Upper Mississippi River
Upper Mississippi River | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | US, Canada [1] |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Lake Itasca, Minnesota[1] |
• coordinates | 47°15′11″N 95°12′43″W / 47.253°N 95.212°W |
• elevation | 450 m (1,480 ft)[2] |
Mouth | |
• location | St. Louis, Missouri (flows into the Middle Mississippi) [1] |
Length | 1,300 miles (2092.147 km) [3] |
Basin size | 490,000 km2 (190,000 sq mi)[4] |
Discharge | |
• average | 5,796 m3/s (204,700 cu ft/s)[5] |
The Upper Mississippi River is today the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States,[1] at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River.[citation needed] Historically, it may refer to the area above the Arkansas Post, above the confluence of Ohio River, or above Cape Girardeau.
History
In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the Upper Mississippi east and south of
The Driftless Area is a portion of North America left unglaciated at that ice age's height, hence not smoothed out or covered over by previous geological processes.
Inasmuch as the Wisconsin glaciation formed lobes that met (and blocked) where the Mississippi now flows, and given that huge amounts of glacial meltwater were flowing into the Driftless Area, and that there is no lakebed, it is assumed that there were instances of ice dams bursting.[citation needed]
Characteristics
The Upper Mississippi from below
There are three National Park Service sites along the Upper Mississippi River. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is the National Park Service site dedicated to protecting and interpreting the Mississippi River itself. The other two National Park Service sites along the river are: Effigy Mounds National Monument and the Gateway Arch National Park (home to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis).
Unlike the Lower Mississippi, much of the upper river is a series of pools created by a system of 29
Ecology
On the upper reaches near the Minnesota-
The Upper Mississippi provides habitat for more than 125 fish species and 30 species of freshwater mussels. Three national wildlife refuges along the river cover a total of 465 square kilometers (285,000 ac). The largest of them, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, is over 420 kilometers (260 mi) long, reaching from the Alma, Wisconsin area down to Rock Island, Illinois. The refuge consists of blufflands, marshes, bottomland forest, islands, channels, backwater lakes and sloughs.[9][10] It is part of the Mississippi Flyway.
Although the river is much cleaner than it was in recent decades, water quality is still a priority concern. Agricultural runoff, including sediment, excessive nutrients, (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus), and chemicals from agricultural and industrial sources continue to threaten Upper Mississippi River aquatic resources. In addition new threats continue to emerge such as personal care items including pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The five states bordering the Upper Mississippi River are working together to address water quality issues.[11][12][13]
There is general agreement that nutrients are contributing to the
Navigation locks allow
Each lock and dam complex creates a pool upstream of it. There are 29 locks on the Upper Mississippi maintained by the
Expansion proposals for locks
The Army Corps of Engineers has studied expanding locks 20, 21, 22, 24, and 25 on the Upper Mississippi.[18]
List of pools and locks
Pool | Locality | Lock | Mile marker | (km) | Distance | (km) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USAF Pool | Minneapolis MN | Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock | 854 | 1375 | ||
LSAF Pool | Minneapolis MN | Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock | 853 | 1373 | 1 | 2 |
Pool 1 | Minneapolis MN | Lock 1 |
848 | 1365 | 5 | 8 |
Pool 2 | Hastings MN | Lock 2 | 815 | 1312 | 33 | 53 |
Pool 3 | Welch MN | Lock 3 | 797 | 1283 | 18 | 29 |
Pool 4 | Alma WI | Lock 4 | 753 | 1212 | 44 | 71 |
