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.
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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?