River Study on the Mississipp'

Old Man River

A Study of the Geological Elements of the Mississippi River

The Mississippi River has been a major landmark for the Eastern United States since long, long before there was a United States. This massive body of water stretches 2,350 miles through the US ending in the Gulf of Mexico. The nature of this river changes drastically from the head located in Itasca, Minnesota where it is a small, rocky river to the joining with the Missouri and Ohio Rivers before continuing past St. Louis until it finally reaches its delta in Louisiana and deposits silt and sediment out into the Gulf of Mexico. For the purpose of this trip, the focus will be on the lower part of the river flowing after St. Louis, MO. It's discharge measures between 200,000 and 680,000 cubic feet per second. This is a meandering river which means that its velocity is low enough that its shape takes on curves and turns throughout its vast length. 

In practical terms, this river has been absolutely essential to the humans that have populated the area around it. Works of literature like that of Mark Twain have featured it prominently. One of the most famous literary mentions is the personification of the Mississippi as "Old Man River" in the song of the same name from the musical Showboat which uses the river itself as the primary setting. 

The song mentions the importance of farming and transportation along the river. The transportation has been aided by the huge span of the river (1.5 miles wide in many places) and the slow current which allows for large boats to travel on it while still maintaining control over the movement. However, the flood plain for this river is proportionally large and reaches up to 100 miles in some places. Flooding of the Mississippi River is not uncommon, though it has been greatly altered by humans in recent history with the addition of dams and levees. 

Experiencing the Mississippi river below St. Louis is to feel the mud, silt, and sediment that has been carried over several states through the Ohio River and the Missouri River on through the encompassing Mississippi River. The current is slow enough to allow for the infamous southern steamboats to tour the surrounding cities, but also strong enough to continue pulling up deep silt deposits throughout the body of the river and deposit them to rich farmland along the way. This is another quintessential body of water that has supported the livelihood of entire cultures of people with its great length and deposit capacity. 

Sources 

Hammerstein, O., & Kern, J. (2008, October 28). Paul Robeson - Ol' Man River (Showboat - 1936) J.Kern O. Hammerstein II. Retrieved November 10, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9WayN7R-sKlinkenberg, D. (2018, February 08). 

Geology of the Mississippi River. Retrieved November 9, 2018, from https://mississippivalleytraveler.com/mississippi-river-geology/

Lutgens, F. K., Tarbuck, E. J., & Tasa, D. (2016). Essentials of Geology (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Wallenfeldt, J., Severin, G. T., Kesel, R. H., Muller, R. A., & Schaetzl, R. J. (2017, April 19). Mississippi River. Retrieved November 9, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Mississippi-River