what is considered the delta in mississippi

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What is so special about the Mississippi Delta?

The Mississippi River Delta provides an array of natural habitats and resources that benefit not only the state of Louisiana and coastal region, but also the entire nation. The coastal wetlands have a number of diverse landscapes that connect a variety of habitats to both the land and water.

What continent is the Mississippi Delta located on?

Mississippi River, the longest river of North America, draining with its major tributaries an area of approximately 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square km), or about one-eighth of the entire continent. The Mississippi River lies entirely within the United States. Rising in Lake Itasca in Minnesota, it flows almost due south across the continental interior, collecting the waters of its ...

What is the absolute location of the Mississippi Delta?

This broad, alluvial valley reaches from southern Illinois to the southeastern tip of Louisiana, covers more than 90,000 miles of rivers and streams, more than 3 million acres of land, and dictates much of the region’s landscape and land use.

What does Mississippi Delta provide?

The wetlands that make up most of the Mississippi River Delta are an extremely valuable resource that provides critical services to people, called ecosystem services. These include providing seafood and wildlife for us to enjoy; improving water quality by filtering out pollutants and absorbing excess nutrients; replenishing aquifers; controlling erosion; and helping to dissipate storm surges.

What cities are considered the Delta in Mississippi?

The diversity of the lower Mississippi Delta region's heritage is reflected in the names of cities and towns up and down the river — Ste. Genevieve, Kaskaskia, Altenburg, Wittenburg, Cape Girardeau, Cairo, Hickman, Helena, Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Venice.

What counties are in the Delta in Mississippi?

Mississippi Delta Counties The Delta region includes Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, Desoto, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Warren, Washington and Yazoo counties.

What type of delta does the Mississippi have?

The Mississippi River Delta is a river-dominated delta system, influenced by the largest river system in North America. The shape of the current birdfoot delta reflects the dominance the river exerts over the other hydrologic and geologic processes at play in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Why is part of Mississippi called the Delta?

The shifting river delta at the mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf Coast lies some 300 miles south of this area, and is referred to as the Mississippi River Delta. Rather, the Mississippi Delta is part of an alluvial plain, created by regular flooding of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers over thousands of years.

What percent of the Mississippi delta is black?

But as the mansion's flaking paint makes clear, the transformation was about a transfer of local power, not wealth. Families like the Joneses have long since left Tchula, taking their business and money with them. The remaining community is 97 percent black and achingly poor.

Is Tunica MS in the Delta?

Tunica, a Mississippi Delta town of just over 900 in population, offers championship golf, resorts, casinos, nightlife, and delta and blues history. The best place to begin a Tunica visit is at the Gateway to the Blues Museum.

What are the 3 types of deltas?

There are four main types of deltas classified by the processes that control the build-up of silt: wave-dominated, tide-dominated, Gilbert deltas, and estuarine deltas.

Is the Mississippi river a bird foot delta?

Time, weather, and human intervention have all shaped the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana, a giant bird's foot shape protruding into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River deposits sediment into the ocean, and over 25 years, NASA Landsat satellites observed changes in the delta's shape.

Why is the Mississippi delta so important?

Wetlands in the Delta offer extensive water resources and a natural river pathway to support an “avian superhighway” for countless migrating birds. This Mississippi Flyway attracts the most diverse migratory flock in North America. The Delta is a cultural concept as well as a physical region.

Where did slaves in Mississippi come from?

The vast majority of these enslaved men and women came from Maryland and Virginia, where decades of tobacco cultivation and sluggish markets were eroding the economic foundations of slavery, and from older seaboard slave states like North Carolina and Georgia.

How many deltas are in the Mississippi river?

As the course of the Mississippi River changed over the last 6,000 years, sedimentary deposits resulted in a series of 16 distinct river deltas, also called deltaic lobes.

What is the largest city in the Mississippi delta?

Greenville, MississippiGreenville is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta....Greenville, MississippiWebsitewww.greenvillems.org29 more rows

Where is Mississippi Delta located?

The Mississippi River Delta Basin is defined as all of the land and shallow estuarine area between the two northernmost passes of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The basin is located in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, south of the city of Venice.

How many states are in the Mississippi delta?

seven statesThe Lower Mississippi Delta region is an enormous area encompassing portions of seven states Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee beginning in southern Illinois and ending at the southeastern tip of Louisiana.

Is Memphis part of the Mississippi delta?

The Mississippi Delta's unofficial capital is in Tennessee. Memphis, which stands on a bluff just across the Mississippi state line, was built on the cotton fortunes from the rich farmland to the south. It's the logical place to begin a Delta adventure.

How many deltas are in the Mississippi river?

As the course of the Mississippi River changed over the last 6,000 years, sedimentary deposits resulted in a series of 16 distinct river deltas, also called deltaic lobes.

What is the Great River Road?

