The Mississippi River is one of the most famous rivers of which the United States is rightfully proud. In the language of the Ojibwe Indians, misi-ziibi means "great river."
Despite such a trivial name, it fully reveals the characteristics of the river, because the Mississippi is the main artery of the largest river system in North America. It is the fourth longest and ninth most full-flowing river among all the rivers in the world.
History of the river
The Mississippi area was inhabited for 9000 years ago. For a long time, the river was used by the Indians for fishing, but after crossing it in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto, everything changed.
The first explorers of the Mississippi can be considered Luis Juliet and Jacques Marquette, who began to study the river in 1673. Europeans began to arrive to the shores of the Mississippi, and soon the river became the main transport route.
River on the map
The Mississippi is entirely located in the United States, but its basin extends to Canada. The river flows through 10 states and is part of the boundaries for 31.
Characteristics of the Mississippi River
- The total area of the basin is about 2,981,000 km 2.
- The length of the river is 3770 km, and if you take into account Missouri, then it is 6420 km
- Climate in the north - continental, in the south - subtropical
The river is divided into three parts: the upper, middle and lower Mississippi. The Upper Mississippi flows through many lakes and marshes, forming inter-lake waterfalls, the largest of which is St. Anthony. In the middle part, the Mississippi carries relatively little water, so the lower part is considered the most abundant. The mouth of the lower Mississippi reaches a width of 2,400 km near New Orleans, and this part of the river never freezes.
The Mississippi is the tenth deepest river in the world. Its depth reaches 60 meters, which allows the United States to carry out transportation of goods and shipping. This river was one of the first on which steamers began to sail. The first steamboat sailed the river all the way from Ohio to New Orleans in 1860. Since shipping goods by water is less expensive, the river is the most important transport artery in North America. The same reason made it possible to accelerate the industrial development of the Great Lakes region.
Due to the fact that the United States passes through almost all climatic zones, the river's feeding regime differs in different parts of it, but it is considered mixed, mainly snow-rain. The right tributaries have their sources in the mountains, therefore, when the snow melts, they bring melt water. The left tributaries, on the other hand, have a rain regime. Often during periods of heavy rainfall in Ohio, severe flooding occurs, caused by the release of water from the shores of the middle and lower Mississippi.
Flora and fauna
In general, the flora and fauna of the Mississippi does not differ from most freshwater rivers. However, the river is home to some animals that are not found anywhere else. The river is famous for its fish, which are direct descendants of dinosaurs and have lived here for thousands of years.
Mississippi River Nature Photos
Paddlefish is a freshwater fish found only in the Mississippi and some of its tributaries. When the water level in the river rises, paddlefish migrate to the lakes and then return. The maximum recorded weight of paddlefish is 91 kg, and the length is 221 cm. The fish feeds on detritus and plankton, straining them through the gill setae.
Paddlefish is of little commercial value in the United States, but its caviar and meat are highly prized. This species can reach 130 cm in length and weight up to 4 kg.
The shovelnose is found in most rivers in North America. The shovelnose feeds on small fish and aerial insects. Amia is one of the species of relict fish, the most ancient individuals are found in the form of fossils and are more than 89 million years old. Adults reach 90 cm in length, feed on everything that they can catch and digest.
fish paddlefish photos
Amia is of no commercial value, as its meat is tough and difficult to cook. Vulture turtles The Allegham Mississippi burrowing gullet is exposed to aggressive pollution, annually about 30 million cubic meters per cubic meter are dumped into the river? Wastewater. Therefore, the diversity of species living there is significantly reduced.
Source and estuary
The river is believed to originate from Lake Itasca. The Mississippi begins its movement at an altitude of about 530 m above sea level and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the formed delta is represented by swamps and lakes.
Climate
The USA passes through almost all climatic zones. Therefore, the surrounding climate directly affects the Mississippi, flowing through the territory of 30 states. First of all, this is reflected in the temperature of the river and the diet.
The Upper Mississippi has a snowy diet because this territory of America is covered with snow in winter, which brings melt water into the river during melting. The Lower Mississippi has a rainy diet: the states here are in a humid climate, which is why they receive a large amount of rainfall.
