Rivers That Help Beef Up the Mighty Mississippi

Introduction to the River

The Mississippi River is one of the world's major river systems in size, habitat diverseness and biological productivity. It is also one of the earth'south most important commercial waterways and ane of Northward America'southward bang-up migration routes for both birds and fishes.

Native Americans lived along its banks and used the river for sustenance and transportation. Early on European explorers used the Mississippi to explore the interior and the northern reaches of what was to become the United States. Fur traders plied their trade on the river and soldiers of several nations garrisoned troops at strategic points, at diverse times, along the river when the surface area was withal on the borderland.

White settlers from Europe and the The states (and often their slaves) arrived on steamboats dispossessing the Native Americans of their lands and converting the landscape into farms and cities.

Today, the Mississippi River powers a significant segment of the economy in the upper Midwest. Barges and their tows movement approximately 175 1000000 tons of freight each year on the upper Mississippi through a system of 29 locks and dams. It is also a major recreational resource for boaters, canoeists, hunters, anglers, and birdwatchers and offers many outdoor opportunities.

A more than comprehensive discussion of the history of the upper Mississippi River, and specifically, the 72 mile long corridor within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, may be found online.

Dimensions

Length

The Mississippi River is the second longest river in Due north America, flowing two,350 miles from its source at Lake Itasca through the middle of the continental The states to the Gulf of United mexican states. The Missouri River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, is nigh 100 miles longer. Some describe the Mississippi River as being the tertiary longest river organisation in the earth, if the length of Missouri and Ohio Rivers are added to the Mississippi's primary stalk.

When compared to other world rivers, the Mississippi-Missouri River combination ranks fourth in length (3,710 miles/5,970km) post-obit the Nile (4,160 miles/6,693km), the Amazon (iv,000 miles/half-dozen,436km), and the Yangtze Rivers (3,964 miles/6,378km). At a rivers delta, the reported length may increment or decrease as deposition and erosion occurs.

As a result, different lengths may exist reported depending upon the year or measurement method. The staff of Itasca State Park at the Mississippi's headwaters suggest the main stem of the river is two,552 miles long. The US Geologic Survey has published a number of ii,300 miles, the EPA says it is two,320 miles long, and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area suggests the river's length is two,350 miles.

Width

At Lake Itasca, the river is between 20 and thirty feet wide, the narrowest stretch for its entire length. The widest part of the Mississippi can be constitute at Lake Winnibigoshish near Bena, MN, where information technology is wider than eleven miles. The widest navigable section in the shipping channel of the Mississippi is Lake Pepin, where the channel is approximately 2 miles wide.

Speed

At the headwaters of the Mississippi, the average surface speed of the water is about 1.two miles per hour - roughly ane-half as fast equally people walk. At New Orleans the river flows at nigh iii miles per hr. But the speed changes equally water levels rise or fall and where the river widens, narrows, becomes more shallow or some combination of these factors. It takes near three months for h2o that leaves Lake Itasca, the river'south source, to reach the Gulf of Mexico.

Volume

Another mode to measure the size of a river is by the amount of water information technology discharges. Using this measure the Mississippi River is the 15th largest river in the globe discharging 16,792 cubic meters (593,003 cubic feet) of water per second into the Gulf of United mexican states. The biggest river by discharge book is the Amazon at an impressive 209,000 cubic meters (seven,380,765 cubic feet) per second. The Amazon drains a rainforest while the Mississippi drains much of the area between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, much of which is fairly dry out.

At Lake Itasca, the average flow rate is half-dozen cubic anxiety per second. At Upper St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the northern most Lock and Dam, the average flow rate is 12,000 cubic anxiety per second or 89,869 gallons per 2d. At New Orleans, the average menses charge per unit is 600,000 cubic feet per second.

Watershed Size

Some like to measure the size of a river is by the size of its watershed, which is the area drained by a river and its tributaries. The Mississippi River drains an surface area of well-nigh 3.2 million square kilometers (1.two one thousand thousand square miles) including all or parts of 32 states and two Canadian provinces, nearly forty% of the continental The states. The Mississippi River watershed is the 4th largest in the globe, extending from the Allegheny Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the westward. The Amazon for comparison drains nearly 7.1 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles).

Water Supply

Communities up and down the river utilise the Mississippi to obtain freshwater and to discharge their industrial and municipal waste. Nosotros don't have good figures on water use for the whole Mississippi River Basin, but we accept some clues. A January 2000 report published by the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee states that shut to 15 one thousand thousand people rely on the Mississippi River or its tributaries in simply the upper half of the basin (from Cairo, IL to Minneapolis, MN). A frequently cited effigy of eighteen 1000000 people using the Mississippi River Watershed for water supply comes from a 1982 written report by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Committee. The Environmental Protection Agency simply says that more than than l cities rely on the Mississippi for daily h2o supply.

Commerce

Agriculture has been the dominant state use for virtually 200 years in the Mississippi basin, and has altered the hydrologic cycle and energy budget of the region. The agronomical products and the huge agribusiness manufacture that has developed in the basin produce 92% of the nation'southward agronomical exports, 78% of the globe's exports in feed grains and soybeans, and most of the livestock and hogs produced nationally. Sixty percent of all grain exported from the US is shipped on the Mississippi River through the Port of New Orleans and the Port of South Louisiana.

In measure of tonnage, the largest port district in the world is located along the Mississippi River delta in Louisiana. The Port of Southward Louisiana is one of the largest volume ports in the United States. Representing 500 million tons of shipped goods per twelvemonth (according to the Port of New Orleans), the Mississippi River barge port system is meaning to national trade.

Shipping at the lower end of the Mississippi is focused on petroleum and petroleum products, iron and steel, grain, rubber, paper, wood, coffee, coal, chemicals, and edible oils.

To motion goods up and down the Mississippi, the U.South. Army Corps of Engineers maintains a 9-pes aircraft aqueduct from Billy Rouge, LA to Minneapolis, MN. From Baton Rouge past New Orleans to Head of Passes, a 45 foot channel is maintained to let ocean-going vessels access to ports between New Orleans and Billy Rouge.

Background Information

There are 7.489 gallons of water in a cubic foot. Ane cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds. A 48 foot semi-truck trailer is a iii,600 cubic foot container.

• At Lake Itasca, it would take 10 minutes for 1 semi-trailer of water to period out of the lake into the Mississippi.
• At St. Anthony Falls, the equivalent of 3 semi-trailers total of h2o go over the falls every second.
• At New Orleans, the equivalent of 166 semi-trailers of h2o flow past Algiers Bespeak each second.

Other Resources

More data well-nigh water quality within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Expanse (Minnesota) may be constitute in the State of the River study.

The River of History discusses the history represented within the 72 mile corridor of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, including the history of Native Americans and dispossession, exploration, transportation, commerce, navigation, and other topics. The River of History is provided online.

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Source: https://www.nps.gov/miss/riverfacts.htm

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