ABSTRACT A new interpretation of why the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone exists is presented based on updated three-dimensional P- and S-wave velocity models and hypocenter relocations. The expanded dataset covers the years 1984 through 2021 and contains 1657 earthquakes and 29,914 arrival times recorded by 119 stations. The new velocity models extend farther west and south than models determined in a previous tomographic study using a smaller dataset. The new inversion provides better resolution of major anomalous features, including a low-velocity zone that parallels the New York–Alabama (NY-AL) magnetic lineament. The low-velocity zone was interpreted in previous studies as part of a major continental transform fault active during the Grenville orogeny. Most Eastern Tennessee seismic zone earthquakes occur in a wedge-shaped area characterized by low magnetic anomalies. The wedge may have formed due to the presence of a releasing bend in the major continental transform fault. We suggest that metasediments are a major constituent of the wedge and facilitate the occurrence of small earthquakes along numerous faults and layer boundaries. Most of the earthquake activity is scattered according to a cluster analysis, but two linear bands of activity are found that may be indicative of more coherent fault planes. The bands trend roughly east-west and northwest-southeast. The tomographic results and distribution of seismicity with depth suggest that seismicity southeast of the NY-AL lineament in Tennessee is driven by near-lithostatic pore pressures in rocks in the releasing bend basin.

Detailed P- and S-wave velocity (Vp and Vs) models and relocated hypocenters are determined for the active New Madrid seismic zone based on inversion of local earthquake arrival time data in the Cooperative New Madrid seismic network catalog for the period 1 January 1997 through 5 July 2025. The data set consists of 5,609 earthquakes, 93,338 P-wave phases and 66,333 S-wave phases recorded at 59 stations. The velocity models provide much greater resolution than previous models and allow a more comprehensive interpretation of crustal velocity features. Crust south of the Reelfoot fault is part of the Missouri batholith. The Bootheel lineament is detected as well as a horst below Ridgely Ridge. The presence of the Reelfoot axial ring dike intrusion influences hypocenter locations in the Reelfoot fault. Most Reelfoot fault earthquakes north of the Axial fault occur within the intrusion, along the border of a negative Vs anomaly suggesting the presence of high pore-pressure fluids. South of the Axial fault, Reelfoot fault earthquakes occur in a low magnetic intensity portion of the intrusion and this segment is cut by northeast trending faults including the Axial, Cottonwood Grove, and Ridgely Ridge faults. We suggest that both strike-slip and reverse motion occur on the Reelfoot fault during large earthquakes. The portion of Reelfoot fault associated with the greatest amount of vertical uplift has sparse seismicity. This segment may be locked and pose elevated seismic hazard.

BACKGROUND:Early childhood is a critical period for child development. Effective approaches to support families in low-resource settings in the use of responsive and stimulating parenting are needed.AIM:The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the Reach Up early childhood parenting programme on children's development, parenting attitudes and practices, when delivered through early childhood development (ECD) centres in Zimbabwe.METHODS:A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in Sanyati, a rural district in Zimbabwe. Twenty-four of 51 available centres were randomised to intervention (n = 12) or control (n = 12) groups. Sixteen mothers with a child aged 12-30 months were recruited from each centre's catchment area (n = 189 intervention; n = 193 control). The intervention comprised two home visits per month delivered by centre teaching assistants over a period of 27 months. Primary outcomes were child Developmental Quotient (DQ), Language, Eye and Hand coordination, Performance and Practical Reasoning subscale scores assessed at follow-up. Secondary outcomes were mothers' attitudes about child development, parenting practices and maternal depressive symptoms all measured at baseline and follow-up. Intention to treat analyses was conducted using mixed-effects regression models with the standard error adjusted for cluster and inverse proportionality weights to adjust for attrition. Significance was set at P < 0.05.RESULTS:A total of 285 (74.6%) of 382 children enrolled were tested, with 97 children lost to follow-up. The intervention improved the children's DQ by 3.55 points (95% CI 0.82 to 6.28), Eye and Hand by 3.58 (95% CI 0.59 to 6.56) and Practical Reasoning by 4.19 (95% CI 0.96 to 7.42). No significant improvements to Performance or Language scores, parenting attitudes, parenting practices and depressive symptoms were identified.CONCLUSIONS:A home visiting intervention delivered by ECD teaching assistants promoted children's development. This suggests that outreach from preschools may be an effective platform for delivery of parenting interventions.