What rivers flow
The Mississippi has one of the longest river systems in the world with numerous tributaries. In total, 14 rivers flow into it, the largest of which are Ohio, Des Moines, Missouri, Arkansas and the Red River. The Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi, is the largest tributary in the world. And Ohio is the deepest. Missouri is formed by three rivers, one of which is Jefferson. The distance from its source to the mouth of the Mississippi is 6,300 kilometers.
sights
Some of the attractions of North America are located right off the coast of the Mississippi. The Effidgee Mounds is a complex of mounds, many of which are animal-shaped. The River Hills Wine Tropics stretch for 40 km. There are 6 wineries in the tropics.
New Orleans is an incredibly beautiful city that was rebuilt after almost complete destruction. The city is the birthplace of Jazz, and is also famous for its Saint-Louis Cathedral and Six Flags Park.
- The river is described in the book of Mark Twain "Life on the Mississippi, where the author called the river" the world's first deceiver "because of its meandering flow.
- St. Anthony's Falls, which forms the Mississippi, is featured on the coat of arms of Minnesota.
Mississippi to Missouri
The Mississippi is called the great river, and it deserves this name: waters from almost a third of the United States flow into it. Translated from the Indian name Mississippi means "father of waters."
The source of the Mississippi is in the northern United States, in the lowlands of Minnesota. The river flows along the plain, and in its lower course - along the Mississippi Lowland from north to south and flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
The mouth of the river is a huge delta, consisting of six branches. The length of the river is 3950 km, together with the Missouri tributary - 6420 km. The basin area is equal to 3268 thousand km2. The river is fed by a mixed type. The annual runoff is 600 km3.
When looking at a map of the Mississippi, along with all its tributaries, it resembles a huge spreading tree. The largest right tributaries of the Mississippi are the Red River, Missouri, Arkansas. Among the left tributaries, Ohio can be distinguished. The Missouri and Mississippi merge at the city of St. Louis, but the more polluted tributary of the great river does not mix with the clear bluish waters of the Mississippi for a while. For almost 40 km below St. Louis, you can see the muddy yellow flow of the Missouri River with branches floating in it. Then the river waters mix and become equally turbid, and even downstream, in the area of the city of Keiro, the clear waters of the Ohio River flow into the Mississippi, which also do not immediately mix with the Mississippi.
Mississippi Basin
In the past, it was in the Keiro region that the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, which extended much further north than it does today. But the waters of the Mississippi have carried debris and rock particles with them for centuries. Gradually, the northern part of the bay was covered with river drifts. Thus, the river itself has formed the territory on which it is moving now. It loops strongly, and it happens that in a short time the bends increase sharply or, conversely, straighten out. In this regard, the length of the river is constantly changing, and different sources may indicate different numbers. The data in this book was taken from the Small Atlas of the World, published in 1987.
Before the development of North America by Europeans, dense forests grew along the shores of the upper Mississippi, and prairies stretched in the lower reaches. But today most of the forests have been cleared and the prairies are plowed up. The more changes were made to nature, the less water remained in the river and the more often unexpected floods occurred.
In the past, the Mississippi has been particularly flooded during floods, flooding coastal cities and numerous islands.
Today, floods are rare, because high earthen dams are built along the banks, and the width of the river flow has narrowed to 1–3 km. And yet, occasionally, the water in the river rises above the dams and floods the surroundings, causing great damage to the population of coastal cities.
In the lower reaches of the river, warm southerly winds from the Gulf of Mexico often blow. Meeting with the cold northern air moving from the Arctic Ocean, they turn out to be the cause of heavy downpours and, as a result, floods. For example, from 1940 to 1950, there were 100 floods in the Mississippi Basin. Five floods were catastrophic and caused enormous damage. In this regard, in addition to dams in the upper reaches of the river (up to the place where the Missouri flows into it), locks were built, thanks to which it is possible to regulate the water level in the river.
The Mississippi is an important transport artery of the country. It is connected by canals to the Great Lakes. Thanks to locks, even large ships can climb to the headwaters, pass into the Great Lakes system and descend along the Hudson to New York. Thus, the river is the main waterway connecting the northern and southern states.
Historically, the Mississippi is considered the main river and the Missouri is its tributary. However, its length is quite large and amounts to 4740 km. Missouri increases the length of the Mississippi by as much as 2,470 km.
