A comparison of the sediment loads carried by the Missouri and upper Mississippi rivers

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Abstract
A comparative study was made of the sediment load carried by the Missouri and Upper Mississippi Rivers, making corrections for the types of sampler used, abnormal runoff, and bed sediment. At the confluence of these two rivers, long‐term sediment concentration in the Mississippi was found to be 20 per cent of that in the Missouri. However, the mean annual rate of sediment production per square mile of drainage area for the Mississippi at the confluence was found to be 84 per cent of that of the Missouri. The reason that the rate of sediment production of the Mississippi is 4.2 times as great, relatively, as its sediment concentration, in comparison with the Missouri, is that the annual runoff per square mile in the Upper Mississippi basin averages 4.2 times that in the Missouri basin. Contrary to the usual condition, the sediment concentration and rate of sediment production for both these rivers increases with increasing size of drainage area up to about 200,000 sq mi.

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