Mississippi River System Background Information 2 (article)
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in the United States. It is also the
second-longest river. It runs almost the whole length of the country from north to
south.
Along its approximately 2,320-mile (3,734-kilometer) length, the Mississippi River
drains almost half the states in the country. The Mississippi Basin covers more
than 1,245,000 square miles (3,224,535 square kilometers). (A river basin is the
land that water flows through on its way to a river.) It includes two Canadian
provinces as well as all or parts of 31 U.S. states.
Upper Mississippi River
The Mississippi starts out as a small stream in Minnesota's Lake Itasca. It then
moves east and links a series of lakes. Near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, it turns
south and flows between St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. There, the
Mississippi River and the Minnesota River merge.
Later the Mississippi River joins the St. Croix River and becomes part of the border
between Minnesota and Wisconsin. It also forms the border between eight other
states. On the east side of the river are Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Mississippi. On the west side are Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and most of Louisiana.
Before the river reaches St. Louis, Missouri, the Illinois and Missouri rivers flow
into it. The mud of the Missouri River changes the Mississippi to the muddy color
it is in the south. The Ohio River meets the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, where the
river doubles in volume.
Lower Mississippi River
The banks of the lower Mississippi are a floodplain. (A floodplain is a nearly flat
area along river that is naturally subject to flooding.) This valley gets as wide as 50
miles (80 kilometers) across in places. There the river snakes back and forth,
sometimes forming broad loops and bending back on itself to form oxbow, or
horseshoe-shaped, lakes.
The Arkansas River meets the Mississippi River above Greenville, Mississippi.
South of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Mississippi divides into four different
distributaries, or channels. They are the Main Pass, North Pass, South Pass, and
Southwest Pass.
These distributaries enter the Gulf of Mexico. At its mouth, the Mississippi River
deposits silt to form the Mississippi Delta. These silt deposits also occur all along
the lower Mississippi. The silt builds up to make natural levees. (A levee is a low
ridge or embankment along the edges of a river that prevents flooding.)
Significance
The Mississippi River has made many important contributions to the growth and
economy of the United States. It provides water for cities, towns, and industries
along its length. It is also a major part of the country's transportation system.
More than half of all the goods on U.S. inland waterways travel along the
Mississippi on large barges pushed by tugboats. Around Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
the Mississippi deepens enough to allow oceangoing vessels to enter. The
greatest volume of traffic moves between New Orleans, Louisiana, and the
Southwest Pass.
Some of the goods that make their way down the Mississippi River are agricultural
products. They include corn, soybeans, and wheat. Coal, steel, aluminum,
petroleum, and petroleum-chemical products are also transported along the river.
Flooding
Flooding along the Mississippi River is a serious concern. Usually after a winter of
heavy snow and rains, the Mississippi overflows onto the floodplain. To control
flooding, dams and levees were built.
A series of dams along the Missouri and Ohio rivers help to control the amount of
water flowing into the Mississippi. The Mississippi has also been dammed north of
St. Louis, Missouri. Natural levees have been heightened and new ones built along
the lower part of river.
Another method used to prevent flooding is dredging. Dredging is removing layers
of silt from the bottom of the river. This deepens the river channel and allows it to
carry more water. Dredging also allows larger ships to sail the river.
Areas called floodways have also been created. These provide outlets for draining
some of the excess water during times when the river is too high.
Animals and Plants
The river supports a lot of wildlife. In the Upper Mississippi, the main freshwater
fish are trout, bass, and sunfish. The Lower Mississippi has catfish, carp, and
buffalo fish. These fish prefer the muddy water.
Mink, muskrats, opossums, otters, and skunks live along the riverbank. The
marshes and swamps around the delta provide homes for nutrias, which are large
rodents. Herons, pelicans, and egrets nest along the river.
The Upper Mississippi Valley has hardwood forests. Hickory, basswood, oak, and
maple trees grow there. The Lower Mississippi is known for its tupelo sweet gum,
southern oak, and bald cypress trees.
Source Citation: "Mississippi River." Kids InfoBits Presents: Geography. Gale, 2012. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2013.
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