Rivers of the Lower Mississippi Basin

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Abstract

Discussed in this chapter are seven significant tributaries of the Lower Mississippi River and its major distributary. As a group, these eight rivers and their basins encompass substantial variation in physical form, hydrology, biota, ecology, and human impacts. The Current River, Ouachita River, and Saline River, flow to the Mississippi out of the U.S. Interior Highlands. The Cache River basin, centered in Arkansas, contains a vast expanse of bottomland hardwood forest and is famous for wintering waterfowl. The Hatchie River, flowing west out of Tennessee, is the longest free-flowing tributary of the Lower Mississippi River and famous for its rich diversity of mussels and fishes. The Wolf River of Tennessee supports a magnificent bald cypress-tupelo swamp and is notable as a protected urban river that flows through Memphis. The Big Sunflower River begins and ends in the alluvial floodplain of the Mississippi River and flows through a basin of intense agriculture and historical human conflict. The Atchafalaya River, the primary distributary of the Mississippi River, supports the nation's largest expanse of bottomland hardwood forest and swamp wetlands. In this chapter, we review the physiography, geomorphology, hydrology, water chemistry, land use, biological diversity, ecological processes, human impacts, and areas of need for research and management of each of these eight rivers and their basins.

Study Area

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Rivers of the Lower Mississippi Basin
Chapter 6
DOI 10.1016/B978-0-12-818847-7.00002-1
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Atlanta
Description 46 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Monograph
Larger Work Title Rivers of North America (second edition)
First page 226
Last page 271
Country United States
Other Geospatial Lower Mississippi River basin
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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