Mazon River
| Mazon River | |
|---|---|
| Basin | |
| Main source |
Greenfield Township, Grundy County, Illinois 41°11′02″N 88°15′13″W / 41.183921°N 88.2536703°W |
| River mouth |
Confluence with the Illinois River, Morris, Illinois 489 ft (149 m) 41°21′09″N 88°25′26″W / 41.3525319°N 88.4239563°WCoordinates: 41°21′09″N 88°25′26″W / 41.3525319°N 88.4239563°W |
| Progression | Mazon River → Illinois → Mississippi → Gulf of Mexico |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | 28 mi (45 km) |
| Features | |
| GNIS ID | 413173 |
The Mazon River or Mazon Creek, is a tributary of the Illinois River in the United States. The confluence is near Morris, Illinois.[1]
The Mazon River is associated with the Mazon Creek fossils of the Francis Creek Shale, which are also exposed in strip mines and quarries near the River. This fossil bed includes well-preserved fossils from the Pennsylvanian period of the Paleozoic era and is a world-famous Lagerstätten site.
The Mazon River is approximately 28 miles (45 km) in length,[2] with the West Fork considered the main branch.
The river was named in honor of William Mason, a pioneer settler.[3]
Cities and counties
The following cities, towns and villages are within the Mazon watershed:
The following counties are at least partly drained by the Mazon River:
See also
References
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mazon River
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-04-05 at WebCite, accessed May 13, 2011
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 202.
External links
- American Whitewater
- Prairie State Canoeists
- Field Museum Collection, Mazon Creek Fossils
- Illinois State Museum, Mazon Creek Fossil Collection
- Prairie Rivers Network
- USGS Real-time Stream Gage Mazon River
- Upper Illinois/Mazon River watershed map (PDF)
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.