The eastern Tennessee seismic zone (ETSZ) experiences the second highest rates of natural seismicity in the central and eastern United States (CEUS), following the New Madrid area, yet the cause of elevated earthquake rates is unknown. We probe the origin of ETSZ seismicity using geomechanically constrained stress inversions of earthquake focal mechanisms from 57 earthquakes, including 24 newly derived here and five from the recent events not used in the previous stress studies. Highly oblique northwest–southeast (NW–SE) extension that is unique in the CEUS dominates the ETSZ—central Alabama to southeastern Kentucky—and preferentially reactivates normal to strike-slip faults in the northeast (NE) and southwest (SW) quadrants (strikes 018°–086° or 196°–272° and dips 55°–90°). This extension cannot be explained by the compressive tectonic plate-boundary tractions that cause oblique NE–SW contraction elsewhere in the CEUS. Although our analyses do not uniquely determine the origin of the anomalous stress, we favor isostatic disequilibrium, due to anything from surface processes to crust–mantle interactions, as the possible cause. Increased long-term seismic hazard in the ETSZ may be controlled by and confined to the spatial extent of this anomalous seismotectonic state.

SUMMARY Phase velocity and azimuthal anisotropy maps for fundamental mode Rayleigh waves are determined for a portion of the central United States including the seismically active Reelfoot Rift (RFR) and the enigmatic Illinois Basin. Dense seismic array installations of the Northern Embayment Lithosphere Experiment, the EarthScope transportable array and the Ozarks Illinois Indiana Kentucky array allow a detailed investigation of phase velocity and anisotropy in a broad period range (20–100s).We obtain more than 12 000 well-constrained, unique two-station paths from teleseismic events. The two-station method is used to determine dispersion curves and these are inverted for isotropic phase velocity maps and azimuthal anisotropy maps for each period. The presence of fast phase velocities at lower crustal and uppermost mantle depths is found below the RFR, and Ste. Genevieve and Wabash Valley fault zones. At periods of 30s and higher, the RFR is underlain by slow phase velocities and is flanked to the NW and SE by regions of fast velocity. Fast phase velocities are present below the centre of the Illinois Basin in the period range 75–100s. Anisotropy fast axis orientations display complex patterns for each period and do not trend parallel to the direction of absolute plate motion. Anisotropy fast directions are consistently parallel to the trend of the RFR from 50s to higher periods, suggesting the presence of either frozen-in anisotropic fabric or fabric related to material transport from a recently discovered, pronounced low velocity zone below the Mississippi Embayment.

We use seismic ambient noise data recorded by broadband stations around the northern Mississippi Embayment to develop a three‐dimensional shear wave velocity model with full waveform inversion. Empirical Green's functions at periods between 8 and 40s are extracted using a data processing flow based on the continuous wavelet transform. Synthetic waveforms are calculated with an isotropic model through a Graphics Processor Unit‐enabled, collocated finite‐difference code. Starting from the Central United States Velocity Model, the shear wave velocity is iteratively updated with sensitivity kernels constructed using the adjoint method. S everal mid‐crustal velocity variations are related to major geological features including the Mississippi Valley graben (MVG), the Ouachita thrust belt, and the Missouri batholith. An intrusion is imaged in northwestern Alabama, coincident with a previously unexplained gravity high. A major change in mid‐crustal velocity occurs across the MVG; much higher velocity crust is present southeast of the graben than northwest. The high velocities are attributed to numerous igneous intrusions, possibly related to formation of the Granite‐Rhyolite province. A strength contrast produced by the change in mid‐crustal velocities may have facilitated formation of the younger, shallower MVG, as external stresses became tensional during Iapetus rifting. The rift pillow is interpreted as the deeper expression of the high velocity crust. Low velocity crust is present below southern Missouri starting at a depth of roughly 20 km. The boundary between the low velocity crust and higher velocity crust to the south and east is sharp and coincides with the Nd‐line.

