Big Muddy River
Encyclopedia
The Big Muddy River is a 156 miles (251.1 km) river in southern Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It joins the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 south of Murphysboro
Murphysboro, Illinois
Murphysboro is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,970 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area.-Geography:Murphysboro is located at ....

. The Big Muddy has been dammed near Benton
Benton, Illinois
Benton is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,087 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area.- History :...

, forming Rend Lake
Rend Lake
Rend Lake is a -long, -wide southern Illinois reservoir in Franklin and Jefferson Counties near Benton, Illinois. The lake contains 18,900 acres of water, stores of water, and supplies over 15 million gallons of water per day to 300,000 persons in over 60 communities. The reservoir is up to ...

.

The Big Muddy has a mud bottom for most of its length.

Hydrography

The Big Muddy drains a 1500100 acre watershed. In 1995, water quality was assessed as "fair" to "good". Pollution sources include agricultural practices, mining and municipalities.

The watershed of the Big Muddy was covered by the Illinoian Glacier
Illinoian Stage
The Illinoian Stage is the name used by Quaternary geologists in North America to designate the period of geologic time of ~300,000—130,000 years ago, a period of ~ during the middle Pleistocene when sediments comprising the Illinoian Glacial Lobe were deposited. It precedes the Sangamonian stage...

 about 300,000 to 132,000 years before present. The Big Muddy basin formed after the retreat of that glacier.

The Big Muddy was not covered by the Wisconsin Glacier
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....

, about 70,000 to 10,000 years before present. However, during the melting of that glacier, the level of the Mississippi River was much higher. Water backed up into the Big Muddy Basin, forming a lake much like the artificial Rend Lake but covering a larger area. The ancient lake silted in, forming a flat bottom. After the melting of the Wisconsinan glacier, the level of the Mississippi dropped, allowing the lake to drain. A new channel formed within the old lake bed. This channel meandered in the flat bottom of the Wisconsinan-era lake. This is why the Big Muddy tends to be so muddy.

The Big Muddy joins the Mississippi River in Jackson County
Jackson County, Illinois
Jackson County, incorporated January 10, 1816, is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 60,218, which is an increase of 1.0% from 59,612 in 2000...

 near the La Rue-Pine Hills Ecological Area. The Pine Hills are bluffs overlooking the Big Muddy as it flows through La Rue swamp. During the melting of the Wisconsinan glacier, the Mississippi River flood plain was filled with rushing meltwater in summer. During the winter the flow of meltwater was cut off, and the floodplain was a wide stretch of exposed mud. Winter winds created dust storms that covered Southern Illinois with "loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...

", fine grained, wind born deposits. At the edge of the floodplain, dunes, called "loess hills", formed. The Pine Hills are loess hills standing several hundred feet above the floodplain.

Prior to the construction of Rend Lake, much of the ancient lake bed was swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

: a forested area that was covered by water through most of the winter, and during wet summers. When the Big Muddy flooded, the water covered the flat bottom of the ancient lake bed for miles either direction from the meandering channel.

The upper reaches of the Big Muddy are near Dix, Illinois
Dix, Illinois
Dix is a village in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 494 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Mount Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Dix is located at ....

. Here the outline of the Wisconsinan Era lake bed is evident in what were the northern reaches of the ancient lake, where the lake bed was only a few hundred feet wide. The steep Illinoian hills are suddenly truncated where they meet the flat bottom of the Wisconsinan Era lake bed. Here the tributaries of the Big Muddy are tiny, intermittent streams, meandering though these narrow valleys at the headwaters.

The Big Muddy basin contains a significant portion of the planet's coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 reserves. Most of this is hidden under its deep mud. At a few places the river has eroded the sides of hills, exposing coal deposits. The first coal mine in Illinois is believed to have been opened in 1810 on the banks of the Big Muddy in Jackson County
Jackson County, Illinois
Jackson County, incorporated January 10, 1816, is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 60,218, which is an increase of 1.0% from 59,612 in 2000...

.