The Great River Road, a network of federal, state, and county roads paralleling the Mississippi River on both sides, offers access to both the river delta and its inhabitants. Driving through communities oriented to the Delta reveals dynamic relationships between people and the land.

What is the relationship between the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico?

As the Mississippi River flows to the Gulf of Mexico, the relationship between land and water changes; it is no longer close and intimate, but broad and unknowable. The overwhelming defining feature in the lower Delta is the levee system running for hundreds of miles on both sides of the river.

What is the Creole culture in Louisiana?

Also culturally distinctive within the lower Mississippi Delta region is the Creole population of Louisiana. The term Creole refers to a diversity of cultural groups. The white Creoles of colonial Louisiana were born of French and Spanish parents before 1803.

What are the names of the cities in the Lower Mississippi Delta?

The diversity of the lower Mississippi Delta region’s heritage is reflected in the names of cities and towns up and down the river — Ste. Genevieve, Kaskaskia, Altenburg, Wittenburg, Cape Girardeau, Cairo, Hickman, Helena, Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Venice.

How many counties are there in the Delta?

The Delta covers 35,000 square miles from southern Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, encompassing 219 counties in seven states and approximately 8.3 million people. In northeastern Louisiana, western Mississippi, and southeastern Arkansas, mile after mile of rich, black, alluvial soil stretches before the eye.

What is the Mississippi Delta?

The Lower Mississippi Delta is a vast and vital part of the American landscape. This broad, alluvial valley reaches from southern Illinois to the southeastern tip of Louisiana, covers more than 90,000 miles of rivers and streams, more than 3 million acres of land, and dictates much of the region’s landscape and land use.

Why did Tennessee not want to leave the Union?

At first reluctant to secede, Tennessee became one of the bloodiest killing grounds of the Civil War. Proud of their identity as volunteers who had fought for the United States in every American war, many Tennesseans did not desire to leave the Union. Divided into three distinct geographic regions by the Tennessee River, the citizens of the state were not united on the issues of slavery, secession, or Civil War. Following the surrender of Ft. Sumter and President Lincoln’s call for troops, Tennesseans endorsed secession.

Why does the delta front migrate?

As one part of the delta becomes clogged with sediment, the delta front will migrate in search of new areas to grow. The area shown in this false-color image is the currently active delta front of the Mississippi. The migratory nature of the delta forms natural traps for oil.

What happens when the Mississippi River enters the Gulf of Mexico?

As the Mississippi River enters the Gulf of Mexico, it loses energy and dumps its load of sediment that it has carried on its journey through the middle of the North American continent. This pile of sediment, or mud, accumulates over the years building up the delta front.

Why is there little human settlement in the Mississippi River?

There is little human settlement in this area due to the instability of the sediments. The main shipping channel of the Mississippi River is the broad stripe running northwest to southeast.

What is delta cycle?

The delta cycle refers to a dynamic process whereby the river deposits sediment at its outfall, growing a delta lobe, then eventually, seeking a shorter path to the sea, abandons its previous course and associated delta. After the river changes course and abandons the delta headland, the region experiences land loss due to the processes of subsidence, erosion of the marsh shoreline, and the natural redistribution of sands deposited along the delta that create the barrier islands. The delta cycle contains the natural process of land loss and land gain, due to the directionality and discharge of the river. This process formed the bays, bayous, coastal wetlands, and barrier islands that make up the coastline of Louisiana.

What is the largest river in the Mississippi Delta?

The Atchafalaya River is the largest distributary of the Mississippi River and is also considered to be an influential part of the continual land-building processes within the Mississippi River Delta. The river's tributary channel was formed approximately 500 years ago and the Atchafalaya and Wax Lake deltas emerged around the middle of the twentieth century.

Why is the Mississippi Delta important?

Due to the influx of nutrient-rich soil from the Mississippi River, the delta is a prime area for farming sugar cane, cotton and indigo, crops that were introduced into Louisiana farmlands during the pre-Civil War era. Many of these processes are important resources that the delta still provides today.

How big is the Delta River?

The river delta is a three-million-acre (4,700 sq mi; 12,000 km 2) area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Islands in the east, on Louisiana's southeastern coast.

Why are levees important?

1. Levees: Levees were primarily built along the river for flood protection and to provide stabilization of the shoreline , allowing for more reliable navigation. Levees were built prior to 1927, but a majority came after the 1927 river flood when the Flood Control Act of 1928 authorized the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project. Through this project, a system of levees, floodways, and basin and channel improvement were built to improve flood protection for residents and communities from the river's overspill, and has been largely successful in preventing flood damage over the decades. This system has mitigated extensive flooding and has saved the region billions in potential damage. As such, it is regarded as "the most successful and cost-effective public works projects in the history of the United States." This success, however, has come at a high cost for the region's natural landscapes and ecosystems, as the levees sever the connection between the river and surrounding wetlands. The freshwater and sediment carried by the river is the fuel needed for land growth within the delta, but the levees block this process, cutting off the deposition of sediment in most areas of the delta.

