Fuller Hollow Creek at Stair Park
42°04'38.13" N 75°57'27.84" W
Fuller Hollow Creek on the east side of campus, receives campus runoff and surface water, before it reaches the Susquehanna River.
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Located in the Town of Vestal, Stair Park abuts the campus and is bisected by the Fuller Hollow Creek. A bridge over the creek connects the end of the Nature Preserve's pipeline trail with the park. Standing on the bridge you can see where the channel has cut deeply to expose the local shale bedrock and the many layers of till laid down during the last ice age.
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Before 1960, Fuller Hollow Creek moved along natural meanders down to the Susquehanna River. The development of the Stair Park subdivision altered the natural course of the stream, which was straightened in order to create more housing lots adjacent to the stream. The addition of roads and driveways (impervious surfaces) associated with the housing development caused the creek to rise higher and more quickly after heavy rains.
Walking into the park and following the creek upstream, you can see a number of waterfalls running over exposed shale bedrock. These waterfall features are larger than they normally would be because of the increased rate of stream incision from the straightening of the creek.
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Waterfall in Stair Park
Rip-rap armoring the bank of Fuller Hollow Creek in Stair Park
Fracture pattern in the bedrock in Stair Park.
Bedrock (horizontal layers) under the glacial till in Stair Park.
Video showing incision and bend erosion from a downstream-looking-upstream viewpoint.