Mississippi River Delta 

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Mississippi Delta, Image Courtesy NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

 "Mississippi" is a Chippewa Indian word meaning great river or gathering of waters.  The Mississippi River is the longest  river in North America.  It flows  from Minnesota, through the midcontinental United States, the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain, and the Louisiana Delta. The landforms of coastal Louisiana have been profoundly affected by the Mississippi River. The entire coastline is the product of sediment deposition following the latest rise in sea level approximately 5,000 years ago. The web sites listed below provide more information on the geography of the Mississippi River and the Mississippi River Delta Basin.  

• Mississippi River Delta Basin - This site, maintained by the USGS National Wetlands Research Center, explores the fragile geography of the Louisiana coastline and the Mississippi Delta. 

• ASTER Image of the Mississippi  River Delta - This ASTER image, acquired on May 24, 2001, shows the currently active delta front of the Mississippi. 

• Atchafalaya and Mississippi River Deltas Study: A tale of two deltas - Information on the USGS project that studies pollutants transported by sediments in the Mississippi Delta. 

• U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report -  This report "Thickness of the Mississippi River Alluvium and Thickness of the Coarse Sand and Gravel in the Mississippi River Alluvium in Northwestern Mississippi" is part of the Water Resources in Mississippi study by the USGS.