RAS question
The Mississippi-Missouri river system drains into which water body?
Correct answer: (A) Gulf of Mexico.
The Mississippi-Missouri river system ultimately drains into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans on the southeast coast of Louisiana.
Explanation
The Mississippi-Missouri river system is about 6,275 km long, the longest river system in North America and the fourth longest in the world. The Mississippi reaches the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans, Louisiana, making that outlet the terminal water body of the river system. NASA states that the Mississippi River runs through New Orleans and into the Gulf of Mexico on Louisiana's southeast coast. That makes the Gulf of Mexico the correct water body, while broader or nearby water bodies are distractors. The large delta also fits the idea of a major river system meeting its final receiving water body at the coast.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) The Atlantic Ocean is too broad; the river drains into the Gulf of Mexico, a marginal sea of the Atlantic.
- (C) The Pacific Ocean is on the wrong drainage side for this river system; the Mississippi drains into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans.
- (D) The Caribbean Sea is not the Mississippi's outlet; NASA places the river's discharge into the Gulf of Mexico.
Concept
Major river systems and their drainage basins are part of World Geography. River mouths and terminal water bodies recur in RAS because these compact, map-based facts separate precise physical-geography knowledge from vague regional recall.