A refined model of fault structure in the active New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) is presented based on relocated hypocenters and application of a statistical clustering method to determine fault planes. Over 200 earthquakes are recorded in the NMSZ every year, but the three‐dimensional (3‐D) fault structure is difficult to determine because the zone is covered by thick, Mississippi Embayment sediment. The distribution of earthquakes in the NMSZ indicates four major arms of seismicity, suggesting the presence of a northeast‐southwest trending strike‐slip fault system with a major northwest trending, contractional stepover fault. Relocation of 4,131 earthquakes using HypoDD resulted in major improvement in the depiction of fault structure in the NMSZ including three‐dimensional structural variations along the along the Reelfoot fault (RF) and a well‐defined intersection of the Axial and RFs. Optimal Anisotropic Dynamic Clustering analysis of the relocated hypocenters produced a fault model consisting of 12, well resolved planes. The RF is continuous along strike from the northern end to the Ridgely fault, located south of the intersection with the Axial fault (AF). The crosscutting Ridgely fault may serve as a barrier to rupture propagation along the entire fault. The strike‐slip arms of seismicity are well resolved and correspond to near vertical planes. Three planes are resolved in the southern part of the AF and are associated with the Osceola igneous complex.

In this field note, we make a case for adapting Reach Up and Learn, an evidence-based home-visiting intervention, to the needs of refugees, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable populations in the conflict-affected settings of Jordan, Lebanon, and northeastern Syria. We outline the implementation of the intervention in all three countries and share our observations, including successes and challenges, from the first two years (2016 and 2017) of this multiyear project. We also provide insights into the country-by-country evolution of the project. We compare and contrast the adaptation approaches in each country and highlight innovations based specifically on in-country feedback. We also touch on the measurement and costing approaches for the intervention, noting the ways the project is contributing to the limited body of evidence in this area. We offer specific recommendations for additional research to generate evidence on early childhood development in humanitarian programming, and we conclude with an overview of the next stage of the Reach Up and Learn project, which is part of a wider initiative to improve the developmental outcomes of children in the region who are affected by crisis and conflict.

Earth and Space Science Open Archive This preprint has been submitted to and is under consideration at Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth. ESSOAr is a venue for early communication or feedback before peer review. Data may be preliminary.Learn more about preprints preprintOpen AccessYou are viewing the latest version by default [v1]A New Madrid Seismic Zone Fault System Model from Relative Event Locations and Application of Optimal Anisotropic Dynamic ClusteringAuthorsYixinZhangiDOluwaseun IdowuFadugbaChristine A.PowellSteveHortonCharles AdamLangstonSee all authors Yixin ZhangiDCorresponding Author• Submitting Authorthe university of memphisiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3351-3569view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressOluwaseun Idowu FadugbaUniversity of Memphisview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressChristine A. PowellUniversity of Memphisview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressSteve HortonCentral Earthquake Research and Informationview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressCharles Adam LangstonUniversity of Memphisview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email address

The eastern Reelfoot rift margin (ERRM) poses a significant seismic hazard to the city of Memphis, Tennessee, and may be capable of generating moment magnitude 7 earthquakes. The goal of this study is to refine the fault structure and geometry of the ERRM, to improve understanding of the associated seismic hazard. We apply multiple filters (e.g., reduction-to-pole and horizontal-gradient) to aeromagnetic intensity data, to visualize the magnetic signature of ERRM basement rocks. To remove ambiguity in our fault interpretations from the magnetic data, we restrict our interpretations to magnetic gradients that correspond to geologic and geophysical evidence of faulting and rank faults on a confidence scheme. From near Covington, Tennessee, to Dyersburg, Tennessee, we interpret the ERRM to be segmented into nine intersecting faults that trend northeast, north-northeast, and north-northwest (two high confidence, four intermediate confidence, and three low confidence). We calculate the moment magnitude potential of each fault based on the estimated fault length. The minimum moment magnitude potential is 6.0, and the maximum is 7.0.