What is the process of the Mississippi River changing course?

This process by which the river changes course is known as avulsion, or delta-switching, and forms the variety of landscapes that make up the Mississippi River Delta.

How long has the Mississippi River been around?

The modern Mississippi River Delta formed over the last approximately 4,500 years as the Mississippi River deposited sand, clay and silt along its banks and in adjacent basins. The Mississippi River Delta is a river-dominated delta system, influenced by the largest river system in North America. The shape of the current birdfoot delta reflects ...

What is the delta area?

The delta and watershed area covers much of continental United States., east of the continental divide. The drainage basin includes the tributaries of the Mississippi River, Missouri River, and Ohio River, three of the largest and longest in the United States. The delta includes fresh water, brackish water, and salt water as it flows its way down towards the open ocean, meaning freshwater marshes, brackish marshes, salt marsh, and sandy beaches can all be found within the delta and basin.

How much wetlands are losing in Louisiana?

Unfortunately, the delta is experiencing a period of extreme threat. According to National Geographic, the state of Louisiana is losing roughly 60 square kilometers of wetland per year. At this rapid rate, it is estimated that the shoreline of the coast will recede some 50 or more kilometers by the year 2040. In essence, the wetlands are drying up due to both human development (specifically the construction of river levees and dams which constrict the natural flow of the river) and climate change, which has caused more and more rapid evaporation rates.

How did the Delta River form?

The river delta is a river-dominant delta, with a prominent bird’s foot delta and was formed approximately 4,500 years. The path of the river slowly deposited and dropped sand, clay, and silt along the river banks and in the existing basin, which created blockages within the river, which over time made the plain more shallow. These ‘buildups’ are known as delta lobes. The larger, or more common these lobes became, the more difficult it was for the river to flow in its original path. Eventually, the resistance to the former path became so great that the river was forced to find new routes, and the river changed course. This process continued repeatedly, which is why the river delta has such a forked, meandering appearance to it when seen from above. The lobes, and silt-heavy areas became prominent marshlands, and important ecosystems for wetland plants and animals.

What are the plants that live in the Mississippi River Delta?

These include a variety of wetland grasses, reeds and cattails, swamp rose, spider lilies, and cypress trees. The bluffs and higher elevation areas have more forested regions, which house trees such as oak, hickory and walnut, while marsh areas include green ash, hackberry, cottonwood, and swamp white oak.

Why are wetlands important to the coastal delta?

Not only does this mean a loss of the natural wetlands and habitat for various animals, but the wetlands form a natural barrier against things like tropical storms. With the overall increase in the severity of natural storms of late, these wetlands and deltas are vital to the protection of the homes and people that live in these coastal delta regions.

Where is the Delta located in Louisiana?

The delta occupies an area that reaches across Louisiana from the coastal Chandeleur Islands in the east, to Vermillion Bay on its western side. This expansive wetlands also contains roughly 37% of all estuarine marshland in the conterminous United States.

What are the two major flyways?

Two major flyways, which are migratory routes for birds, the Central and Mississippi flyways, converge in the delta. This means that many neotropical species of migratory songbirds can be found seasonally throughout the area. Additionally, 70% of the continent’s waterfowl migrate along these flyways and winter over in and around the Gulf. These species include snow geese, northern shovelers, green-winged teals, and gadwells, as well as a variety of other ducks, geese. The piping plover can also be found here, and is a threatened species.

How did the Delta change after the Civil War?

Outside forces helped remake the Delta after the Civil War. Timber companies cleared land for sale, and railroads entered the region, connecting Delta planters to newly accessible markets. The federal government passed flood control legislation, providing funds to begin containing the tumultuous floods that prevented the agricultural utilization of much Delta land before the Civil War. In the early twentieth century, foreign investors began buying and operating Delta plantations; the British-owned Delta and Pine Land Company became one of the world's largest cotton-producing operations. All of these forces nurtured the economic modernization of the region, not as a commercial-industrial site but creating plantations as factories, marked by industrial-like management techniques and close control of costs, including exploitation of a large pool of cheap labor, on which Delta plantations depended. By 1910, tenants operated ninety-two percent of Delta farms, and ninety-five percent of those tenants were African American. New ethnic groups also appeared in the region in this period, including Chinese, Jews, Italians, and Syrians.

What did planters do to the South?

Despite their embrace of agricultural modernization, planters nurtured their self-image as an Old South gentry. Their style emphasized personalism and paternalism, and they indeed pursued the good life, with their financial resources enabling frequent travel, elaborate parties and dances, tasteful decoration of homes, the best food and drink, and education of children at fine schools and colleges across the South and the nation. The railroad linked the Delta to New Orleans and nurtured a cosmopolitanism among planters who could afford its pleasures.

