An Animation Showing Every River That Empties Into The Mississippi (There Are So Many)

You probably learned in elementary school that most rivers east of the Rocky Mountains drain into the big ol' Mississippi River, which eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico. 

But what does that actually look like? This nifty visualization from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio shows the vast network of rivers stretching across much of the United States and how they flow together to feed the Mississippi. 

It's pretty amazing: 

The Mississippi is highlighted in dark blue, as is its little brother, the Missouri River, which slurps up a bunch of smaller tributary rivers on it's way east from the Rockies. 

You can read more at the Scientific Visualization Studio's blog. 

[Scientific Visualization Studio via Flowing Data]

​