Rock -n- Mississippi EarthCache

This Earthcache will bring you to a location that represents a river confluence. Park at the coordinates listed above (Hennepin Canal Parkway; Lock 32).  Long pants, sturdy shoes and mosquito repellent are recommended for this adventure.

A body of water that flows down a slope along a channel restricted by adjacent banks and levees is called a River.

A River starts at a point called its source, and enters a sea or lake at its Mouth. Along its length it may be joined by smaller rivers called tributaries; a river and its tributaries are contained within a drainage basin called the watershed. The point at which two or more rivers join, is called the Confluence.

Confluence , in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river, called the mainstem, when that major river is also the highest order stream in the drainage basin. The term is also used to describe the meeting of tidal or other non-riverine bodies of water, such as two canals or a canal and a lake.

The Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of 2,340 miles (3,770 km) from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi River has the third largest drainage basin (or catchment) in the world, exceeded in size only by the watersheds of the Amazon River and Congo River. It drains 41% of the 48 Continental United States. The basin covers more than 1,245,000 sq mi (3,225,000 km²), including all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces. The drainage basin empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

One of those tributaries is the Rock River. 

The Rock River is approximately 285 miles (459 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois.

It rises in southeast Wisconsin, in the Theresa Marsh near Theresa, Wisconsin in northeast Dodge County, Wisconsin approximately 17 miles south of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. It flows southwest, through the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge, then meanders southward draining the area of southeast Wisconsin between the Wisconsin River and Lake Michigan. It passes through Watertown, collects the Crawfish River in Jefferson, and receives the Bark River at Fort Atkinson. In northern Rock County it receives the Yahara River, and flows southward through Janesville and Beloit into northern Illinois, where it receives the Pecatonica River 5 miles (8 km) south of the state line.  It flows south through Rockford, then southwest across northwestern Illinois, passing Oregon, Dixon and Rock Falls before joining the Mississippi at Rock Island.

At this spot along the Rock River is also the confluence of the Hennepin Canal that empties into the Mississippi river.  The Hennepin canal served as a navigable waterway that was built in order to lower freight prices. No water routes existed from the Illinois River to the Mississippi River.

The Hennepin Canal follows a natural low area between Hennepin and Rock Island. This is actually the ancient channel of the Mississippi River, which at one time flowed from Rock Island to Hennepin, and then south through what is now the Illinois River channel. The Illinois Glaciation, about 200,000 to 125,000 years before present, blocked the Mississippi River near Rock Island, diverting it into its modern channel.

Construction on the canal began in 1892 and the first boat went through in 1907, however, the Corps of Engineers undertook a widening of the locks on both the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The new locks on those rivers were twenty and forty feet wider than the canal locks, making them obsolete before their initial use.

In the 1930s the Hennepin Canal was used primarily for recreational traffic. The Hennepin Canal, which at one time was known as the Illinois and Mississippi Canal, was open to boat traffic until 1951 at no cost. These days the Hennepin Canal Parkway is used for recreational purposes. A trail along the canal allows people to walk, jog, bike down the canal, or just sit and fish.  In this area the design of the canal was reconstructed to assist primarily in flood water control.

To receive credit for this Earthcache, you must complete the following 2 requirements.

1) At N41° 28.886 x W90° 36.980 observe the confluence and note the distinct line of the Rock River as it enters the Mississippi River. Now upload a picture of your face and your GPS with the confluence in the background.

2) Move up the shore to N41° 28.869 x W90° 36.914 here you must determine the flow rate in "Feet per Second" for the Rock River. This may be done by measuring (bring a tape measure) & marking a distance along the bank, then tossing in a leaf or twig upriver from your starting point. With a stop watch, time how long it takes your leaf to complete your measured distance course. Then calculate that into "Feet per Second". 

Please don't post your answer in your log, Email them to me through my Profile.