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White River (Missouri River tributary)

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Aerial view from the south of the Missouri River in South Dakota, where the much smaller White River flows into it from the west. The Interstate 90 bridge is visible in the distance.

The White River is a Missouri River tributary that flows 580 miles (930 km)[1] through the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river[2] from its source near the Badlands.[3] Draining a basin of about 10,200 square miles (26,000 km2),[4] about 8,500 square miles (22,000 km2) of which is in South Dakota,[5] the stream flows through a region of sparsely populated hills, plateaus, and badlands.[6]

The White River rises in northwestern Nebraska, in the Pine Ridge escarpment north of Harrison, at an elevation of 4,861 feet (1,482 m) above sea level.[7] It flows southeast then northeast past Fort Robinson and north of Crawford. It crosses into southwestern South Dakota and flows north across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, then northeast, receiving Wounded Knee Creek and flowing between units of Badlands National Park. It flows east-northeast and southeast at the northern edge of the reservation, forming the northern boundary of the reservation and the southern boundary of Buffalo Gap National Grassland. It receives the Little White River about 15 miles (24 km) south of Murdo, and flows east to join the Missouri in Lake Francis Case about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Chamberlain.[8]

The river sometimes has no surface flow due to the dry climate surrounding its badlands and prairie basin, though thunderstorms can cause brief intense flow. The river near Chamberlain flows year-round. The White River has generally good-quality water.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Hydrography Dataset". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  2. ^ Benke and Cushing, p. 445
  3. ^ Federal Writers' Project (1940). South Dakota place-names, v.3. University of South Dakota. p. 6.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Benke and Cushing 471 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Hogan, Edward Patrick; Fouberg, Erin Hogan (2001). The Geography of South Dakota (Third ed.). Sioux Falls, SD: The Center for Western Studies – Augustana College. ISBN 0-931170-79-6.
  6. ^ Benke and Cushing, p. 449
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference source was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ The Road Atlas (Map). Rand McNally & Company. 2008. § 62, 93. ISBN 978-0-528-93961-7.

Works cited

  • Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed.; Galat, David L.; Berry, Charles R., Jr.; Peters, Edward J., and White, Robert G. (2005). "Chapter 10: Missouri River Basin" in Rivers of North America. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-088253-1.
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