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Map of the course, watershed, and major tributaries of the Mississippi River

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.

From the perspective of natural geography and hydrology, the system consists of the Mississippi River itself and its numerous natural tributaries and distributaries. The major tributaries are the Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Red rivers. Given their flow volumes, major Ohio River tributaries like the Allegheny, Tennessee, and Wabash rivers are considered important tributaries to the Mississippi system

From the perspective of modern commercial navigation, the system includes the above as well as navigable inland waterways which are connected by artificial means. Important connecting waterways include the Illinois Waterway, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. This system of waterways is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with a project depth of between 9 and 12 feet (2.7 – 3.7 m) to accommodate barge transportation, primarily of bulk commodities.

The Mississippi River carries 60% of U.S grain shipments, 22% of oil and gas shipments, and 20% of coal.

Drainage

Most of the Mississippi Rivers tributary rivers drain into it, including two of the biggest ones, the Missouri and Ohio Rivers. In the United States, the Mississippi drains about forty-one percent of the countries rivers. The Mississippi River watershed encompasses thirty-one states and two Canadian Provinces. It is approximately 1.2 million square miles, encompassing forty percent of the bottom forty-eight states. Before the Mississippi River reaches the Gulf of Mexico, it runs into its distributary, the Atchafalaya River. The Mississippi River is the largest drainage basin in the United States.

Major Tributaries

Arkansas River

The Arkansas River is one of the major tributaries in the Mississippi River system. It flows west to east starting in Colorado and dumping the Mississippi River. It's incredible length of 1,469 miles allows it to flow through Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. It is the 6th largest river in the US, the second largest tributary to the Mississippi River System, and the 45th longest river in the world.

Illinois River

The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River. The river runs approximately 273 miles (439 km) long, in the U.S. state of Illinois. This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. The Illinois River meets the Mississippi at Pere Marquette State Park, which is near Grafton. The confluence of the rivers offers vistas that seem endless. The Illinois River is relatively shallow, just like the Mississippi. In addition, the Illinois River is a "managed" river, just as the Mississippi River is. In 1848, the Illinois and Canal opened to promote connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River through the Illinois River to promote commerce.

Missouri River

The Missouri River is a long stream that originates in southwest Montana and flows southeasterly for 2,522 miles; passing through six states before finally entering the Mississippi River at St. Louis. The Missouri River is the longest river on the North American continent. The Missouri River was one of the main routes for the watershed expansion of the United States during the 19th century.

Ohio River

The Ohio River runs 981 miles (1582 km) long, starting at the meeting of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; ending in Cairo, Illinois, where it then flows into the Mississippi. The Ohio River flows through six states, including, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The river is a location with the capacity to provide enough water for over five million people. At its widest point, it is one mile wide at Smithland dam.The average depth is 24 feet deep which allows multiple species of fish to live there safely. The water is also home to 150 species of fish ranging from catfish to certain species of salmon and trout. The depth also allows for commerce throughout the river on barges. On average the Ohio River transports over 230 million tons of cargo.Typically, the cargo being shipped are energy resources like coal. These resources account for 70% of the cargo. Along with shipping energy resources, the Ohio River also creates energy with dams and other power generating facilities. There are 20 dams and 49 other power generating facilities on the Ohio River.

Red River

The Red River is the 10th longest river in the United States with a length of 1,290 miles. It originates right outside the of the Rocky Mountains and stretches through multiple states with the main portion of it located in Texas. The river also crosses through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana where then it links into the Mississippi River. The Red River is mostly surrounded by rural farm land with the only surrounding major cities being Shreveport, Louisiana and Alexandria, Louisiana. The Red River is home to many oil fields with oil and gas production being one of the river's major aspects.

Modern Use

Today, the Mississippi River System, along with its connecting tributaries, is primarily used for transporting agricultural and manufactured goods across the span of the country. Among these goods is iron, steel, and mine products. The two largest rivers in the system, the Mississippi and Missouri, share the biggest amount of usage for the transportation of goods. Over 460 million short tons (420 million metric tons) and 3.25 million short tons of shipments respectively each year. The most common form of cargo transportation on the system is by tugboats pushing along large barges.

Commerce

The Mississippi River System is a huge provider for the U.S. Economy. Due to its enormity, wilderness is able to flourish around the system and is one of the biggest markets in the Mid-West. The Mississippi River System accounts for 92% of the nations agricultural exports and 78% of the world's feed grains and soy beans. It also houses some of the biggest ports in America like The Port of South Louisiana and The Port of New Orleans. These two ports account for over 500 million tons of shipped goods per year which is significantly larger than most ports in America. Some common things that are shipped include petroleum, iron, steel, grain, rubber, paper, wood, coffee, coal, chemicals, and edible oils.

Ecology

Natural History

About two billion years ago, environmental tension altered the environment around the Mississippi River System basin, creating the mountain systems in North America. Erosion put further stress on the areas within the rivers, shaping depressions in the ground. Many years after this, the land continued to be molded into the Mississippi River System due to the overflowing of water from nearby oceans, causing constant flooding. Around two million years ago, glaciers up to 6,500 feet thick continued to disturb the environment. The receding formation of glaciers 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, left large amounts of water in North America, which created the rivers.

The Mississippi River stemmed from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota where it was only a tiny outlet stream. It worked its way 2,350 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico. Today, the Mississippi River is connected to hundreds of tributaries making up the Mississippi River System.