Missouri, like the Mississippi, flows through the United States; it is the largest stream in the Great Plains. Because of the color of the water in the river, the Americans called it Big Muddy, which means "big muddy" in English.
Missouri is formed by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gadlatin branches, which originate on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains and connect in Montana at an altitude of 4182 m above sea level near Gallatin City. The source of Madison is located at an altitude of 8301 m above sea level.
From Gallatin City, Missouri carries its waters north through the highlands. The width of its valley ranges from 30 to 40 km; high mountain ranges rise along the edges. In the area of the city of Helena, the river flows through a deep and narrow gorge about 9 km long. This canyon is called the "Gateway of the Rocky Mountains". About 650 km from the junction of the three arms, the Missouri waters plunge from a height of 357 meters, forming a beautiful waterfall.
At the confluence with the Cheyenne River, Missouri turns southeast and flows to the Nebraska border, absorbs the waters of several more tributaries, and finally joins the Mississippi. Throughout this distance, the river erodes the banks and carries with it a mass of silt, which gets into the Mississippi, making it even dirtier.
The total area of the Missouri basin is 1370 thousand km2, the average water flow reaches 2600 m3 / sec. The main left tributary of the river is the Milk, with Yellowstone, Platt and Kansas flowing into it on the right. Other tributaries include the Dakota, or James, Hyobra, Little Missouri, Osage and Grand.
The Missouri is a low-water river. On the territory of the Great Plains, its runoff does not exceed 19-25 km3. At the same time, there is a large amount of suspended particles in the water. Despite this, it is in this region that the need for water is quite high: it is used both for industrial purposes and for irrigating land.
Floods often occur on the river in the spring. Sometimes the waters rise by 10 or even 12 m and flood the surroundings. In the upper reaches of the river, reservoirs and a sluice system have been built to help control the water level. Two hydroelectric power plants have also been built on the river. The Missouri is navigable all the way from Sioux City to the confluence with the Mississippi.
From the book Encyclopedic Dictionary (M) author Brockhaus F.A. From the book of 100 great geographical discoveries the author Balandin Rudolf Konstantinovich From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (LU) of the author TSBBASIN OF THE GREAT RIVERS (Mississippi - Missouri) In 1541, the Spanish detachment of Hernando de Soto reached the middle course of the Mississippi. At one time in Peru, Hernando de Soto was Francisco Pizarro's deputy. He returned to Spain rich, but this was not enough for him, and he went to
From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MI) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (RE) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (SP) of the author TSB From the book Secrets of Ancient Civilizations author Thorpe Nick From the book Natural Disasters. Volume 2 by Davis Lee From the author's book From the author's book From the author's book From the author's book From the author's bookUSA Mississippi, Natchez, May 7, 1840 370 people were killed, 109 were injured on May 7, 1840 when a tornado hit Natchez (Mississippi). * * * The appearance of the tornado was preceded by a downpour with huge hailstones, precipitation fell 225 mm. The tornado passed north along the Mississippi River and
From the author's bookUSA Missouri, Marshfield, April 18, 1880 Collision and subsequent merger of two tornadoes killed 101 people and injured 600 people in Marshfield, Missouri. This happened on April 18, 1880. * * * In Marshfield, Missouri, on April 18, 1880, two tornadoes collided. As a result of the meeting and
From the author's bookUSA Missouri, St. Louis, May 27, 1896 A tornado that turned a wind at a speed of 900 kilometers per hour killed 306 residents of St. Louis (Missouri) and caused damage. This happened on May 27, 1896. * * * According to the estimates of the weather specialist Frank H. Biglow, the wind
From the author's bookUS pcs. Louisiana and Mississippi, September 10-20, 1909 350 people died in the hurricane that struck the Mississippi and Louisiana in September 1909 * * * A giant hurricane that originated beyond the Leeward Islands crossed the Caribbean Sea and touched Cuba. After 10 days he broke into the coast
The Mississippi is no less important to the American than the Volga is to the Russian. It is not just the largest country, it is inscribed in history, in the very spirit of the United States, being part of the common American culture. Yes, and a Russian-speaking person is familiar with this name, if only because the river was glorified more than once in his adventure works by Mark Twain. We are now learning some interesting data about the great North American waterway, in particular, where the Mississippi River begins and where it ends.