What river is the Mississippi Delta?

The "Mississippi Delta" is actually the delta of the Yazoo River, in the eastern floodplain of the lower Mississippi River. It is sixty miles at its widest point from the Yazoo to the Mississippi, in what poet William Alexander Percy called "a badly drawn half oval." Elevation goes from 205 above sea level below Memphis to eighty feet at Vicksburg, averaging 125 feet in height from Greenwood to Greenville. Flooding has been endemic, as formative as any factor in shaping the life and culture of the Delta.

What were the changes in the Delta?

The Civil War and Emancipation brought major changes to the Delta, challenging the preeminence of the planter definition of the Delta as the site of a slaveholders' empire and forcing them to confront new visions of the Delta among African Americans. Freedmen from across the South saw in the post-Civil War Delta a frontier of opportunity, a relatively undeveloped region without the long settled social arrangements of the eastern South and with land that could be richly productive if cleared. Blacks hoped for land ownership during Reconstruction and asserted their political rights in the Delta, and even with the restriction of political rights at the end of Reconstruction, African Americans continued coming into the Delta through the end of the century in hopes of gaining greater economic opportunity there than elsewhere.

Why is the Delta important?

The Delta is an environmentally compelling place, due in part to the presence of the Mississippi River. This essay shows how its geography, demography, and history have made it one of the most distinctive places in the American South. It touches on issues of race relations, economic development, and musical and literary creativity.

What did David Cohn call cotton growing?

David Cohn referred to cotton growing in the Delta as "a secular religion, " one that "was the staple of our talk, the stuff of our dreams, the poesy of many of our songs.". As the white landowning class prospered around cotton, African American fortunes grew more desperate.

How many people died in the Mississippi River flood?

Delta people lived through eleven major floods between 1858 and 1922, but the 1927 Mississippi River flood was the worst of all, devastating the Delta, killing between 250 and 500 people and leaving more than 16.6 million acres and 162,000 homes under water. Soon after, Congress appropriated $325 million for an extensive flood control system.

What is the history of Yazoo County?

In Yazoo County, the rich heritage of the Mississippi Delta comes to life through the sharing of Yazoo City history – as it involves blues concerts and history, African American heritage, outdoor recreation and some uniquely entertaining Mississippi folklore. More Information

What is the Mississippi Delta?

The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA) is the land where the Blues began, where Rock and Roll was created and where Gospel remains a vibrant art. It is an agricultural region where cotton was once king, and where ‘precision-ag’ rules today. It is a place that saw the struggles of the Civil War and the cultural revolution of the Civil Rights Movement. It is the home of the Great Migration, and a land of rich culinary, religious, artistic and literary heritage. More Information

What is DeSoto County?

Because of its mixture of Delta heritage, history and proximity to Memphis, DeSoto County is a unique blend of Delta authenticity and uptown sophistication and is one of the most exciting places to visit in Mississippi. Possibly no other county in the Delta features the abundance of restaurants, shopping, entertainment and sports-related attractions. More Information

How old was Emmett Till when he was murdered?

The 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till has been described as the “spark that lit the fuse of the modern Civil Rights Movement.” Experience the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center, a community-based museum located in a former cotton gin that provides a moving local interpretation of the tragedy. More Information

Where is the birthplace of the blues?

Many say Clarksdale, Mississippi is the very birthplace of the blues. It would be hard to argue against it. Site of countless blues festivals and home to famous blues musicians like Muddy Waters and Son House, the city will definitely teach you everything you need to know about the health of the blues in the Delta today.

Where can I learn about catfish farming?

Come learn all about catfish farming at The Catfish Museum and Visitors Center! Paper relief, ceramics, metal and wood carvings, and a 40 foot catfish fountain celebrate the reign of “King Cat”, while practical displays explain the technicalities of raising Mississippi’s popular aquiculture product. More Information

When was the Church of God in Christ founded?

The Church of God in Christ, the 5th largest Christian denomination in the United States, started here in 1897. It was the first legally chartered Pentecostal body incorporated in the U.S. By the time of founding Bishop Charles Harrison Mason’s death in 1961, COGIC had spread to every state in the U.S.

Introduction

• Much of what is profoundly American what people love about America has come from the Delta. The Lower Mississippi Delta is a vast and vital part of the American landscape. This broad, alluvial valley reaches from southern Illinois to the southeastern tip of Louisiana, covers more than 90,000 miles of rivers and streams, more than 3 million acres of...

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Vignettes of The Lower Mississippi Delta Region’S Heritage

The Delta Economy

The Civil War

Overview

History and growth

Geologic history

Social, economic and cultural history

The Delta today

Threats to the Delta

Mississippi River Delta restoration

See also