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Full Answer

How can the Mississippi River change its course?

Another possible course change for the Mississippi River is a diversion into Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans. This route is controlled by the Bonnet Carré Spillway, built to reduce flooding in New Orleans.

What is the geographical setting of the Mississippi River?

The geographical setting of the Mississippi River includes considerations of the course of the river itself, its watershed, its outflow, its prehistoric and historic course changes, and possibilities of future course changes. The New Madrid Seismic Zone along the river is also noteworthy.

What is the Mississippi National River and recreation area?

The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is the National Park Service site dedicated to protecting and interpreting the Mississippi River itself. The other six National Park Service sites along the river are (listed from north to south):

How many states does the Mississippi River run through?

The Mississippi River and its tributaries drain all or part of 31 U.S. states and two provinces in Canada, an area of approximately 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square km), or about one-eighth of the entire continent. What are the most important varieties of fish found in the Mississippi River?

Where does the Mississippi river start and where does it end?

Gulf of MexicoMississippi River / MouthThe Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. Wikipedia

Where does the Mississippi actually start?

Lake ItascaMississippi River / SourceLake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately 1.8 square miles in area. Located in southeastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota, it is notable for being the headwater of the Mississippi River. The lake is in Itasca State Park. Wikipedia

Where does the lower Mississippi river begin and end?

And the Lower Mississippi begins at the Ohio River mark and stretches to the Gulf of Mexico. What states does the Mississippi River touch? The Mississippi River either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Which way does the Mississippi river run north or south?

southwardThe Mississippi River begins at Lake Itasca, a small glacial lake in northern Minnesota, and flows southward for about 2,350 miles (3,782 km) until it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.

Where does the Mississippi River End to the north?

the Gulf of MexicoThe Mississippi River rises in Lake Itasca in Minnesota and ends in the Gulf of Mexico.

What city is at the end of the Mississippi River?

The Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles (160 km) downstream from New Orleans.

Where does the Upper Mississippi river begin and end?

The river is divided into the upper Mississippi, from its source at Lake Itasca south to the Ohio River and the lower Mississippi, from the Ohio to its mouth near New Orleans, Louisiana.

Where do the Mississippi and Missouri rivers meet?

Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park is a public recreation area located on the north side of the Missouri River at its confluence with the Mississippi River in St. Charles County, Missouri.

Does the Mississippi River flow backwards?

The fact that the Mississippi River ran backwards after the massive New Madrid earthquake of 1811 is now the stuff of legend, but did you know that it's run backwards at least twice since?

Which river flows north in the United States?

Some of the most famous are the world's longest river the Nile, along with Russia's Ob, Lena, and Yenisey Rivers. The Red River in the U.S. and Canada and Florida's St. Johns River also flow north.

What rivers flow backwards?

Permanent reversalsRiverOriginal outletDate of reversalAmazon RiverPacific OceanCretaceous periodChicago RiverLake Michigan1900Wisconsin RiverGreat Lakes BasinPleistocene Epoch

Where does the Mississippi River start and end?

The Mississippi River rises in Lake Itasca in Minnesota and ends in the Gulf of Mexico. It covers a total distance of 2,340 miles (3,766 km) from i...

How much of North America does the Mississippi River drain?

The Mississippi River and its tributaries drain all or part of 31 U.S. states and two provinces in Canada, an area of approximately 1.2 million squ...

What are the most important varieties of fish found in the Mississippi River?

The most important varieties of fish found in the Mississippi River include various types of catfish, walleyes, suckers, carp, and garfish.

How long is the Mississippi River?

The Mississippi River is 2,340 miles (3,766 km) long. The Missouri-Mississippi confluence has a combined length of 3,710 miles (5,971 km).

Why is Mark Twain associated with the Mississippi River?

Mark Twain grew up on the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri, and the Mississippi is virtually a character in his classic novels The Adventure...

Where is the Mississippi River located?

