🔍 Key Concepts

• Inland river terminology for marked sections of the channel • How aids to navigation (like lights at specific miles) are used to mark specific parts of the river channel • The difference between a side/back channel vs. the main marked route

💭 Think About

• Look at what it means when two specific lights and river miles are named together—does that usually describe a straight run, a side channel, or where the channel moves across the river? • Think about where tows and commercial traffic are normally expected to go when running between two officially named lights on the main river charts. • Consider which of the terms given is most commonly used on river charts to label a defined segment of the main navigable track between two aids to navigation.

✅ Before You Answer

• Check which term you regularly see printed on Mississippi River charts between lighted aids: is it more often 'transit', 'slough', 'chute', or 'crossing'? • Verify which words usually describe side channels or backwaters rather than the primary marked route. • Confirm which term is used when the main channel shifts position across the river and is identified between two marked points.