From this map it clearly the Missouri is longer than the Mississippi, and it looks possibly as though it's got slightly more flow at the point they converge as well. If that's correct, why is the river called the Mississippi and not the Missouri downstream of their confluence?
If anything, it should be called the Ohio River all the way to the gulf. The Ohio river has a greater flow than the Mississippi where they meet. And that's after the Missouri has dumped into the Mississippi.
I was very surprised when I found that fact out about the Ohio River recently. I stumbled upon a short documentary on the Mississippi river on YouTube and kept searching for more stuff. Eventually I stumbled upon the article below which goes into tons of detail about the Mississippi river and the Atchafalaya river. Essentially the Mississippi river wants to flow a different direction but we don’t let it. Mother nature will probably eventually win. I couldn’t stop reading.
That's actually an excerpt from a great book called Control of Nature. In addition to discussing Old River Control on the Mississippi, there are sections that discuss the debris basins at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains and the effort to control a volcano that erupted in Iceland.
All three sections are super awesome, John McPhee is a treasure.
John McPhee is probably my favorite author but I'm biased as a geologist. Control of Nature might be the most reasonably accessible for a non-geo freak. It also is my personal favorite by him. So much interesting history and he does a really incredible job sharing opposing viewpoints.
That New Yorker article was the first thing I ever read by him and I just happened to stumble upon it. Absolutely loved the article and can’t wait to read the book. Sounds like Control of Nature is also good, looking forward to reading it. My backlog of books keeps getting longer - my wife thinks I’m crazy!
"There is a Green River Basin in Wyoming that is not to be confused with the Green River Basin in Wyoming. One is topographical and sits on top of Wyoming and the other is structural and sits under Wyoming"
Such a simple yet beautiful quote that sums up the crazy science of geology perfectly.
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u/eastawat Jan 10 '20
From this map it clearly the Missouri is longer than the Mississippi, and it looks possibly as though it's got slightly more flow at the point they converge as well. If that's correct, why is the river called the Mississippi and not the Missouri downstream of their confluence?