In this field note, we make a case for adapting Reach Up and Learn, an evidence-based home-visiting intervention, to the needs of refugees, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable populations in the conflict-affected settings of Jordan, Lebanon, and northeastern Syria. We outline the implementation of the intervention in all three countries and share our observations, including successes and challenges, from the first two years (2016 and 2017) of this multiyear project. We also provide insights into the country-by-country evolution of the project. We compare and contrast the adaptation approaches in each country and highlight innovations based specifically on in-country feedback. We also touch on the measurement and costing approaches for the intervention, noting the ways the project is contributing to the limited body of evidence in this area. We offer specific recommendations for additional research to generate evidence on early childhood development in humanitarian programming, and we conclude with an overview of the next stage of the Reach Up and Learn project, which is part of a wider initiative to improve the developmental outcomes of children in the region who are affected by crisis and conflict.

Sources of stress responsible for earthquakes occurring in the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) include not only far-field plate boundary forces but also various local contributions. In this study, we model stress fields due to heterogeneities in the upper mantle beneath the CEUS including a high-velocity feature identified as a lithospheric drip in a recent regional P-wave tomography study. We calculate velocity and stress distributions from numerical models for instantaneous 3-D mantle flow. Our models are driven by the heterogeneous density distribution based on a temperature field converted from the tomography study. The temperature field is utilized in a composite rheology, assumed for the numerical models. We compute several geodynamic quantities with our numerical models: dynamic topography, rate of dynamic topography, gravitational potential energy (GPE), differential stress, and Coulomb stress. We find that the GPE, representative of the density anomalies in the lithosphere, is an important factor for understanding the seismicity of the CEUS. When only the upper mantle heterogeneities are included in a model, differential and Coulomb stress for the observed fault geometries in the CEUS seismic zones acts as a good indicator to predict the seismicity distribution. Our modelling results suggest that the upper mantle heterogeneities and structure below the CEUS have stress concentration effects and are likely to promote earthquake generation at preexisting faults in the region's seismic zones. Our results imply that the mantle flow due to the upper-mantle heterogeneities can cause stress perturbations, which could help explain the intraplate seismicity in this region.

Home visiting programmes are increasingly recognized as one of the most effective interventions to improve child health and development in low-income settings. However, the best platforms to deliver such programmes remain unclear. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the relative effectiveness of child development agents (CDAs) and community health workers (CHWs) as two possible delivery platforms for early childhood development (ECD) focused home visiting intervention in São Paulo, Brazil. A total of 900 children aged 9-15 months were screened for potential study inclusion between January and March 2015. Children who did not attend crèches at enrolment were included in the trial. Children were randomly assigned to control or to receive biweekly home visits either through a CHW in the areas covered by the Brazilian Family Health Strategy (FHS) or by a newly hired cadre of CDAs in the areas not covered by the FHS. The primary study outcome was children's development (cognition, motor, language and social emotional skills) assessed after 12 months of intervention with the PRIDI and Caregiver-Reported Early Development Instruments tools. A total of 826 mother-child dyads were enrolled in the trial. In intention-to-treat analysis, neither intervention arm improved study outcomes. In per-protocol (PP) analysis, the CDA programme resulted in a 0.22 standard deviation increase in children's development (95% confidence interval [0.01-0.43]). The results presented in this study suggest that home visiting programmes have the potential to improve child development among poor urban families in Brazil. However, delivering home visiting interventions through already active CHWs may not be feasible in the Brazilian context and coordination across sectors is essential to effective ECD policies.