A little description
To get an idea of the scale of the Mississippi, here are a couple of examples. Needless to say, this is the largest river in North America: both in length and in terms of basin area and flow rate. True, the figures quoted usually refer to a system consisting of two rivers: the Mississippi and its largest tributary, the Missouri. However, in hydrology - the science of water bodies, this technique is used regularly. In particular, there is a similar "couple" in Russia: the Ob and the Irtysh.
- The length of the Mississippi together with the Missouri is 6 420 km, which makes this river system the third on the planet. But if you take only the Mississippi, the result will be much more modest: only 3,770 km, and the thirteenth place in the world.
- The area of the basin from which the Mississippi-Missouri system collects water is 2,980,000 km². Incidentally, this is less than the Ob basin with the Irtysh. The Mississippi Basin is located in 32 states of America!
- In terms of water content (water consumption), the Mississippi is inferior to two Russian rivers at once - the Yenisei and the Lena, yet it is one of the ten most full-flowing rivers in the world (9th place).
- It used to be thought that the Mississippi-Missouri basin would fit entirely within the United States. According to the latest data, about 1.5% are from Canada.
As is often the case with mighty rivers, it can be difficult to determine their starting point, the place from where they "start". After all, each gigantic river at the very beginning looks like an inconspicuous stream, and there may be several such streams. Try to find out which one is more important?
In the case of the Mississippi (by the way, it was named so by the Ojibwe Indians who once lived in this part of America, and this word means "big river"), it is considered to be the beginning of the small glacial lake Itasca. It is located in northwestern Minnesota. It is interesting that the name of the lake was given by the European William Morrison, and it consists of parts of two Latin words. The resulting word, consonant with the vocabulary of the Indians, can be understood as "true head". By this name, Morrison unequivocally hinted that it was Lake Idaska that gave rise to the Mississippi. Although some scientists still point out that the interpretation of the source is incorrect, and such a small stream Nicolette Creek, which flows into Aydaska, should be considered as such.
Be that as it may, but a drop of water from Aydaska, falling into the bed of the Mississippi, makes a trip lasting three months before arriving at the mouth of the great river. And where is it, this mouth?
We've learned where America's main waterway begins, but where does the Mississippi River flow? But here everything is unambiguous and understandable: the channel of this river ends in the Gulf of Mexico, between the USA, Cuba and Mexico.
This huge bay is so tightly separated from the Atlantic Ocean that it is often called the American Mediterranean Sea. An interesting fact is that huge masses of fresh water from the Mississippi, getting into the warm waters of the bay, do not mix with salty ocean water for a long time, forming peculiar currents. They are clearly distinguishable in space images when shooting is carried out with special filters. Fresh water plumes in these images are sometimes visible for several hundred kilometers!
It has been established that the waters of the Mississippi are capable of bending around the Florida Peninsula. And already in the open ocean they mix with the Gulf Stream, turning north with it. The waters of the river seem to strive to return back to where they came from.
We have already mentioned the Missouri - the largest tributary of the Mississippi. And here again it is useful to remember Russia. The Missouri, together with our Irtysh, are two of the largest tributaries on the planet! Apart from the Missouri, the most powerful tributaries of the Mississippi are the Arkansas and Ohio rivers.
Mark Twain wrote a famous work - "Life on the Mississippi". From it we can conclude that in the century before last, this river was the main transport artery of the young country, along which river steamers constantly scurried.
Now a huge amount of cargo is still transported along the river, but its source, the uppermost part, is protected by law, a nature reserve is organized there. Nature lovers, just curious, come here to see the small lake Itasca with beautiful, wooded shores. This is a special place for every American - the place where the Mississippi River, the American nation, begins.
One of the great rivers of the world.
The length is 3766 km (from the source of Mis-su-ri - 5971 km, the third-longest river in the world), the area of the bass is 3300 thousand km2. Takes na-cha-lo from the not-big-sho-go lake Ai-tas-ka (for-po-ved-nick Ay-tas-ka) at an altitude of 450 m, pe-re-se-ka-et from the north to the south of the territory of the country, it flows into the Mek-si-kan-sky gulf of the At-lan-ti-che-ocean. Bass-sein re-ki tse-li-com ras-in-lo-wives in the pre-de-lah of the Central and Ve-li-kih rav-nin, with za-pa-da og-ra-ni -chen Ska-li-st-mi go-ra-mi, from vos-to-ka - Ap-pa-la-cha-mi, from se-ve-ra - the edge of the Laurentian cart -you-shen-no-sti. The main pri-ki: Min-not-so-ta, Ai-o-va, Des Moines, Mies-su-ri, White-Ree-ver, Ar-kan-zas, Red-Re-ver (pra -vye), Black-Ree-ver, Vis-con-sin, Rock, Il-li-noise, Kas-ka-sky, Ohio, Hat-chi, Yazu, Big-Black-Ree-ver (le-vie) ...
