On Sunday, the NYTimes included one of the famous "meandering Mississippi" maps in a story on the historic floods the middle of the country (aka the Mississippi's alluvial valley) is facing. The map shows the history of a portion of the Mississippi River's shifting course, and is part of an amazing and beautiful set from Harold Fisk's 1944 Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River report for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The report and the maps are available for free from the Corps site but do note the HUGE file size before you click. The map above is linked to a version at the original dimensions (but only around 8MB so it's safe to click) to give you a sense of how impressive these maps are. If you'd like to download the originals, you want the "plates" links on the Corps site, not the report itself. But if you just want to see a sample, the blog Pruned has uploaded several of them including this crazy version of them all stitched together. (The first person to send in a photo of this tattooed from shoulder to ankle gets a free TRMS hat.)
After the jump, NASA takes us back in time...
From NASA:
This map of an area just north of the Atchafalaya River shows a slice of the complex history of the Mississippi. The modern river course is superimposed on channels from 1880 (green), 1820 (red), and 1765 (blue). Even earlier, prehistoric channels underlie the more recent patterns. An oxbow lake—a crescent of water left behind when a meander (bend in the river) closes itself off—remains from 1785. A satellite image from 1999 shows the current course of the river and the old oxbow lake. Despite modern human-made changes to the landscape, traces of the past remain, with roads and fields following the contours of past channels.
What I hadn't realized before seeing this comparison is how literally the landscape still reflects the history depicted in the maps.
More from Strange Maps.
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Of course, what makes the Mississippi Valley so fertile is the centuries of flooding that have left layer on layer of rich soil. Now, with man-made controls, this flooding - aka replenishment - no longer occurs. Not that I'm advocating the inundation of homes, downtowns and other buildings.
p.s. That is one really incredible map.
They're beautiful! Stunning...just awesome...I am running out of words (just contemplate that for a second). What a remarkable slice of history and a reminder of the power of Nature - we are so small in comparison.
What do you expect living next to the largest river in North America? Of course man can't tame the Mississippi!
Will, you are my kind of nerd. I had no idea these maps existed, or even that there was so much shifting in the path of the river I grew up near (albeit up in St. Louis). Thanks for sharing this!
Yeah, Like the 500 lb gorrilla joke.
Where does the largest river in North America go?
Any where it wants.
Rivers are great that way, I saw the Willamette River alter it's course in Harrisburg, Oregon in the 1994 floods. That was a sight to see the overall change.
Guess what. It's not a good idea to build your house, town, farm, city etc next to a river. Everybody knows that. Unfortunately when it's not crazy, it's beautiful and like the ocean everybody wants to be near it.
Rachel, these maps and photos do not do justice to the scale of the plain. Just driving along I-20 between Monroe, LA and Vicksburg, MS you get a scale of the width at one point alone the river. If you look at how this translates both up river and down river you start to take in the scale of this river plain. Another place you can look at is West of Baton Rouge, LA on I-10. Most of the distance to Lafayette, LA is a long bridge over the swamp. This river decides for itself where it want to go.
Another place you can look at is West of Baton Rouge, LA on I-10. Most of the distance to Lafayette, LA is a long bridge over the swamp. This river decides for itself where it want to go. ------------- I drove on that bridge a few months ago, long doesn't quite do it justice
Yay, maybe this map will help create a few new geology geeks! C'mon in folks, the geosynclines are just fine!
Will, looking at the landscapes is how we geologists MAKE the maps!
These images are absolutely gorgeous, thank you so much for sharing. I just might get that tattoo... :-)