the watershed. Other land uses in the watershed area agricultural and disturbed land.
The headwaters of the Newport Creek watershed are on Penobscot Mountain and Little Wilkes-Barre Mountain. Newport Lake, a lake of mine drainage, is in the creek's watershed. Fairchild Pond and the Wanamie Reservoir are also present in the sub-watershed of South Branch Newport Creek. Najaka Pond and Kielar Lake used to drain into Newport Creek or its tributaries, but mining in the watershed has intercepted their discharge.
Coal mining began in the Newport Creek watershed in the middle of the 1800s, with being established in this period. A mine disaster occurred on the creek near Nanticoke on November 18, 1885. The mines were most active in the 1920s and in 1924, 35 million tons were produced. The production rate dropped slightly after the 1920s and entered a steady decline in the 1950s. were established in the watershed in the middle of the 1900s. Deep mining in the watershed ended in the 1950s, but strip mining continues in the 21st century. Much of the watershed has been mined.
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