According to the morphological structure of the valley and the hydro-logical regime of the Mississippi raz-de-la-et-Xia to the Upper-nyu Mis-si-si-pi and Bottom-nude Miss-si-si-pi. Upper Mis-si-si-pi (from the source to the confluence of the Ohio River) pro-te-ka-et over-lo-chen-noy, over-covered -numerical lakes-ra-mi les-si-sta-st-no-sti; in rus-le, there are many po-ro-govs and ka-me-ny-styh pe-re-ka-tov, the most significant of them are at go-ro-dov Min-nea-pol-fox and Saint Paul (vo-do-pa-dy Saint-An-to-no). None of the same in-to-p-dov are-even in a league with cool-you-from-west-nya-to-you-slo-na-mi. Top-nyaya Mis-si-si-pi for-re-gu-li-ro-va-na many-numbered plots-ti-na-mi, from Min-nea-po-lis and Saint-Po -la before the confluence of Mis-su-ri so-oru-same-but 29 dams and sluices. Not the same in-de-nia Mis-su-ri mud-naya, dirty-bu-ro-go color-that water-yes, this is a pride-ka on the pro-tya-nii 150- 180 km that-even in Mississippi in one rus-le next-to-house with a relatively transparent one. Lower Miss-si-si-pi (from the mouth of Ohio to the sea) te-even along the wide-wide equal-no-no, layered al-lu-vi-al-ny-mi from-lo-zh-nia-mi, shi-ri-na do-li-ny po-ste-pen-no uve-li-chi-va-th-Xia downstream from 25 to 70- 100 km; rus-lo of the river from-v-l-stoe, with many-numerous ru-ka-va-mi and old-ri-ts-mi. Lower-nyaya Mis-si-si-pi not za-re-gu-li-ro-va-na. Almost throughout the study-st-ke rus-lo is bordered-le-but-natural be-re-go-you-mi wa-la-mi, uk-re-p-len-ny-mi in the center lyakh protection-you from water-not-ny system-te-my artificial dams.
When it flows into the Mek-si-kan-skiy Gulf of Mississippi, it forms a vast delta (area 23.9 thousand km2). Ver-shi-na del-you are on-going above the city of Ba-ton-Rouge, in the place from-de-le-nia from the river to the right-to-mouth about Old-Rea-ver, co-united-nyayu-shch-go-Xia with the Red-Rea-ver. Ru-word network del-you consists of two main ru-ka-vov - le-vo-go, main-no-go Mis-si-si-pi (pro-long-ze-nie re -ki in the pre-de-lakh del-you, about 515 km long) and right-to-go (about 220 km), from the Old Reaver and ru-ka-va At-cha-fa-laya. The left ru-kav falls into the open-deep part of the Mek-si-kan-bay, split into a number of large ru-ka wwii and not-big-shih-do-to-kov in the pre-de-lakh of the modern del-ty Ba-liz (type of "bird-whose paw"). The main seaside rulers (from west to east) are South-West, South, Lutr. Shi-ri-na vo-do-to-cov in del-te Ba-liz from-me-nya-sia from a few meters to 1 km, depth-bi-na from 1 to 30 m - over the system-te-mu lakes (Grand Lake, Six-mile, etc.). Po-mi-mo we-do not dey-st-how-shyh del-to-vy-ka-vov on the top-no-sti del-to-howy equal os-tat-ki of the ancient ru-sat, the so-called bayu (not-big-things-to-ki with a very slow te-ni, often after-growing shie ras-ti-tel-stu). There are many lakes in the del-te (Mo-re-pa, Pon-char-train, Sal-va-dor, etc.). An important part of the hydro-graphic network of del-ty is water-but-b-lot-nye yugo-dya.
