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The Nehalem River, the North Oregon Coast’s longest river, takes a long, winding approach through the Coast range before dispersing into Nehalem Bay and entering the Pacific Ocean. During storms and high flow events, the river turns a chocolate brown color as it transports fine sediment from tributary streams throughout the watershed. The geology of the Coast Range, landslides, roads and land use all contribute to the amount and type of sediment moving downstream. Much is washed out to the ocean, but as the river slows and spreads through the bay some sediment is deposited in the channels, mudflats and tidal marshes. Sediment transport and deposition is not only a local process but occurs globally with river systems throughout the world being shaped by the movement of rock and erosion.
On November 9th, Lower Nehalem Watershed Council will welcome Dr. Rob Wheatcroft, Oregon State University Professor, for the next installation of their Speaker Series. This presentation will examine how natural processes, such as variations in river flow and coastal uplift, as well as human-related processes, such as timber harvesting and land reclamation combine to influence the supply and accumulation of sediment and organic carbon in Oregon estuaries. The Nehalem River system will be featured, but lessons learned from other dispersal systems in the Pacific Northwest will be used to provide context.
Dr. Wheatcroft is a professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. He received a PhD in oceanography from the University of Washington in 1990, spent 8 years at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod and came to OSU in 1998. His research focuses on the transport and accumulation of sediment and organic carbon across the land-ocean boundary from event to millennial time scales. This interest has led him and his students to study small, mountainous river systems in the Apennines, Pyrenees, California and the Pacific Northwest. Most recently he is leading a team funded by Oregon Sea Grant to better understand the competing roles of relative sea-level rise and river sediment supply in the accumulation of sediment and carbon in Oregon estuaries over the past 300 years. In his spare time, Rob travels with his wife, backpacks in the Olympic mountains, and helps tend a dwindling flock of fiber goats.
The event will be held at the Pine Grove Community House, 225 Laneda Ave, in Manzanita. The presentation will start at 7:20 pm following an update from Lower Nehalem Watershed Council at 7:00 pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
Event Information: This event is FREE and open to the public. Find more information on our speaker series on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/lnwc1).
Date & Location: November 9th, 2017 at Pine Grove Community House (225 Laneda Ave, Manzanita)
Time & Agenda:
6:30 PM Doors open
7:00 PM Council Updates
7:20 PM Presentation
8:30 PM Adjourn
