An upper Santonian fauna dominated by the curved baculitid Boehmoceras Riedel, 1931, occurs as phosphatic moulds in the Tombigbee Sand Member of the Eutaw Formation in Mississippi and Alabama, and also is reworked into the base of the Mooreville Chalk; a similar assemblage is present in the middle part of the Pen Formation of the Big Bend area, Texas. The assemblage is: Pseudoschloenbachia (Pseudoschloenbachia) mexicana (Renz, 1936), Placenticeras syrtale (Morton, 1834), Reginaites leei (Reeside, 1927a), Reginaites exilis sp. nov., Texanites (Texanites) sp. juv. cf. gallicus Collignon, 1948, Texanites (Plesiotexanites) shiloensis Young, 1963, Texanitinae incertae sedis, Hyphantoceras (?) amapondense (van Hoepen, 1921).Glyptoxoceras spp., Boehmoceras arculus (Morton, 1834) and Scaphites (Scaphites) leei Reeside, 1927a, form I. The assemblage is referred to the uppermost Santonian Texanites (Plesiotexanites) shiloensis zone of the Gulf Coast sequence. Common occurrence of Scaphites (S.) leei I and Reginaites leei suggest correlation with the Upper Santonian Desmoscaphites erdmanni zone of the U.S. Western Interior; common occurrence of Boehmoceras arculus (= B. loescheri of European authors) suggests correlation with the Marsupites–granulata zone at the top of the North German Santonian. These data strengthen intercontinental correlation of the Santonian–Campanian boundary sequence. They also provide a biostratigraphic link to a numerical age of 84.2±0.9 Ma from a bentonite at a slightly lower level in the Tombigbee Sand Member of the Eutaw Formation in Mississippi.

Two temnospondyl intercentra from non-marine middle Jurassic rocks at Mab Ching, in the southern peninsula of Thailand, are the first remains of post-Triassic labyrinthodont amphibians to be reported from the Shan-Thai block. They closely resemble an intercentrum recently reported from the middle Jurassic of the Khorat Plateau of northeastern Thailand, which is part of the Indochina block. Although the Mab Ching specimens are too fragmentary to warrant a precise identification, they confirm that temnospondyl amphibians were widespread on the various Asian continental blocks in the Jurassic.

Tectonic joints localized within deformation band shear zones on the Kaibab uplift in Utah, USA, show the same spacing and distribution characteristics as joints controlled by primary lithological mechanical stratigraphy, despite the fact that deformation band shear zones are secondary structural features oblique to primary sedimentary layers. The spacing and distribution of joints that traverse deformation band shear zones are important factors in the permeability and connectivity of sandstone reservoirs compartmentalized by deformation band shear zones.

Evidence is presented for Liassic (Toarcian) faulting at Watton Cliff in coastal W Dorset. This movement is inferred from the abrupt changes in thickness of the Junction Bed and contiguous strata given that the contact with the overlying shale and clay is horizontal. Further evidence for synsedimentary movement is manifested by the presence, in the palaeofault zone, of numerous calcilutite-filled fissures penetrating a coarser, more sandy matrix. These neptunian dykes and sills contain abundant ammonites of the middle to late Toarcian, presumably the time of fault movement. This onshore Jurassic palaeofault broadens the known extent of such features from Sutherland (Brora—Helmsdale Fault) and Yorkshire (Peak Fault) to include southern Britain.

The purpose of this paper is to document the influence of depositional environments on shallow-water, low-relief clinoforms from the description of five ancient carbonate platforms: the Neoproterozoic (Namibia), Middle Jurassic (France), Lower Cretaceous (France), Upper Cretaceous (Oman) and Miocene (Turkey). These examples have been investigated on the basis of field observations. The clinoforms are described with reference to geometric and compositional attributes: declivity, shape, height, sedimentary structures, sediment fabric and components. The results show great variability in stratal geometry, declivity and facies distribution: (1) depositional profiles vary from exponential, to sigmoidal, to oblique; (2) maximal slope angles range from 3 to 25°, most of them being grouped between 10 and 18°; (3) facies differentiation identified from lateral facies successions along beds, and vertical facies successions through beds, is pronounced to subtle. This study documents linkages between depositional environments and clinoform attributes. Proximal/shallow clinoforms display round-edged exponential profiles. Sediment deposition has resulted from unidirectional currents in the upper convex section, and storm-generated oscillatory currents in the lower concave part. The sediment fabric changes gradually along this type of clinoform. There is little vertical facies differentiation through these clinobeds which have formed from a continuous amalgamation of deposits. By contrast, distal clinoforms (shelf break, distally steepened ramp settings) yield a much broader spectrum of profiles and are generally shorter and steeper. Sedimentary structures in gravel-sized deposits of the upper slope indicate pure traction by unidirectional currents. Conversely, marks of oscillatory flows (undular, wavy top bounding surfaces of clinobeds) are common in the lower slope. Intercalation of massive, fine-grained deposits suggests offshore transport of carbonate mud by suspension. Each distal clinobed represents a single flow event. Accordingly, facies differentiation is weak laterally but may be pronounced through the clinobeds. Our study suggests that low-relief forms of proximal/shallow environments, which contain coarse-grained and photo-independently produced debris, record hydrodynamic equilibrium profiles, whereas the higher-relief forms of this setting rather reflect a high differential production rate of carbonate sediment with water depth. The carbonate sediment of the distal clinobeds mainly derives from skeletal production by oligophotic and photo-independent biota of the middle shelf/ramp and upper portion of the clinoforms. The contribution by in situ skeletal biota only becomes significant on the lower slope, indicating that the distal, submerged slopes of carbonate platforms are not organically but hydrodynamically generated. Our compilation shows that the slope angles of shallow marine, low-relief clinoforms do not simply correlate to the sediment grain size and fabric, in contrast to what has been documented for the high, linear slope profiles. This difference stems from the depositional settings, namely the involved transport mechanisms. Low-relief clinoform accretion seems to be dominantly influenced by wave-induced sediment transport, in contrast to linear flanks of high-relief clinoforms that build to the angle of repose, and for which gravity is the primary transport process.

Gabbro samples (c. < 0.4 Ma old) dredged from close to the ‘Vityaz Megamullion’ on the slow-spreading Northern Central Indian Ridge (NCIR, 18–22 mm yr−1) include mostly olivine gabbro and Fe–Ti oxide gabbro. The cumulate olivine gabbro shows ophitic to subophitic texture with early formed plagioclase crystals in mutual contact with each other, and a narrow range of compositions of olivine (Fo80–81), clinopyroxene (magnesium number: 85–87) and plagioclase (An67–70). This olivine gabbro could be geochemically cogenetic with the evolved oxide gabbro. These gabbro samples are geochemically distinct from the CIR gabbro occurring along the Vema, Argo and Marie Celeste transform faults and can further be discriminated from the associated NCIR basalts by their clinopyroxene (augite in gabbro, and diopsidic in basalts) and olivine (gabbro: Fo80–81, basalts: Fo82–88) compositions. Our major oxide, trace element and REE geochemistry analyses suggest that the gabbro and the NCIR basalts are also not cogenetic and had experienced different trends of geochemical evolution. The clinopyroxenes of the present NCIR gabbros are geochemically similar to primitive melt that is in equilibrium with mantle peridotite, and do not show any poikilitic texture with resorbed plagioclase; these results negate the possibility of these gabbros being a pre-existing cumulate that has been brought up to the shallower oceanic crust and interacted with the NCIR basalt. The Sr, Pb and Nd isotopic data of the gabbro substantially differ from those of the NCIR basalts and suggest significant contamination of the depleted mantle source of the gabbro, most likely by the Indian Ocean pelagic sediments. The Pb-isotope data suggest that the proportion of pelagic sediment that mixed in the depleted mantle source of the NCIR gabbro is much higher than the level of contamination observed for the Indian Ocean MORBs.

