Mississippi

Below the Red River, the Mississippi flows through numerous bayous into the Gulf of Mexico. The main channel of the river runs south-east and divides into a delta of several passes. The average discharge of the Mississippi into the gulf is nearly 19 million litres (4.2 million gallons) of water per second. The sediment carried is estimated at about 300 million cu m (10.6 billion cu ft) per year. To overcome the silting caused by these vast deposits and the constant changes caused by floods, a system of jetties at the South Pass was built, beginning in 1875, and has proved successful in maintaining a depth exceeding 9 m (30 ft). The mouth of the Mississippi is essentially tideless.