The Mississippi River lies entirely within the United States. Rising in Lake Itasca in Minnesota, it flows almost due south across the continental interior, collecting the waters of its major tributaries, the Missouri River (to the west) and the Ohio River (to the east), approximately halfway along its journey to the Gulf ...

How far is the Mississippi River from its source?

It covers a total distance of 2,340 miles (3,766 km) from its source. The Mississippi River is the longest river of North America.

How big is the Mississippi River?

Mississippi River, the longest river of North America, draining with its major tributaries an area of approximately 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square km), or about one-eighth of the entire continent.

Which river drains all or part of 31 states?

With its tributaries, the Mississippi drains all or part of 31 U.S. states and two provinces in Canada. Lake Itasca. Lake Itasca, Itasca State Park, northwestern Minnesota. Cbkarim. Although the Mississippi can be ranked as the fourth longest river in the world by adding the length of the Missouri- Jefferson ...

Which river is larger, the Ohio or the Mississippi?

Beyond the confluence with the Ohio at Cairo, Illinois, the lower Mississippi attains its full grandeur. Where these two mighty rivers meet, the Ohio is actually the larger; thus, below the Ohio confluence the Mississippi swells to more than twice the size it is above.

Is the Mississippi River a commercial river?

As the central river artery of a highly industrialized nation, the Mississippi River has become one of the busiest commercial waterways in the world, and, as the unruly neighbour of some of the continent’s richest farmland, it has been subjected to a remarkable degree of human control and modification.

What states are on the Mississippi River?

The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Native Americans have lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for thousands of years.

What river flows through the upper Mississippi River?

The Upper Mississippi River at its confluence with the Missouri River north of St. Louis.

How far does the Mississippi River go from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico?

The Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles (160 km) downstream from New Orleans. Measurements of the length of the Mississippi from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico vary somewhat, but the United States Geological Survey 's number is 2,320 miles (3,730 km).

What is the Mississippi River called?

The Mississippi River is called the Lower Mississippi River from its confluence with the Ohio River to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 1,000 miles (1,600 km). At the confluence of the Ohio and the Middle Mississippi, the long-term mean discharge of the Ohio at Cairo, Illinois is 281,500 cubic feet per second (7,970 cubic meters per second), while the long-term mean discharge of the Mississippi at Thebes, Illinois (just upriver from Cairo) is 208,200 cu ft/s (5,900 m 3 /s). Thus, by volume, the main branch of the Mississippi River system at Cairo can be considered to be the Ohio River (and the Allegheny River further upstream), rather than the Middle Mississippi.

What is the Mississippi embayment?

Formed from thick layers of the river's silt deposits, the Mississippi embayment is one of the most fertile regions of the United States; steamboats were widely used in the 19th and early 20th centuries to ship agricultural and industrial goods.

How many sections of the Mississippi River are there?

Divisions. The Mississippi River can be divided into three sections: the Upper Mississippi, the river from its headwaters to the confluence with the Missouri River; the Middle Mississippi, which is downriver from the Missouri to the Ohio River; and the Lower Mississippi, which flows from the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico.

When was the Great Raft cleared?

1833 to November 1873: The Great Raft (a huge logjam in the Atchafalaya River) was cleared. The Atchafalaya started to capture the Mississippi and to become its new main lower course. 1963: The Old River Control Structure was completed, controlling how much Mississippi water entered the Atchafalaya.

Where does the Mississippi River start?

The Start of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota where the Mississippi is born and cut through the center of the Country. The Mississippi River Basin Drains 31 states and travels through 10 states in the Country. It joins the Ohio and Missouri River before ending in the Gulf of Mexico.

What is the importance of the Mississippi River?

The Importance Today of The Mississippi River and the Mississippi River Basn 1 holds around 260 species of fish. In fact, 25% of all the fish that live in North America live in the Mississippi River. 2 40% of the nation’s migratory waterfowl use the river corridor during their spring and fall migration. 60% percent of all North American birds (326 species) use the Mississippi River Basin as their migratory flyway. 3 From Cairo, IL upstream to Lake Itasca there are 38 documented species of mussel. On the Lower Mississippi, there may be as many as 60 separate species of mussel. 4 The Upper Mississippi is host to more than 50 mammal species At least 145 species of amphibians and reptiles inhabit the Upper Mississippi River environs.

What is the Delta region famous for?

Yet best known around the world is the blues music of the lower Mississippi River Delta . The Mississippi Delta is famous for its fertile soil and for its poverty.

Where did the Mississippi Delta originate?

Mississippi Delta Blues was one of the earliest forms of Blues music that was formed in the Mississippi Delta which is a region of the US that lies between Memphis Tennesee in the north to Vicksburg Mississippi in the south and from Helena Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River in the east.

How many states are there in the Mississippi River?

The Mississippi River drains an area of about 3.2 million square kilometers (1.2 million square miles) including all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces, about 40% of the continental United States. Its the 4th largest in the world.

How many miles does the Great River Road run through?

The Great River Road National Scenic Byway follows the course of the Mississippi River for 3,000 miles from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The scenic route passes through 10 states and hundreds of river towns. The Great River Road is arguably the longest and most important scenic byway in America.

What is the name of the spillway that cuts deeper and deeper into the landscape?

As the glaciers melted, water stretched from bluff to bluff, forming a glacial-fluvial spillway ( known as Glacial River Warren) that cut deeper and deeper into the landscape. The bluffs are composed of layers of frail sandstone at the base and dolostone at the top, a form of limestone that doesn’t erode as easily.

What is the geographical setting of the Mississippi River?

Physical geography. The geographical setting of the Mississippi River includes considerations of the course of the river itself, its watershed, its outflow, its prehistoric and historic course changes, and possibilities of future course changes. The New Madrid Seismic Zone along the river is also noteworthy.

Where does the Mississippi River flow?

Flowing entirely in the United States (though its drainage basin reaches into Canada), it rises in northern Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for 2,530 miles (4,070 km) to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico.

How far does the Mississippi River go from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico?

The Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles (160 km) downstream from New Orleans. Measurements of the length of the Mississippi from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico vary somewhat, but the United States Geological Survey’s number is 2,340 miles (3,770 km).

How much does the Mississippi River discharge per second?

The Mississippi River discharges at an annual average rate of between 200 and 700 thousand cubic feet per second (7,000–20,000 m3/s). Although it is the 5th largest river in the world by volume, this flow is a mere fraction of the output of the Amazon, which moves nearly 7 million cubic feet per second (200,000 m3/s) during wet seasons. On average, the Mississippi has only 8% the flow of the Amazon River.

What are the causes of sediment reduction in the Mississippi River?

The reduction in sediment transported down the Mississippi River is the result of engineering modification of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers and their tributaries by dams, meander cutoffs, river-training structures, and bank revetments and soil erosion control programs in the areas drained by them.

What is the Mississippi River watershed?

Watershed. Mississippi watershed (2005) The Mississippi River has the world’s fourth largest drainage basin (“watershed” or “catchment”). The basin covers more than 1,245,000 sq mi (3,220,000 km2), including all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.

What river is near New Orleans?

Lower Mississippi. Lower Mississippi River near the city New Orleans. The Mississippi River is called the Lower Mississippi River from its confluence with the Ohio River to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico. Measured by water volume, the Lower Mississippi’s primary branch is the Ohio River.

Overview

Name and significance

The word Mississippi itself comes from Misi zipi, the French rendering of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin) name for the river, Misi-ziibi (Great River).
In the 18th century, the river was the primary western boundary of the young United States, and since the country's expansion westward, the Mississippi River has been widely considered a convenient, if approximate, dividing line between the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United …

Divisions

Watershed

Outflow

Course changes

Length

Depth