The ever-changing Mississippi River

The ever-changing Mississippi River. Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the Mississippi River winding along the border of Arkansas and Mississippi.

The photo was taken during the spring planting season, when the farms are mostly brown. The fields will turn green as crops grow throughout the summer. Cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, and soybeans are the main crops raised in this region. The ever-changing Mississippi River

The Mississippi River has steadily meandered over thousands of years, transforming the floodplain by creating oxbow lakes and new channels.

Lake Chicot, which covers about 5,300 acres, is the largest oxbow lake in the United States.

The image was captured on April 2, 2020 by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

—

Mississippi is a state in the Deep South region of the Southern United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississippi’s western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River. Mississippi is the 32nd largest and 34th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Jackson is both the state’s capital and largest city. Greater Jackson is the state’s most populous metropolitan area, with an estimated population of 580,166 in 2018.

On December 10, 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state admitted to the Union. By 1860, Mississippi was the nation’s top cotton-producing state and enslaved persons accounted for 55% of the state population. Mississippi declared its secession from the Union on March 23, 1861, and was one of the seven original Confederate States, which constituted the largest slaveholding states in the nation. Following the Civil War, it was restored to the Union on February 23, 1870

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory