Retroarc foreland basins in contractional arc settings contain evidence of temporal and spatial variations in magmatic activity, deformation, and exhumation along the continental margin and serve as excellent recorders of subduction dynamics through time. The Cacheuta basin, northwestern Mendoza Province, Argentina, is situated within the transition zone between the Pampean flat-slab subduction segment north of 33°S and the normal-dipping slab segment of the Southern Volcanic Zone to the south, and it records a detailed history of Andean orogenic exhumation at this latitude. The integration of sedimentologic, stratigraphic, geochronologic, and sediment provenance data from the Cacheuta basin constrains orogenic exhumation patterns and basin evolution during basin development. Cacheuta basin strata record at least a 12 m.y. period of basin evolution (ca. 20 Ma to younger than 7.5 Ma), based on new geochronology. The timing of initial basin subsidence is constrained by the lowermost sample in the Mariño Formation, which yielded a maximum depositional age of 19.2 ± 0.26 Ma, ~4 m.y. earlier than previous interpretations. Conglomerate clast counts, thin section petrography, and detrital zircon analyses, coupled with distinct sedimentologic variations, record progressive orogenic exhumation of the Cordillera Principal, Cordillera Frontal, and Precordillera during early to middle Miocene time. Examination of basinal strata demonstrate that uplift of the Cordillera Principal, Cordillera Frontal, and Precordillera, and simultaneous development of the Cacheuta retroarc foreland basin, in the early to mid-Miocene was the result of contractional deformation and crustal thickening during normal subduction-related orogenic processes and did not result from the development of the flat slab in late Miocene time.

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Understanding how the general public uses sci ence terminology during disasters has implications for improving communication between disaster experts and the public and for informing efforts de signed to cultivate science literacy. This study pre sents an analysis of quotes in U.S. newspaper and newswire articles from people who identified the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami either as a tidal wave or as a tsunami immediately after the disas ter. Quotes from 147 individuals were assigned codes based on their location, nationality, and con nection to the event. Individuals coded as experts (n = 16) only uttered tsunami. Englishspeaking non-tsunami experts in impacted countries were significantly more likely to identify the tsunami as a tidal wave than were individuals in nonimpacted countries. Of 31 quoted non-tsunami experts who were in an impacted country, 52% described the disaster as a tidal wave; only 2% of distal non-tsu nami experts (n = 100) uttered tidal wave. Of partic ular note, four of ten quoted tourists from the U.S. who experienced the tsunami uttered tidal wave, whereas none of 27 quoted residents in the U.S. did so. Our results suggest that even if people are aware of appropriate terminology, many individuals will utter more familiar, colloquial, and linguistically simpler words instead of more accurate terminol ogy, especially when experiencing elevated levels of stress, such as during the aftermath of a disaster. The implication for disaster communication efforts is that while a term that was once considered jar gon can become widely known and adopted, many people will resort to a more familiar term unless the scientific jargon resonates with their personal, con ceptual image of the disaster.