Pi-ta-nie mixed-shan-noe, sleep-go-how and do-w-de-voe. The right-handed pri-to-ki bring predominantly tha-ly water (re-zul-tat of melting of snow in the Rock-leaf mountains), le-vy - pi -that Mississippi basically do-w-de-you-mi-da-mi. For the re-zhi-ma of the river ha-rak-ter-ny ve-sen-not-years-no-lo-in-dye and low autumn-not-winter-ny-zhen. Hours-you are stormy to-w-de-vie p-vod-ki, the best of them are formed with co-pa-de-ny melting in a dream -govs in the bass-sei-nah of the Upper Mis-si-si-pi and Mies-su-ri and you-pas-de-nia of abundant do-w-dey in the bass-sei of Ohio. In the bass-this-not Mississippi, it is not-rare-ki strong-n-water-ni-nia, the most destructive - in 1927 (was-la-to-p-le -on territory-ri-to-riya with an area of about 600 thousand km2). In 1993, they left the coast of the Mississippi - Mississippi - Mies-su-ri, Il-li-noise, Des Moines and Vis-con-sin (for-to-p-le-no 60 thousand km2 land-stranded). The average long-term water discharge at the Vicks-berg hydro-logical station (about 750 km from the bay) with a composition of 15980 m3 / s (go-to-howl volume of the stove is 504 km3). In the se-zonal ko-le-ba-ni-yah water-but-go-ka ho-ro-sho you-de-la-yut-Xia a lot-water-ny (ve-sen-no -year-old-lo-in-dye in Feb-ra-le-yu-no) and low-water-ny (me-zhen in yu-le-yan-va-re) per-rio-dy , on which there are 59.5 and 40.5% of the go-to-first stand with-from-vet-st-ven-but. The most abundant water months are April (14.3% of the runoff), May (12.6%) and March (12.4% ), the most low-water ones are September-October and October-October (4.1% each). Maximum average monthly water flows (52-54 thousand m3 / s) on-blue-yes-are-sya in February, apr-le and May , min-ni-mal-nye (about 2900 m3 / s) - in ok-tyab-re. In the pre-de-lah of the Mississippi delta, additional flow of the Red Reaver is received and flows into the Mek-si-Kan Bay on average 582 km3 / year.
A number of large dams and water no-lisch, which has led to a two-fold decrease in the stock of weighed n-but-ows at the mouth (since these -there is a higher turbidity of water). At the end of the 19th century, it amounted to about 500 million tons / year, in the 1st half of the 20th century - approx. 400 million tons / year, at the end of the XX century - 210 million tons / year.
Medium ve-li-chi-na pr-li-vov on the Mississippi seaside composition-la-et 0.43 m. , if-if-you-along the ru-ka-va Mis-si-si-pi, I have very not-big slopes of water-top-ness, ras-pro -str-nya-yut-Xia at a distance of up to 400 km from the bay. The solitary waters in the tidal phase in the middle of the river can flow through the bottom at a distance of up to 240 km. In the be-re-zhye del-you, sometimes, there are tropical hurray-ha-ns, co-pro-in-f-g-giving-sy-cur-mo-vy wind, strong ox-no-no, on-gon-ny in-higher-level of water. Among the most powerful were Hurray-ga-ny Bet-si (1965), Ka-mil-la (1969), Fre-de-Rick (1979), Cat-ri -on (2005). At the time of hurra-ga-na Kat-ri-na in ni-call-yah ru-ka-va Mis-si-si-pi ve-li-chi-na na-go-na pre-vy-si- la vy-so-tu-shielding dams (about 7 m), in many places they were ditched, most of the city New Or-le-an oka-za- I got used to it; in the headquarters of Louis-zia-na, about 1600 people died. According to many estimates, this hurray-gan is the sa-maya large natural ka-ta-st-ro-fa in the history of the United States.