A three‐dimensional shear velocity model for the crust and upper mantle beneath the central United States is presented by inverting Rayleigh wave phase velocities from 20 s to 100 s periods. These phase velocities were determined using regional and teleseismic earthquakes recorded by the Northern Embayment Lithospheric Experiment stations, the CERI New Madrid Seismic Network, the Earthscope Transportable Array, and the Ozark Illinois INdiana Kentucky Flexible Array. A low Vs anomaly is imaged in the mantle below the Reelfoot Rift, which is the uppermost portion of connected low‐velocity zones dipping toward the southwest below the rift and to the northwest below the Illinois Basin. According to the analysis in previous tomographic studies using both Vp and Vs anomalies, the elevation of temperature and the enrichment of iron, water, and orthopyroxene contents are required factors to explain the reduced seismic velocities. These low‐velocity zones are produced by silica‐rich fluids rising from the stalled Farallon slab. Two areas with low shear strength characterized by low Vs are imaged below the Ste. Genevieve and the Wabash Valley seismic zones. The low‐velocity, weak areas may be responsible for stress concentration and thus the generation of intraplate seismicity.

The Crittenden County fault zone (CCFZ) is a potentially active fault zone located within 25 km of Memphis, Tennessee, and poses a significant seismic hazard to the region. Previous research has associated the fault zone with basement faults of the eastern Reelfoot rift margin (ERRM) and described it as a northeast-striking, northwest-dipping reverse fault. However, we suggest that there is an incomplete understanding of the fault geometry of the CCFZ and the ERRM in this region due to significant gaps in seismic reflection profiles used to interpret the fault systems. To improve our understanding of the structure of both fault systems in this region, we apply two processing techniques to gridded aeromagnetic data. We use the horizontal gradient method on reduction-to-pole magnetic data to detect magnetic contacts associated with faults as this technique produces shaper gradients at magnetic contacts than other edge detection methods. For depth to basement estimations, we use the analytic signal as the method does not require knowledge of the remnant magnetization of the source body. We suggest that the CCFZ extends approximately 16 km farther to the southwest than previously mapped and may be composed of three independent faults as opposed to a continuous structure. To the northeast, we interpreted two possible faults associated with the ERRM that intersect the CCFZ, one of which has been previously mapped as the Meeman-Shelby fault. If the CCFZ and the eastern rift margin are composed of isolated fault segments, the maximum magnitude earthquake that each fault segment may generate is reduced, thereby, lowering the existing seismic hazard both fault systems pose to Memphis, Tennessee.

Three-dimensional P- and S-wave velocity (V-p and V-s) models are determined for the crust containing the main aftershock cluster of the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake using local earthquake tomography. The inversion uses a total of 5125 arrivals (2465 P- and 2660 S-wave arrivals) for 324 aftershocks recorded by 12 stations. The inversion volume (22 x 20 x 16 km) is completely contained within the Piedmont Chopawamsic metavolcanic terrane. The models are well resolved in the central portion of the inversion volume in the depth range 1-5 km; good resolution does not extend to the hypocenter depth of the mainshock. Most aftershocks are located within a northeast-trending, southeast-dipping region containing negative V-p anomalies, positive V-s anomalies, and V-p/V-s ratios as low as 1.53. These velocity results strongly argue for the presence of quartz-rich rocks, which we attribute to either the presence of a giant quartz vein system or metamorphosed orthoquarzite sandstones originally deposited on the Laurentian passive margin and subsequently incorporated into the Chopawamsic thrust sheets during island arc collision in the Taconic orogeny.

