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Jul 24, 1998 · Mississippi River, the longest river of North America, draining with its major tributaries an area of approximately 1.2 million square miles, or about one-eighth of the entire continent. With its tributaries, the Mississippi River drains all or part of 31 U.S. states and two provinces in Canada.
- History and Economy
Mississippi River - Exploration, Trade, Navigation: As its...
- Physical Features
Mississippi River - Length, Basin, Delta: The geology and...
- Modern Commercial Activity
Mississippi River - Trade, Navigation, Shipping: World War I...
- Students
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The “father of waters,” the...
- Lake Itasca
Lake Itasca, lake regarded as the main source of the...
- Jefferson
Jefferson River, river, most westerly of the Missouri...
- Kids
The Mississippi is North America’s longest river. Native...
- Cairo
Cairo and the Bank of Cairo were chartered in 1818, when...
- History and Economy
The Mississippi River[ b ] is the primary river and second-longest river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. [ c ][ 15 ][ 16 ] From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,766 km) [ 16 ] to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1811 and 1812, a series of earthquakes emanated from New Madrid, Missouri, and were felt as far away as Ohio and South Carolina. The soil beneath the Mississippi River rose, temporarily ...
- Headwaters
- By The Numbers
- Native American Roots
- Dividing Line
- Wildlife
- Mussels
- Delta Environmental Protection
- Rich in Culture
The 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. The river passes through or borders 10 states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. The Mississippi Ri...
Other statistics, according to Mississippi River Explorer, include: Depth: Less than 3 feet (1 meter) at the headwaters; 200 feet (61 m) deep in New Orleans. Volume: 6 cubic feet (170,000 cubic centimeters) per second at Lake Itasca; 600,000 cubic feet (17 billion cc) per second at New Orleans. Speed: The average surface speed of the water at the h...
The name Mississippi comes from Messipi, which is the French rendering of the Anishinaabe word Misi-iibi, meaning "Great River." The Anishinaabe is the group name for several tribes living in the northern parts of the United States and Canada. Anishinaabe living in the upper Mississippi River basin include the Ojibwe and Potawatomi tribes. Other tr...
The Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the Revolutionary War and recognized American independence, marked the Mississippi River as the western border of the new nation. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson, with the Louisiana Purchase, greatly expanded the size of the country with land west of the river. The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, ...
The Mississippi River basin is home to hundreds of species of animals. White-tailed deer, bald eagles, otters, muskrats and wild turkeys are commonly seen in the wetlands and hardwood forests of the upper Mississippi River valley. Crawfish, shrimp, catfish, snakes, turtles, alligators, herons, spoonbills and leeches make their homes in the southern...
The Mississippi River has one of the most diverse populations of freshwater mussels in the world. From the river's source in Lake Itasca down to Cairo, Illinois, there are 38 documented species of mussels. On the Lower Mississippi, there is an estimated 60 species, according to the NPS. Mussels eat by filtering the water and are excellent indicator...
Over a period of about 7,000 years, the Mississippi River has been winding its way south, depositing sand, clay and other organic materials into the shallow waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. As this sediment accumulated, plant communities started to spring up, trapping more sediment and building new land — what is now known as the Mississippi ...
The Mississippi River has influenced American culture for centuries. John James Audubon, who lived for a time in New Orleans, was a naturalist who painted and described the birds of North America. His masterwork, "The Birds of America," was a series of 435 life-size bird prints, published in sections between 1827 and 1828. A good portion of his wor...
- Traci Pedersen
Jul 24, 1998 · Mississippi River - Length, Basin, Delta: The geology and physical geography of the Mississippi drainage area are essentially those of the Interior Lowlands and Great Plains of North America. Fringes also touch upon the Rocky and Appalachian mountain systems and upon the rim of the Canadian (Laurentian) Shield to the north. The focus of the system, the floodplain of the lower Mississippi, is ...
Feb 10, 2022 · The biggest river by discharge volume is the Amazon at an impressive 209,000 cubic meters (7,380,765 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. At Lake Itasca, the average flow rate is 6 cubic feet per second.
People also ask
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The Mississippi River System, also referred to as the Western Rivers, is a mostly riverine network of the United States which includes the Mississippi River and connecting waterways. The Mississippi River is the largest drainage basin in the United States. [ 3] In the United States, the Mississippi drains about 41% of the country's rivers. [ 4]
