Where does the Mississippi River start and end?
Lake Itasca, Itasca State Park, northwestern Minnesota. 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 its source. The Mississippi River is the longest river of North America.
How many miles is the Mississippi River in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin and four other states comanage the Upper Mississippi River, which includes about 1,250 miles (2,012 km) of the Mississippi’s length.
Where is the upper Mississippi River in Minnesota?
The Upper Mississippi River is joined by the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling in the Twin Cities; the St. Croix River near Prescott, Wisconsin; the Cannon River near Red Wing, Minnesota; the Zumbro River at Wabasha, Minnesota; the Black, La Crosse]
Where is the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers?
Often 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from bank to bank, the lower Mississippi becomes a brown, lazy river, descending with deceptive quiet toward the Gulf of Mexico. Confluence of the Mississippi (left) and Ohio rivers at Cairo, Illinois.
Is the Mississippi River the largest river in the world?
The Mississippi River is one of the world’s major river systems in size, habitat diversity and biological productivity.
Where was the head of navigation on the Mississippi River?
The head of navigation on the Mississippi is the Coon Rapids Dam in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Before it was built in 1913, steamboats could occasionally go upstream as far as Saint Cloud, Minnesota, depending on river conditions.
Who was the first person to see the Mississippi River?
On May 8, 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto became the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River, which he called Río del Espíritu Santo („River of the Holy Spirit“), in the area of what is now Mississippi. In Spanish, the river is called Río Mississippi.
Where is the deepest point on the Mississippi River?
It takes 90 days for a single drop of water to travel the Mississippi River’s entire length. From its source, Lake Itasca, to its end, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River drops 1,475 feet. The deepest point on the Mississippi River is located near Algiers Point in New Orleans and is 200 feet in depth.
How big is the Mississippi River in square miles?
Mississippi River. Written By: 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. The Mississippi River lies entirely within the United States.
Which is the widest lake on the Mississippi River?
The Upper Mississippi has a number of natural and artificial lakes, with its widest point being Lake Winnibigoshish, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, over 11 miles (18 km) across. Lake Onalaska, created by Lock and Dam No. 7, near La Crosse, Wisconsin, is more than 4 miles (6.4 km) wide.
What is the mean discharge of the Mississippi River?
Since the freak conditions of 1927, the mean discharge of water into the lower Mississippi by its major tributaries has been carefully monitored. The mean discharge of the main river at Vicksburg, Mississippi, is calculated at 570,000 cubic feet (16,140 cubic metres) per second.
Which is the only waterfall on the Mississippi River?
The origin of the dramatic drop is a waterfall preserved adjacent to the lock under an apron of concrete. Saint Anthony Falls is the only true waterfall on the entire Mississippi River. The water elevation continues to drop steeply as it passes through the gorge carved by the waterfall.
How many species of mussels are in the Mississippi River?
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; 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.
Why is the Mississippi River important to North America?
Introduction to the River. The Mississippi River is one of the world’s major river systems in size, habitat diversity and biological productivity. It is also one of the world’s most important commercial waterways and one of North America’s great migration routes for both birds and fishes.
When was the Mississippi River sold to the US?
But the lower river passed into Spanish hands in 1769, the Peace of Paris (1783) optimistically declared the river as the western boundary of the United States, and republican France reacquired the much-bartered stream only long enough to sell it to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase (1803).
What kind of goods go through the Mississippi River?
Representing 500 million tons of shipped goods per year (according to the Port of New Orleans ), the Mississippi River barge port system is significant 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.
How did the Mississippi River affect the economy?
With the introduction of larger, high-pressure engines and more streamlined hulls, the steamboats extended their range, and the Mississippi became economic overlord to half the country. In 1820 the Western Engineer probed up the Missouri.
Is the Mississippi River Delta rich in fresh water?
Unlike other areas of coastal Louisiana, the Mississippi River delta is blessed with a relative abundance of inflowing fresh water and sediments. Despite the availability of these resources, the overall growth of emergent delta has been truncated in recent history.
Is the Mississippi River bound by levees or tributaries?
Much of the Lower Mississippi River is bound by levees, floodwalls and control structures as part of the Mississippi River & Tributaries (MR) project, a comprehensive, multi-state flood damage risk management program for the lower alluvial valley.
How many migratory waterfowl use the Mississippi River?
Forty percent of the nation’s migratory waterfowl use the river corridor during their spring and fall migration. Sixty percent of all North American birds (326 species) use the Mississippi River Basin as their migratory flyway. Learn more about birds of the Mississippi River in the Minnesota area.
Where can I find information on Mississippi River flooding?
For a large scale view of the hydrology situation over the Upper Mississippi River Valley region, check out the Hydrology Monitor. For more detailed information, consult our AHPS (Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service) pages. You can also click on the „more details“ for more information about that location.
Where is the upper Mississippi River in Iowa?
North of Davenport, IA, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge weaves recreation, ranging from paddling, fishing, hunting, hiking and birdwatching, into the tapestry.
Is the Mississippi River Delta part of the Gulf of Mexico?
It is part of the Gulf of Mexico and the Louisiana coastal plain, one of the largest areas of coastal wetlands in the United States.
How many states does the Mississippi River drain?
With its many tributaries, the Mississippi’s watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km 2 ), of which only about one percent is in Canada.
What’s the average speed of the Mississippi River?
A raindrop deposited at the headwaters of the Mississippi River would take almost 82 days to meet the Gulf of Mexico at the river’s average speed of 1.2 miles per hour. That is, of course, without stops for sightseeing. How wide is the Mississippi River?
Why is the quality of the Mississippi River important?
Mississippi River water quality is of paramount importance for sustaining the many uses of the river including drinking water, recreational and commercial activities, and support for the river’s ecosystems and the environmental goods…
How is the Mississippi River important to the United States?
Yet, the connectivity of the river that drains 41 percent of the continental United States and carries more water than any other American river remains its most critical component. The fabric of America truly is woven from the common thread of the Mississippi River.