Bed material characteristics of the Mississippi River within Pool 19

The bathymetric and bed material characteristics of Pool 19 on
the Mississippi River have been analyzed and presented in this
report.  These data are illustrated and described at 13 main
channel, 2 side channel, 1 tributary mouth, 1 island cross
channel, and several spot locations in side channels.  The river
was traced from river mile 410.0 in the tailwater below Lock and
Dam 18 to river mile 364.5 just upstream  of Lock and Dam 19 and
the power plant at Keokuk, Iowa.  More detail was given for
several areas where habitat succession is taking place as
sedimentation raises the bed near enough to the water surface so
that rooted macrophytes can become established and survive
floods and winter ice cover.  Both the plan view charts and the
cross sections show a variety of channel shapes.  Similarly,
there is some change in bed material characteristics
longitudinally, though the main channel has a medium sand bed
except for the mile or two of bedrock upstream of Lock 19 at
Keokuk.  An expanded sampling program would be able to fill in
information for the reach between river miles 378 and 394, and
obtain samples during different flow regimes.  Sites could be
selected for more frequent sampling, with annual sampling along
the entire pool.