Hydrogeologic controls on summer stream temperatures in the McKenzie River basin,Oregon

Stream temperature is a complex function of energy inputs including solar radiation and latent and sensible heat transfer. In streams where groundwater inputs are significant, energy input through advection can also be an important control on stream temperature. For an individual stream reach, models of stream temperature can take advantage of direct measurement or estimation of these energy inputs for a given river channel environment. Understanding spatial patterns of stream temperature at a landscape scale requires predicting how this environment varies through space, and under different atmospheric conditions. At the landscape scale, air temperature is often used as a surrogate for the dominant controls on stream temperature. In this study we show that, in regions where groundwater inputs are key controls and the degree of groundwater input varies in space, air temperature alone is unlikely to explain within-landscape stream temperature patterns. We illustrate how a geologic template can offer insight into landscape-scale patterns of stream temperature and its predictability from air temperature relationships. We focus on variation in stream temperature within headwater streams within the McKenzie River basin in western Oregon. In this region, as in other areas of the Pacific Northwest, fish sensitivity to summer stream temperatures continues to be a pressing environmental issue. We show that, within the McKenzie, streams which are sourced from deeper groundwater reservoirs versus shallow subsurface flow systems have distinct summer temperature regimes. Groundwater streams are colder, less variable and less sensitive to air temperature variation. We use these results from the western Oregon Cascade hydroclimatic regime to illustrate a conceptual framework for developing regional-scale indicators of stream temperature variation that considers the underlying geologic controls on spatial variation, and the relative roles played by energy and water inputs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DYNAMICS IN THE STRUCTURAL FORM OF PROPERTY TAXES*

Because the property tax is structurally tied to market values of dwellings through the assessment function, rapidly increasing market values may beget rapid increases in property taxes. Public awareness of this process was instrumental in California's 1978 passage of the Jarvis-Gann Amendment. Millage rates should be indexed to counterbalance changes in market values.     

A network-based telemetry architecture developed for the Martha'sVineyard Coastal Observatory

Underwater observatories with real-time data and virtually unlimited power transmission capabilities compared to traditional oceanographic moorings are beginning to provide scientists with continuous access to the coastal and open ocean. However, for any coastal observatory to serve as a cost-effective system for the collection of long-term scientific and environmental data, it must have a simple, upgradeable power and telemetry system and an instrument interface that is compatible with existing standards. It must be designed for extended environmental exposure and ease of service to avoid high maintenance costs. Most importantly, the observatory must be accessible to all potential users, including students, scientists, engineers, and policy makers. This strategy was applied to the design of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory on the south shore of the island of Martha's Vineyard. The new facility, and in particular its system architecture, as developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution with support from the National Science Foundation, are described     

Latest Miocene and Pleistocene ages of faulting, determined by 40Ar/39Ar single-crystal dating of airfall tuff and silicic extrusives of the Erciyes Basin, central Turkey: evidence for intraplate deformation related to the tectonic escape of Anatolia

The Ericiyes Basin is a trans‐tensional basin situated 20 km north of the regional Ecemi? Fault Zone. Recently it has been hypothesized that faulting within the Erciyes Basin links with the Ecemi? Fault Zone further south as part of a regional Central Anatolian Fault Zone. New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks adjacent to faults, both along the margins and in the centre of the Erciyes Basin, constrains the timing of basin inception and later faulting. Extensional faulting occurred along the eastern and western margins of the basin during the Early Messinian (latest Miocene). Sinistral and minor normal faulting were active along the axis of the basin during the early Pleistocene. These fault timings are similar to those inferred for the Ecemi? Fault Zone further south, and support the hypothesis that faulting within the Erciyes Basin and the Ecemi? Fault Zone are indeed linked.     

A GEOGRAPHIC CRITERION FOR IDENTIFYING PROPERTY-TAX ASSESSMENT INEQUITY

Equitable tax assessment requires that houses having the same market value must also have identical assessed values. With a map of dwellings' assessed-value-to-market-value ratios, it is possible to identify neighborhoods that are significantly overassessed or underassessed; this can lead to an understanding of the causes of misassessment. When houses or neighborhoods are demonstrated to be inequitably assessed, corrective action can be taken to eliminate the inequity. This essay is an example of the application of geographic techniques to spatial public-policy formulation.     

Effects of observed and experimental climate change on terrestrial ecosystems in northern Canada: results from the Canadian IPY program

Tundra and taiga ecosystems comprise nearly 40?% of the terrestrial landscapes of Canada. These permafrost ecosystems have supported humans for more than 4500?years, and are currently home to ca. 115,000 people, the majority of whom are First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The responses of these ecosystems to the regional warming over the past 30?C50?years were the focus of four Canadian IPY projects. Northern residents and researchers reported changes in climate and weather patterns and noted shifts in vegetation and other environmental variables. In forest-tundra areas tree growth and reproductive effort correlated with temperature, but seedling establishment was often hindered by other factors resulting in site-specific responses. Increased shrub cover has occurred in sites across the Arctic at the plot and landscape scale, and this was supported by results from experimental warming. Experimental warming increased vegetation cover and nutrient availability in most tundra soils; however, resistance to warming was also found. Soil microbial diversity in tundra was no different than in other biomes, although there were shifts in mycorrhizal diversity in warming experiments. All sites measured were sinks for carbon during the growing season, with expected seasonal and latitudinal patterns. Modeled responses of a mesic tundra system to climate change showed that the sink status will likely continue for the next 50?C100?years, after which these tundra systems will likely become a net source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. These IPY studies were the first comprehensive assessment of the state and change in Canadian northern terrestrial ecosystems and showed that the inherent variability in these systems is reflected in their site-specific responses to changes in climate. They also showed the importance of using local traditional knowledge and science, and provided extensive data sets, sites and researchers needed to study and manage the inevitable changes in the Canadian North.