Post #116349 by Geeky Tiki on Thu, Sep 23, 2004 10:12 PM

Aloha, some things about New Orleans are driving me crazy.

To wit:

1. Does anybody know the elevation of the Mississippi River as it flows through New Orleans?

2. If New Orleans is below sea level, how does the river flow through it to the sea?

If you say, "Levees," then how did it work before the levees were built?

3. I can dig that what is now New Orleans was spared the river by the action of a meander creating a natural levee, but why wouldn't there have been backflow or the occasional river flood that would make the area a permanent, unsettle-able water-filled depression?

It seems an area below sea level would not have ever stayed dry enough to settle.

4. If the river is 200 feet deep as it flows through New Orleans (fact), then how does the bottom 190 or so feet of the river flow to the sea if it's already below sea level?

You'd think the river would only flow for the part that is above sea level and the part below would hold still.

5. If the bottom 190 feet of the river does flow, how come there isn't a "hump" in sea level where the river pushes against the sea?

If ya watch a stream hit a pond, there are big ripples where they meet and the water level is in ridges and there is an area that has a higher water level than the rest of the pond.

6. If the river was 500 feet deep at the end of the ice age, where'd the bottom 300 feet go?

I've looked all over for answers and haven't seen any satisfactory explanations.

[ Edited by: Geeky Tiki on 2004-09-23 22:14 ]