Lower Susquehanna River Research Articles

The Muddy Run Pumped Storage Project: A Case History

Abstract The ecology of Conowingo Pond (the lower pond) and the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Pond (the upper pond) on the lower Susquehanna River in southeastern Pennsylvania was studied to determine the effects of operation of the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Station. Nearly all the species of fish present in the lower pond are now found in the upper pond. Extensive sampling in the two ponds indicates no detrimental effects of the station operation on the fishes and fisheries of Conowingo Pond. The creation of the 398.9-hectare upper impoundment serves as an area where biomass of fishes pumped up from Conowingo Pond can be increased and exploited by anglers. Wide fluctuations (up to 15 m in a weekly cycle of operation) in water level limit the reproduction of nest-building fishes in the upper pond. About 6,5 times as many fish larvae were pumped up into the upper pond as left during generation. No reliable quantitative estimates could be obtained on the percentage mortality of fishes passing through the pump-tur...

Passage of Fish Eggs and Young Through a Pumped Storage Generating Station

During June and July 1970, an estimated 5.3 million eggs (4.1/103m3) and 56.6 million young fish (43.8/103m3), 3–62 mm FL, were pumped by the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Generating Station from Conowingo Reservoir (lower Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania) into Muddy Run Pumped Storage Reservoir. A maximum of only 2% of the eggs and 39% of the young were returned to the lower reservoir during generation. The eggs were predominately Carpiodes cyprinus. Of the young, 73% entrained during pumping and 83% entrained during generating were Ictalurus punctatus, Cyprinus carpio, and Carpiodes cyprinus. Similar results are reported for 1969. The species and numbers of specimens entrained reflect the utilization of the area near and above the lower reservoir intake discharge structure as spawning and nursery grounds, the extent and peaks of spawning seasons, and the phases of development and behavior of the young. Sufficient numbers of specimens pumped into and retained by the upper reservoir, in which natural reproduction is nearly precluded by the extensive fluctuation of water level, survive to maintain many of the reservoir’s fish populations.

Patterning in Death in a Late Prehistoric Village in Pennsylvania

AbstractAt the Mohr site, a Shenks Ferry Village on the lower Susquehanna River, 98 burials were excavated. These exhibited various features which are ascribed to cultural demands: location in the village, position of body, grave goods, etc. One of these features was the alignment of the body with the head to the east in such a manner as to suggest that the exact alignment was a function of season of interment. This paper completes the record of the mortuary patterns at this site based upon a description of the total population of the dead. Earlier descriptions, based upon incomplete materials, were presented at the VIIth International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences in Prague in 1966 (Gruber 1970) and at the American Anthropological Association Meeting in 1966. The position of these burials conforms to scant ethnographic data on the basis of which a putative cultural identification with the Shenks Ferry component and the southeastern Siouan groups is strengthened.

Baselevel, Grade and Peneplain

Baselevel, Grade and Peneplain