Tributaries and lakes

Major tributaries of the Big Muddy include Beaucoup Creek
Beaucoup Creek
Beaucoup Creek is a major tributary of the Big Muddy River in Illinois. The name is pronounced locally as in "Ba Cou".Beaucoup Creek is in length.-Cities and counties:The following cities are in the Beaucoup Creek watershed:*Pinckneyville*Vergennes...

, the Little Muddy River
Little Muddy River (Illinois)
The Little Muddy River is a tributary of the Big Muddy River in Illinois. It forms the boundary between Franklin and Perry counties.-Cities and counties:The following cities and towns are drained by the Little Muddy:*Ashley*DuQuoin*Radom...

, Casey Creek, the Middle Fork of the Big Muddy and Crab Orchard Creek. The basin also includes Kinkaid Lake, Rend Lake, Crab Orchard Lake
Crab Orchard Lake
Crab Orchard Lake is a 6,965-acre reservoir in Williamson County, Illinois. It is the centerpiece of the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge...

, Devil's Kitchen Lake, Little Grassy Lake and Cedar Lake.

The northern limit of the watershed is north of Kell
Kell, Illinois
Kell is a village in Marion County, Illinois, United States. The population was 231 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Kell is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....

, about 2 miles (3 km) into Marion County. This is on Casey Creek, which might be properly considered the main reach of the river.

Cities and counties

Cities and towns in the Big Muddy watershed include:
  • Benton
    Benton, Illinois
    Benton is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,087 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area.- History :...

  • Carbondale
    Carbondale, Illinois
    Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, in the state of Illinois, within the Southern Illinois region. It is located at the junction of Illinois Route 13 and U.S. Route 51, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, on the northern edge of the Shawnee National Forest...

  • Dix
    Dix, Illinois
    Dix is a village in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 494 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Mount Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Dix is located at ....

     (partially)
  • DuQuoin
  • Herrin
    Herrin, Illinois
    Herrin is a city in Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,501 at the 2010 census. It is home to Country Musicstar David Lee Murphy, the hometown of baseball's Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman, and the hometown of San Diego State University men's basketball coach Steve...

  • Kell
    Kell, Illinois
    Kell is a village in Marion County, Illinois, United States. The population was 231 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Kell is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....

  • Marion
    Marion, Illinois
    The city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois. The 2010 census counted 17,193 residents, making Marion the 25th most populated city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in Illinois, and the second most populous city in Southern Illinois, outside of the Metro-East, behind...

  • Mt. Vernon
  • Murphysboro
    Murphysboro, Illinois
    Murphysboro is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,970 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area.-Geography:Murphysboro is located at ....

  • Pinkneyville
    Pinckneyville, Illinois
    Pinckneyville is a city in Perry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,464 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Perry County...

  • Thompsonville
    Thompsonville, Illinois
    Thompsonville is a village in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 571 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Thompsonville is located at ....

  • West Frankfort
    West Frankfort, Illinois
    West Frankfort is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, USA. The population was 8,182 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area.-History:...

  • Vergennes
    Vergennes, Illinois
    Vergennes is a village in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 491 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Vergennes is located at ....



The Big Muddy drains areas of the following counties:
  • Franklin County
    Franklin County, Illinois
    Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 39,561, which is an increase of 1.4% from 39,018 in 2000. Its county seat is Benton.-History:...

  • Jackson County
    Jackson County, Illinois
    Jackson County, incorporated January 10, 1816, is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 60,218, which is an increase of 1.0% from 59,612 in 2000...

  • Jefferson County
    Jefferson County, Illinois
    Jefferson County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 38,827, which is a decrease of 3.0% from 40,045 in 2000...

  • Marion County
  • Perry County
  • Washington County
    Washington County, Illinois
    Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 14,716, which is a decrease of 2.9% from 15,148 in 2000. Its county seat is Nashville.-Geography:...

  • Williamson County
    Williamson County, Illinois
    -2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*92.7% White*3.8% Black*0.4% Native American*0.8% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.7% Two or more races*0.4% Other races*2.0% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

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