Upper Mississippi River

Infobox River | river_name = Upper Mississippi River


caption = The Upper Mississippi River near Harpers Ferry, Iowa
origin = Lake Itasca, Minnesota
coord|47.253|N|95.212|W|
mouth = Cairo, Illinois (flows into Lower Mississippi River)
coord|37.013144|N|89.180345|W|
basin_countries = US, Canada
length = 2000 km (1250 mi)
elevation = 450 m (1475 ft) [cite web | title=General Information about the Mississippi River | work=U.S. National Park Service | url=http://www.nps.gov/miss/features/factoids/ | accessdate=2006-04-01]
discharge = 5796 m³/s (204,800 ft³/s) [cite web | title=Background on Upper Mississippi River Basin | work=EPA: Mississippi River Basin & Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia | url=http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/subbasins/upper/index.htm | accessdate=2006-04-01]
watershed = 8540 km² (3296 mi²) [cite web | title=Habitat Changes in the Upper Mississippi River Floodplain | author=Wlosinski, Joseph, et al | work=National Biological Service: Our Living Resources | url=http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/m2136.htm | accessdate=2006-04-01]

:"See also: Mississippi River"

The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers (1250 mi) to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi River. [cite web
title=Old Man River: History along the Mississippi
work=Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
url=http://www.hooverassociation.org/americanroadriver.html
accessdate=2006-03-12] [cite web
title=Upper Mississippi River Region
work=Rock Island District Engineers
url=http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/PublicAffairsOffice/iowawrb04/uppermississippiriverregion.html
accessdate=2006-03-12]

History

In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the Upper Mississippi is a portion of the now-extinct Glacial River Warren which carved the valley of the Minnesota River, permitting the immense Glacial Lake Agassiz to join the world's oceans at the Gulf of Mexico. The collapse of ice dams holding back Glacial Lake Duluth and Glacial Lake Grantsburg carved out the Dalles of the Saint Croix River. "The Upper Mississippi River valley likely originated as an ice-marginal stream during what had been referred to as the “Nebraskan” glaciation. Current terminology would place this as Pre-Illinoian Stage." [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/gsi/gb70/quaternary.htm quaternary geology text ] ]

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. Considering the history of Glacial Lake Missoula, something like this is believed to have happened.

Characteristics

The Upper Mississippi from below St. Anthony Falls (Minneapolis, Minnesota) downstream to St. Paul, Minnesota is a gorge with high limestone bluffs carved by the waterfall. Upstream of the waterfall the land slopes gently to rivers edge. Downstream of downtown St. Paul the river enters its wide preglacial valley. The states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, along with the federal government, have preserved certain areas of the land along this reach of the river.

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 Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (AKA The Arch).

Unlike the Lower Mississippi, much of the upper river is a series of pools created by a system of 29 locks and dams. The structures were authorized by Congress in the 1930s, and most were completed by 1940. [cite web
title=About the Upper Mississippi River System
work=USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
url=http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/umesc_about/about_umrs.html
accessdate=2006-03-13] A primary reason for damming the river is to facilitate barge transportation. The dams regulate water levels for the Upper River, and play a major part in regulating levels on the Lower Mississippi.

Ecology

On the upper reaches near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, the river's floodplain is between 1.5 and 5 kilometers (between 1 and 3 mi) wide. South of St. Louis, Missouri, the alluvial floodplain is approximately 80 kilometers (50 mi) wide. Major tributaries to the Upper Mississippi River include the Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, St. Croix, Black, and Kaskaskia Rivers.cite web
title=Basin Facts
work=Upper Mississippi River Basin Association
url=http://www.umrba.org/basinfacts.htm
accessdate=2006-04-01]

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, bottom-land forest, islands, channels, backwater lakes and sloughs. [cite web
title=About the refuges
work=Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Refuges
url=http://www.friendsofuppermiss.org/pages/Refuges.html
accessdate=2006-04-01] 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. [cite web
title=Issues and Challenges- Water Quality
work=Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee | url=http://www.mississippi-river.com/umrcc/issues.html#WaterQuality
accessdate=2008-04-11] [cite web
title=2007 Water Quality Program Report- Protecting Water Quality through Interstate Cooperation
work=Upper Mississippi River Basin Association
url=http://www.www.umrba.org/wq.htm
accessdate=2008-04-11]

There is general agreement that nutrients are contributing to the Gulf Hypoxia and eutrophication problems in Lake Pepin, a large natural riverine lake that is part of Pool 4 of the Upper Mississippi River. National and regional efforts are addressing these problems but nutrient impairment problems are occurring elsewhere in the Upper Mississippi River as well, particularly in off channel portions. Excessive nutrients contribute to thick floating mats of filamentous algae or duckweeds which have a pronounced negative impact on light penetration and may threaten the growth and persistence of submersed aquatic vegetation that is important for fish and aquatic life including waterfowl. Efforts to control nutrients from point and non point sources in the basin will provide additional benefits. [cite web
title=Nutrient Impairment Identification in the Upper Mississippi River
work=Mississippi River Basin Nutrients Science Workshop, October 4-6, 2005
url=http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/taskforce/nutrient_workshop/index.htm#other
accessdate=2008-04-11]

Navigation

Navigation locks allow towboats, barges, and other vessels to transit the dams. Approximately 1350 kilometers (850 mi), from the head of navigation near Minneapolis-St. Paul down to Cairo, has been made suitable for commercial navigation with a depth of 2.75 meters (9 ft). The agriculture and barge transportation industries have lobbied in the late 20th and early 21st centuries for a multi-billion dollar project to replace the aging lock and dam system. Some environmental groups and advocates of budgetary restraint argue that the project lacks economic justification. [cite web
title=River debate continues
author=Marcia Zarley Taylor
work=AgWeb
url=http://www.agweb.com/get_article.asp?pageid=125697&src=gennews
date=08 March 2006
accessdate=2006-03-13]

Each lock & dam complex creates a pool upstream of it. There are 29 locks on the Upper Mississippi maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—from Upper St. Anthony Falls upstream to Chain of Rocks downstream. The locks provide a collective 123 meters (404 ft) of lift. [cite web
title=U.S. Waterway System Facts, December 2005
work=USACE Navigation Data Center
format=PDF
url=http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/ndc/factcard/fc05/factcard.pdf
accessdate=2006-04-27] Note that there is a Lock 5 as well as a Lock 5A. Note also that there is no Lock 23. [cite web
title=Operation & Maintenance of Navigation Installations (OMNI) Reports
work=Rock Island District Engineers
url=http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/mvrimi/omni/webrpts/omni_vl/river_lock.asp
accessdate=2006-04-27]

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	Pleasant Valley 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	Chain of Rocks Lock or Lock 27	185	298	16	26

References

ee also

*List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
*List of locks and dams of the Upper Mississippi River