Radon, carbon dioxide and fault displacements in central Europe related to the Tōhoku earthquake

Tectonic instability may be measured directly using extensometers installed across active faults or it may be indicated by anomalous natural gas concentrations in the vicinity of active faults. This paper presents the results of fault displacement monitoring at two sites in the Bohemian Massif and Western Carpathians. These data have been supplemented by radon monitoring in the Mladeč Caves and by carbon dioxide monitoring in the Zbrašov Aragonite Caves. A significant period of tectonic instability is indicated by changes in the fault displacement trends and by anomalous radon and carbon dioxide concentrations. This was recorded around the time of the catastrophic MW = 9.0 Tōhoku Earthquake, which hit eastern Japan on 11 March 2011. It is tentatively suggested that the Tōhoku Earthquake in the Pacific Ocean and the unusual geodynamic activity recorded in the Bohemian Massif and Western Carpathians both reflect contemporaneous global tectonic changes.Web of Science1601-3827

The Ability of Children With Language Impairment to Dissemble Emotions in Hypothetical Scenarios and Natural Situations

Purpose This study examined the ability of children with language impairment (LI) to dissemble (hide) emotional reactions when socially appropriate to do so. Method Twenty-two children with LI and their typically developing peers (7;1–10;11 [years;months]) participated in two tasks. First, participants were presented with hypothetical scenarios in which the main character was exposed to situations that would require dissembling an emotional reaction for social purposes (e.g., receiving a disappointing gift from a grandparent). In the second task, children were presented with four naturally occurring opportunities to dissemble emotion (e.g., receiving a disappointing reward for taking part in the study). Results Although the ability to dissemble emotion was still emerging in children in both groups, typically developing children judged that dissemblance was appropriate significantly more often than did children with LI in the hypothetical scenarios. In naturalistic scenarios, there was little difference between groups in low-cost scenarios (those in which the child had nothing to lose by hiding emotion). In the high-cost scenario (hiding emotion meant accepting a disappointing prize), more typically developing children concealed their disappointment than did children with LI. These differences neared statistical significance ( p = .058). Conclusion Children with typically developing language showed a greater ability to dissemble in hypothetical scenarios. In naturalistic scenarios, performance was more nuanced. In low-cost scenarios, there was little difference between groups. In the high-cost scenario, typically developing children tended to dissemble more often than did children with LI. </jats:sec

The origin and development of the Nyl River floodplain wetland, Limpopo Province, South Africa: trunk–tributary river interactions in a dryland setting

The Nyl River floodplain wetland, one of South Africa\u27s largest floodplain wetlands and a Ramsar site of international conservation importance, is located in an area of long-term and still active valley sediment accumulation. Creation of accommodation space for sedimentation has previously been attributed to tectonic controls, but new investigations reveal that a more likely cause is progradation of coarse-grained tributary fans across the narrow river valley downstream of the main area of floodplain wetland. Obstruction of trunk river flow and sediment transfer by these tributary fans has led to backponding and upstream gradient reduction and to accumulation of valley fills up to 35m thick. Chronological control for the timing and rate of sediment accumulation is limited, but we hypothesise that a semi-arid to arid climate, characterised by asynchronous trunk-tributary activity that results in marked discontinuities in downstream water and sediment transfer, is likely to have been a key control. These interpretations are supported by other studies of dryland rivers globally and the findings add to our growing understanding of the controls on the origin and development of southern African wetlands, particularly by demonstrating how the combination of a particular physiography and a dryland climate can impart some distinctive geomorphological characteristics. Copyright 2011 Copyright Society of South African Geographers