Mississippi is an important transport art of the country. River-noe su-do-go-st-in ossu-shch-in-la-e-sya from the mouth to Min-nea-po-lis and Saint-Po-la, oke-an-skie su - yes under-no-ma-yut-Xia through the angular bast South-Western ru-kav and further along the ru-ka Mis-si-si-pi to the city of Ba-ton- Rouge. Po-pe-ryok del-you pro-go-dit Be-re-go-howl ka-nal, co-uni-nyayu port-you in-re-zhya open-to-that part of At -lan-ti-che-sko-ocean and Mek-si-kan-sko-gulf. Mississippi co-ed-ne-na with the basin of the Ve-li-kikh lakes and the St. Lawrence River Il-li-noi-sky water-ny-dark. In the waters of the bas-sei-na of the river obi-ta-et there are 241 species of fish. Ob-va-lo-va-nie and straighten-lee-ni-channel-la Lower Miss-si-si-pi, as well as you-chop woods and drainage of floodplains for races -the widening of agricultural lands brought to the destruction of 80% of the flood meadows. Runoffs from agricultural lands caused contamination of the waters of the river pes-ti-tsi-da-mi and tok-sich-ny-matter-st-va -mi, de-fi-tsit ki-slo-ro-da and ev-tro-fi-ro-va-va-ry-da vo-to-to-kov and vo-to-emov. On the Mississippi (down the line) there are large-scale cities and ports Min-nea-po-lis, St. Paul, Da-ven-port, Saint-Lou-iss, Mem-fiss, Ba-ton-Rouge, New Or-le-en.
The first European ex-pedition under the command of E. de Soto dos-tig-la Mississippi in the area of the modern city of Mem-fis in 1541 and went down to the mouth; is-pan-tsy na-zy-va-whether her River of the Holy Du-ha.
Mississippi Length: 5,985 kilometers.
Mississippi Basin Area: 3,220,000 square kilometers.
Where the Mississippi flows: the largest and most important in the North American, the 4th river in the world in length: if we take the Missouri River as its beginning, its current length is 6530 km; the area, by its and its tributaries, is equal to 3,100,000 square kilometers. The Mississippi originates in northern Minnesota from Lake Itasca, which lies 1,575 meters above sea level, at 47 ° and 95 ° W longitudes. Its source was precisely found by the American Skulkraust in 1832. From Lake Itasca, the Mississippi first flows north into Lake Traverse, where it receives several other rivers, and soon turns eastward and, flowing through Lake Cass and many other lakes, makes twists and turns into all kinds of directions to Cross Wing, from where it heads south. On the way to Minneapolis, the Mississippi forms the majestic St. Anthony, from where shipping starts; here the river descends 66` less than 1.5 km long, including its steep fall from a height of 17`.
Moving further south, a few kilometers from the city of Saint Paul, the Mississippi forms the border of Wisconsin and expands into the huge and picturesque Pepin Lake, bounded by vertical limestone cliffs about 400 'in height. Going further south, the river flows at the borders of the states of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana on the right, on the left - the states of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. Following a winding path below New Orleans, the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico by its 5 arms, at 29 ° N and 89 ° 12`W. Its most important tributaries: Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas and the Red River; besides them, she takes on the right: Minnesota, Iowa and De Moine, and on the left - Wisconsin and Illinois. The Missouri is longer than the Mississippi to its confluence, where the river is called the Upper Mississippi. The average amount of water poured out by the Mississippi per second is 675,000 cubic meters. feet. The width of the Mississippi y St. Louis is 1,070 meters, at 1,200 meters, at New Orleans 760 meters, between Cairo and the mouth of the Red River - an average of 1,300 meters, below the Red River - an average of 1,020 meters. the greatest depth between the Red River and New Orleans is 4.5 meters. The average speed of the river between St. Louis and the Gulf of Mexico is 110 km per day. The Mississippi River valley is vast and fertile, only occasionally undulating; and the works of the southern part of it are very different from the northern. In the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, along its banks there are alluvial plains and, lying below the water level and suffering from, although in part they are protected by artificial embankments and dams.
At the mouth The Mississippi forms a delta 320 km long and 300 km wide, with an area of 31,860 square kilometers; 1/3 of this delta is occupied by swamps and lakes; sandy shoals greatly impede navigation at the estuary, as a result of which the main branch of the South Pass is deepened to almost 7 m with the help of dams; the delta is crossed by many streams called "bayous" that get their water from the Mississippi when it floods. The amount of silt carried by the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, according to Abbott and Homphrey's estimates, will be an average of 1.5 square kilometers per year.
Tributaries of the Mississippi: The largest right-hand tributaries are Minnesota, Des Moines, Missouri, Arkansas, Red River; left - Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio.
Freezing Mississippi: does not freeze.
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