ABSTRACT
The delta of Mississippi River seems not to extend much, if any, above Baton Rouge and not to be as old as the Pliocene Citronelle formation. Its coarsest sediments are fine sands with very fine sand, coarse and fine silt, and clay admixtures. Its finest sediments are clays or ultra-clays. With the exception of Old River, through which Mississippi River waters commonly discharge into Atchafalaya River, all the natural distributaries are closed artificially by levees down as far as the Forts. Below the lower ends of the maintained levees there are three distributaries: Batiste Colet’s Bayou, the Jump, and Cubit’s Gap. At Head of Passes the river breaks up finally to form Pass a Loutre, South Pass, and Southwest Pass. An explanation of the method and rate of delta building is attempted.
