The Ohio River becomes a tributary of the Mississippi River directly south of Cairo, Illinois, a small city on the spit of land where the rivers converge (at center of this astronaut photograph).
Brown, sediment-laden water flowing generally northeast to south from the Ohio River is distinct from the green and relatively sediment-poor water of the Mississippi River (flowing northwest to south).
The color of the rivers in this image is reversed from the usual condition of a green Ohio and a brown Mississippi.
This suggests that the very high rainfall in December 2005 over the Appalachians and the northeastern United States has led to greater-than-normal amounts of sediment in the rivers and streams of the Ohio River watershed.
The distinct boundary between the two river’s waters indicates that little to no mixing occurs even 5-6 kilometers (3-4 miles) downstream.
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