Since the Mississippi flows into the ocean and carries all that mud with it, why is the river getting deeper or wider over time eventually disappearing? Also where does its water come from?
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The Mississippi has lots of tributary rivers…. Ohio, Missouri, etc. The watershed covers pretty much half of the USA. So anywhere rain falls in that area will eventually end up in the river and the Gulf of Mexico.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River_System#/media/File:Mississippi_watershed_map_1.jpg
Rivers can move all the time. The lower Mississippi goes through relatively flat land, the river starts to meander (bend) as there’s not much of a downhill slope to follow. The river cuts into the outside of the bends and deposits silt/mud on the inside of the bends. Eventually some bends can meet and cut off the old course of the river, forming oxbow lakes.
https://www.thoughtco.com/oxbow-lakes-overview-1435835
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