Three‐dimensional, high‐resolution crustal and upper mantle P and S wave velocity (Vp and Vs) models are presented for the central United States using body wave tomography. The study utilizes local and teleseismic data recorded by the Northern Embayment Lithospheric Experiment stations, the CERI New Madrid Seismic Network, the Earthscope Transportable Array, and the Ozark Illinois INdiana Kentucky Flexible Array. Vp and Vs solutions are very similar and are well resolved in the depth range 40 to 400 km. Two anomalously slow regions are present below the Illinois Basin, forming a northwest dipping low‐velocity zone (LVZ) extending from ~200 to 400 km. Maximum anomaly magnitudes in the LVZ reach about −4% and −5% for Vp and Vs, respectively. The LVZ appears to connect to a well‐documented LVZ located below the northern Mississippi Embayment. The Illinois Basin velocity anomalies cannot be explained by elevated temperature alone and require compositional heterogeneity involving elevated orthopyroxene content in addition to an increase in iron and water content. The need for additional orthopyroxene suggests that the LVZ is being produced by metasomatism of mantle rocks by hydrous, silica‐rich fluids ascending from a slab fragment trapped in or near the transition zone. This supports previous interpretations for the existence of the LVZ below the Embayment. We suggest that the LVZs below the Mississippi Embayment and the Illinois Basin are linked to the presence of a large igneous province, which convection models suggest is currently located below the central United States.

Este manual proporciona contenidos que pueden compartirse con los padres/madres para promover interacciones destinadas a niños/as de 0 a 36 meses de edad. El manual fue desarrollado como respuesta a la pandemia del Covid-19 y la suspensión de muchos programas que incluían visitas domiciliarias o grupos parentales. No requiere que los padres/madres hayan participado previamente en esos programas y podría ser utilizado en otras situaciones que imposibilitan la entrega tradicional de programas parentales. El contenido comprende actividades de juego y lenguaje seleccionadas del programa Reach Up (www.reachupandlearn.com). Hemos escogido actividades que requieren pocos materiales y cuando se necesitan, son simples de hacer y utilizan cosas que los padres a menudo tienen en el hogar. El contenido se provee por grupos de edad de tres meses. Para cada uno de los grupos hemos seleccionado 6 actividades de juego y 6 actividades de lenguaje. Si un padre/madre no dispone de los materiales requeridos para una actividad, puede escoger otra. Todas las actividades de juego incluyen conversar acerca de las acciones y, a su vez, las de lenguaje involucran interacciones de juego. Muchas pueden realizarse como parte de las rutinas diarias tales como la comida, el baño y las tareas del hogar. El manual consta de 2 partes. La primera parte está destinada a los administradores del programa e incluye esta sección (Propósito del manual) y tablas con actividades que pueden utilizarse para entregar contenidos a los padres a través de varios medios, incluidos la radio, las llamadas telefónicas y las redes sociales.

Background A growing body of evidence suggests that early life health and developmental outcomes can be improved through parental support programs. The objective of this project was to test the feasibility, impact, and relative cost-effectiveness of an adapted “Reach Up and Learn” program delivered through home visiting programs as well as through center-based parenting groups on child health and development in the municipality of Boa Vista, Brazil. Methods A randomized stepped wedge design was used to roll out and evaluate the two parenting platforms in Boa Vista municipality. A total of 39 neighborhoods with high vulnerability index were selected for the study. For the first phase of the program, 9 neighborhoods were randomly selected for home visits, and 2 were randomly selected for the center-based parenting groups. In the second phase of the program, 10 neighborhoods were added to the home visiting program, and 8 were added to the center-based program. In the final phase of the program, the remaining 10 control areas will also be assigned to treatment. Study eligibility will be assessed through a baseline survey completed by all pregnant women in the 39 study areas. Pregnant women will be eligible to participate in the study if they are either classified as poor, were under age 20 when they became pregnant, or if they indicate to have been exposed to domestic or sexual violence. To assess program impact, an endline survey will be conducted when children reach age 2. The primary study outcome is child development at age 2 as measured by the PRIDI instrument. Secondary outcome will be infant mortality, which will be assessed linking municipal vital registration systems to the program rollout. Discussion This trial will assess the feasibility and impact of parenting programs rolled out at medium scale. The results from trial should create evidence urgently needed for guiding Brazil’s national Criança Feliz program as well as similar efforts in other countries.