Wildlife

The Mississippi River and its floodplain are home to a diverse number of species. There are at least 260 different species of fish throughout the Mississippi. Forty percent of the United State's migratory waterfowl use the Mississippi River corridor during the Spring and Fall migration. Sixty percent of all North American birds (326 species) use the river Basin as their migratory flyway. There are 38 documented species of mussel that can be found from Cairo, IL and upstream to Lake Itasca. There may be as many as 60 different species of mussel found on the lower part of the Mississippi. More than 50 mammal species have made the Upper Mississippi their home, along with at least 145 species of amphibians and reptiles in the Upper Mississippi environs.

Human Impacts

The biggest impact that humans have on the Mississippi River System comes in the form of pollution. Efforts made by the Government to regulate and prevent more pollution from entering the waterways has stopped some, but regardless, pollution is still finding its way into the water. Fertilizers and insecticides have been swept away into the water, tampering with the environments ecosystems.

The Mississippi has entered the twenty-first century as a system deeply altered by human actions. Accelerated runoff and accelerated sediment loads, which are associated with running water, have greatly impacted the system due to erosion affecting topsoil in agriculturally heavy areas.

Flooding

In 1993, the Mississippi River flood devastated seventeen thousand square miles of land, spanning across nine states. It was the worst flooding epidemic in the history of the United States. It's also referred to as a hundred year flood because the likelihood for it to occur is one in one hundred in any year. Over fifty people died due to the flooding, as well as profound home damage and economic losses totaling $10-12 billion. Twenty percent of the population that surrounded the flood area have since left due economic hardship or personal troubles. Today, the Mississippi river system is a deeply orchestrated natural trademark in the United States.

The Army Corps of Engineers currently oversees all the responsibilities of making sure the rivers are best maintained to avoid more flooding. They abide by their goals of to "straighten, channelize, regularize and shackle the Mississippi." In order to subside the potential of more flooding, the Corps created levees, divided by a mile each, to restrict the river and control the flooding. Due to the manner in which the levees were paved, the river is unable to erode the shore. There are several floodways throughout the system to prevent a large amount of water from amassing. Instead, the buildup of water goes through these floodways. While they help prevent flooding, they also inhibit agriculture from prospering in some of the surrounding areas.

Model Articles

• River systems of Thailand

• Missouri River

• Drainage system (geomorphology)

Notes

• Missouri River needs more information
• Arkansas River needs more information
• Add a distributories heading?

Annotated Bibliography

1. United States. National Park Service. "Mississippi River Facts." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 16 Mar. 2016. Web. 26 Oct. 2016 a. The genre is an informative website written by the National Park Service b. This source is credible because the creator of the website (NPS) is a national agency so it is credible in this topic. c. Specifically, we will use this source to talk about commerce because there is a commerce section on the website.
2. Consortium, Mississippi Riverweb Museum. "Riverweb - Illinois River Basics". www.riverwebmuseums.org. Retrieved 2016-10-25. a. This genre is a informative website written by the Mississippi Riverweb Museum. b. This is a credible source because it is written by a website/ organization that is dedicated to the Mississippi River System. c. Specifically, we will use this source to talk about the length of the Illinois River under the "why is this river important" tab.
3. Steif, Colin. "The Jefferson-Mississippi-Missouri River System". About.com Education. a. The genre is an informative website that is written by a Geologist named Colin Steif. b. This source is credible because the author has won awards in Geographic Information Systems about other water systems. c. Specifically, we will use this source to talk about the formation of the river system.
4. Gupta, Avijit (28 February 2008). "Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management". John Wiley & Sons. a. The genre is a book that is written by Avijit Gupta. b. This source is credible because it is written by a professor who teaches earth and environmental sciences and graduated from Johns Hopkins University. c. Specifically, we will use this source to talk about the human impacts on the Mississippi River System.
5. "Mississippi River Facts". NationalPark Service Centennial. a. The genre is an informative website written by the National Park Service. b. This source is credible because it is written by the NPS, a government agency that has a ton of reliable information on its website. c. Specifiically, we will use this to talk about the wildlife in the Mississippi River System.
6. Kammerer, J.C. "Largest Rivers in the United States." Ofr87-242--. USGS, 1 Sept. 2005. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. a. The genre is an informative article porduced by the United States Geological Survey and written by J.C. Kammerer. b. This source is credible because the U.S. Government produced it, and it is written by a published geologist who works for the USGS. c. Specifically, we will use the chart of river lengths to talk about the length of the Arkansas River.
7. "Mississippi River Facts - Mississippi National River & Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)" a. The genre is an informative website provided by the US Government and the information is provided by the National Park Service. b. This source is credible because it is written by the NPS, a government agency that has a ton of reliable information on its website. c. Specifically, we will use this site for its information on The Mississippi Watershed, Wildlife & Commerce.
8. "Spotlight on the Big Muddy" (PDF)" a. The genre is an informative .pdf file from the Missouri Stream Team. b. This source is credible because it comes from an organization looking to educate others. c. This source will be used to provide some information on the tributary tab on the Missouri River.
9. "River Facts/Conditions". www.orsanco.org." a. The genre is an informational website provided by the ORSANCO. b. This source is credible because their information is all factual and reflects no biases. c. We'll be using this source to provide more information on the tributary tab for the Ohio River.
10. Watkins, Thayer. "The Missouri-Ohio-Mississippi River System". www.sjsu.edu. San Jose State University. a. The genre is an article written by Thayer Watkins, who is a professor at San Jose State University. The source is credible because the author has won numerous awards in his field and is highly regarded among his peers. His education background also includes the likes of Yale University and MIT. c. We'll be using this source to provide more information on the Drainage and Modern use efforts towards avoiding flooding.

References

* * Category:Waterways in the United States

Help we want:

What should we add to each tributary? (what would you want to know): I think tributaries have a good amount of information on them. I wouldn't know what else to add.

Would you like to know more about modern use?: Expand more on the goods that are shipped. I think it would be interesting to know what kind of goods are transported.