Pool 5 | Minnesota City MN | Lock 5 | 738 | 1188 | 15 | 24 |
Pool 5A | Fountain City WI | Lock 5A | 728 | 1172 | 10 | 16 |
Pool 6 | Trempealeau WI |
Lock 6 | 714 | 1150 | 14 | 23 |
Pool 7 | La Crescent MN | Lock 7 | 703 | 1132 | 11 | 18 |
Pool 8 | Genoa WI | Lock 8 | 679 | 1093 | 24 | 39 |
Pool 9 | Eastman WI | Lock 9 | 648 | 1043 | 31 | 50 |
Pool 10 | Guttenberg IA | Lock 10 | 615 | 990 | 33 | 53 |
Pool 11 | Dubuque IA | Lock 11 | 583 | 939 | 32 | 52 |
Pool 12 | Bellevue IA | Lock 12 | 557 | 897 | 26 | 42 |
Pool 13 | Clinton IA | Lock 13 | 522 | 840 | 35 | 56 |
Pool 14 | LeClaire IA | Lock 14 | 493 | 794 | 29 | 47 |
Pool 15 | Rock Island IL | Lock 15 | 483 | 778 | 10 | 16 |
Pool 16 | Illinois City IL | Lock 16 | 457 | 736 | 26 | 42 |
Pool 17 | New Boston IL | Lock 17 | 437 | 704 | 20 | 32 |
Pool 18 | Gladstone IL | Lock 18 | 410 | 660 | 27 | 43 |
Pool 19 | Keokuk IA | Lock 19 | 364 | 586 | 46 | 74 |
Pool 20 | Canton MO | Lock 20 | 343 | 552 | 21 | 34 |
Pool 21 | Quincy IL | Lock 21 | 325 | 523 | 18 | 29 |
Pool 22 | New London MO | Lock 22 | 301 | 485 | 24 | 39 |
Pool 24 | Clarksville MO | Lock 24 | 273 | 440 | 28 | 45 |
Pool 25 | Winfield MO | Lock 25 | 241 | 388 | 32 | 52 |
Mel Price Pool | East Alton IL | Melvin Price Lock |
201 | 324 | 40 | 64 |
Pool 27 | Granite City IL | Lock 27 | 185 | 298 | 16 | 26 |
See also
- List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
- List of locks and dams of the Upper Mississippi River
References
- ^ a b c d "Mississippi River | History, Physical Features, Culture, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ "General Information about the Mississippi River". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2006-04-01.
- ^ "UMESC - About the Upper Mississippi River System". www.umesc.usgs.gov. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- ^ "River and Basin Facts". Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
- ^ "Background on Upper Mississippi River Basin". EPA: Mississippi River Basin & Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia. Retrieved 2006-04-01.
- .
- .
- ^ "About the Upper Mississippi River System". USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center. Retrieved 2006-03-13.
- ^ a b c "Basin Facts". Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. Retrieved 2006-04-01.
- ^ "About the refuges". Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Refuges. Archived from the original on April 3, 2005. Retrieved 2006-04-01.
- ^ "Issues and Challenges- Water Quality". Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
- ^ "2007 Water Quality Program Report- Protecting Water Quality through Interstate Cooperation". Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
- ^ "Upper Mississippi River Nutrient Monitoring, Occurrence, and Local Impacts: A Clean Water Act Perspective" (PDF). Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
- ^ "Nutrient Impairment Identification in the Upper Mississippi River". Mississippi River Basin Nutrients Science Workshop, October 4–6, 2005. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
- ^ Marcia Zarley Taylor (8 March 2006). "River debate continues". AgWeb. Retrieved 2006-03-13.[dead link]
- ^ There is a Lock 5 as well as a Lock 5A, and there is no Lock 23. "Operation & Maintenance of Navigation Installations (OMNI) Reports". Rock Island District Engineers. Archived from the original on 2006-07-19. Retrieved 2006-04-27.
- ^ "U.S. Waterway System Facts, December 2005" (PDF). USACE Navigation Data Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2006-04-27.
- ^ Walker, Brad (February 2010). "Big Price—Little Benefit: Proposed Locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers are not Economically Viable" (PDF). Nicollet Island Coalition. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
External links
- Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive, a collection of images of the Mississippi Valley along the Iowa/Illinois border, from the 1860s through the 1950s. Images are from regional library special collections.