Reconciling Storegga tsunami sedimentation patterns with modelled wave heights : a discussion from the Shetland Isles field laboratory.

The Shetland Isles represent an ideal field laboratory for tsunami geoscience research. This is due to the widespread preservation of Holocene tsunami sediments in coastal peat deposits. This study uses published accounts of the Holocene Storegga Slide tsunami to illustrate how two different approaches – mapping of tsunami sediments and numerical modelling – produce radically different run‐up heights. The Storegga Slide is one of the world largest submarine slides and took place ca 8150 cal yr bp on the continental slope west of Norway. The tsunami generated by the landslide deposited locally extensive sheets of marine sand and gravel, as well as redeposited clasts of peat across the contemporary land surface. These sediment accumulations have subsequently been buried by peat growth during the Holocene while exposures of the deposits are locally visible in coastal cliff sections. In several areas, the tsunami sediments can be traced upslope and inland within the peat as tapering sediment wedges up to maximum altitudes of between ca 8·1 m and 11·8 m above present sea level. Since reconstructions of palaeo‐sea level for Shetland for ca 8150 cal yr bp suggest an altitude of 20 m below high tide on the day that the tsunami struck, it has been inferred that the minimum tsunami run‐up was locally between 28·1 m (8·1 + 20 m) and 31·8 m (11·8 + 20 m). However, numerical models of the tsunami for Shetland suggest that the wave height may only have reached a highest altitude in the order of +13 m above sea level on the day the tsunami took place. In this paper a description is given of the sedimentary evidence for tsunami run‐up in the Shetland Isles. This is followed by an evaluation of where the palaeo‐sea level was located when the tsunami occurred. Significant differences are highlighted in tsunami inundation estimates between those based on the observed (geological) data and the theoretically‐modelled calculations. This example from the Shetland Isles may have global significance since it exemplifies how two different approaches to the reconstruction of tsunami inundation at the coast can produce radically different results with modelled wave height at the coast being considerably less than the geological estimates of tsunami run‐up

The environmental context of the Neolithic monuments on the Brodgar Isthmus, Mainland, Orkney

This work was funded in part by Historic Environment Scotland.The World Heritage Sites of Orkney, Scotland contain iconic examples of Neolithic monumentality that have provided significant information about this period of British prehistory. However, currently, a complete understanding of the sites remains to be achieved. This is, in part, because the monuments lack an adequate context within the broader palaeolandscape. Recent investigations (seismic geophysical survey, microfossil analysis and 14C dating) in and around the Brodgar Isthmus, both onshore and offshore, are used to reconstruct the landscapes at a time when sea-level, climate and vegetation were different to that experienced today. Results show that in the early Neolithic the isthmus between the Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness was broader with a smaller loch to the west. Furthermore this landscape contained sandstone outcrops that would have provided a potential source of stone for monument construction. Microfossil analysis and radiocarbon dates demonstrate that the Loch of Stenness was transformed from freshwater to brackish during the early Neolithic, perhaps immediately preceding construction of the major monuments. Finally, the analysis of our data suggests that sediment influx to the loch shows a tenfold increase coincident with widespread vegetation change that straddles the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition at c. 8 ka cal. B.P. These results provide, for the first time, a landscape context for the Neolithic sites on the isthmus.PostprintPeer reviewe

Description of a Relationship Focused Mother-Infant Group Program: Mother-Baby Nurture

Mother-Baby Nurture is an innovative group program that focusses on strengthening the mother-infant relationship through enhancing reflective capacity within mothers and their infants. We describe the unique combination of the features that are central to this program and present comparisons with other early parenting interventions. Infancy is a unique period of acute developmental vulnerability and dependence on a caregiver. As the caregiver is the critical regulator between infant and their environment, disturbances in the caregiver-infant relationship have heightened potential to interfere in the infant’s developmental trajectory and lifelong wellbeing. Mother-Baby Nurture is a 10-week targeted group program that is currently being implemented in Western Australia, for infants and their mothers experiencing relational or emotional distress. This program provides an emotionally containing space for a mother and her infant to explore mental states. We foster curiosity in the thoughts, feelings, and behaviour (of the baby, the mother, and others), as well as reflection on attachment relationships (past and present). This therapeutic approach shares common ground with parent-infant psychotherapy and mentalization-based treatment, and is informed by attachment theory and the neurobiological science of infant development

Augmented Reality for Deaf Students: Can Mobile Devices Make it Possible?

Abstract. Digital and real world events can be combined to create powerful learning opportunities for students, but time, tools, and expertise have been traditional barriers to teacher-created enhancements. This paper provides a rationale for using emerging, teacher-friendly tools, to merge real space and virtual space through video and 2D barcodes. The results of three pilot studies combine to illustrate the potential for using these tools. Results indicate that cell phones have the potential to facilitate augmented reality experiences for deaf students and adults