Sea surface temperature (SST) estimates using the δ18O composition of fossil planktonic foraminifer calcite, within the time slice 3.12 to 3.05 Ma (Pliocene, Kaena Subchron – C2An1r) are assessed for nine Atlantic Ocean sites. These are compared with SST estimates from fossil assemblages for the ‘Time Slab’ 3.29–2.97 Ma and with estimates from a fully coupled ocean–atmosphere General Circulation Model (GCM) for the same time interval. Most SST estimates derived from the δ18O data indicate a cooler ocean surface than at present, through the latitudinal range 69.25° N to 46.88° S. At some sites the temperature difference is greater than 5 °C (cooler than at present). This contrasts with SST estimates from fossil assemblages that give warmer than present temperatures at mid- to high latitudes, and similar temperatures in the tropics, and with the GCM, which predicts SSTs warmer than at present across all latitudes for this time interval. Difficulties interpreting the ecology of fossil foraminifer assemblages and inaccurate estimates of mid-Pliocene seawater δ18O composition (δ18Osw) at some sites may partly produce the temperature discrepancy between isotope-based and fossil-based SST estimates, but do not adequately explain the cool signal of the former. We interpret the cool SST estimates from the δ18O data to be the product of: (a) calcite formed at a level deep within or below the ocean mixed-layer during the life-cycle of the foraminifera; (b) secondary calcite with higher δ18O formed in the planktonic foraminifer tests in sea bottom pore waters. Although these effects differ between sites, secular and temporal oceanographic trends are preserved in the primary calcite formed in the mixed-layer near the ocean surface, witnessed by the latitudinal variation in estimated SSTs. Reconstructing accurate mid-Pliocene SSTs with much of the existing published oxygen isotope data probably requires a detailed re-assessment of taphonomy, particularly at tropical sites. This study also indicates that methods for estimating Atlantic Pliocene δ18Osw need to be refined.

The rock specimens described in this paper were collected by N. W. Pirie on the Cambridge Spitsbergen Expedition of 1930,1 and by the writer on the second and larger expedition of 1932. They represent an area forming the “neck” of Central Spitsbergen between Klaas Billen Bay to the south and Wijde Bay to the north, together with an area to the east and north-east of the Mittag-Leffler Glacier, extending northwards to the upper portion of the Lomme Bay Glacier, thus including the Stubendorff Mountains to the east of Wijde Bay and the western flanks of the Chydenius Range. The 1930 expedition started from the mouth of Ebba Valley in Petunia Bay and reached Wijde Bay by way of the Ebba and Mittag-Leffler Glaciers; after reconnoitring part of the Stubendorff Glacier they returned over the Mittag-Leffler and Ragnar Glaciers, passing to the north-west of Mount Hult. Most of the ground was again covered by the 1932 expedition, but in addition a sledge party reached the highland ice of Garwood Land at the head of the Ebba Glacier, turned north along the eastern margin of the Mittag-Leffler Glacier system and passing to the west of the Newton-Chernishev massif succeeded in carrying out topographical and geological observations on the Lomme Bay Glacier, though these were much curtailed by bad weather. On the return journey the party made their way down the “Vallee de Martin Conway”, crossed the divide between the Mittag-Leffler and Ebba Glaciers, and reached Petunia Bay by the same route that they had followed on the way up.

The Rogart igneous complex is unique within the northern Scottish Caledonides because it comprises an apparent continuum of magma types that records a progressive change in emplacement mechanisms related to large-scale tectonic controls. Syn-D2 leucogranites and late-D2 quartz monzodiorites were emplaced during crustal thickening and focused within the broad zone of ductile deformation associated with the Naver Thrust. In contrast, emplacement of the post-D2 composite central pluton was controlled by development of a steeply dipping dextral shear zone along the Loch Shin Line, interpreted as an anti-Riedel shear within the Great Glen Fault system. The mantle-derived nature of the late-to-post-D2 melts implies that the Naver Thrust and the Loch Shin Line were both crustal-scale structures along which magmas were channelled during deformation. A U–Pb zircon age of 425±1.5 Ma for the outer component of the central pluton provides an upper limit on regional deformation and metamorphism within host Moine rocks. These findings are consistent with the view that a fundamental change in tectonic regime occurred in the Scottish Caledonides at c. 425 Ma, corresponding to the switch from regional thrusting that resulted from the collision of Baltica and Laurentia, to the development of the orogen-parallel Great Glen Fault system.

Previously published models of gravity anomalies across the Highland Boundary Fault in western Scotland interpret this structure as a high-angle reverse fault. These gravity anomalies have been re-interpreted in the light of more extensive gravity data now available, and new density data from the Highland Border Complex. The new data suggest that earlier interpretations have overestimated the fault anomaly and used over-simplified density models. New gravity models of the Highland Boundary Fault Zone are presented which show that the interface between the Dalradian and Highland Border Complex dips to the northwest at an angle of about 20°. We interpret the contact between these two formations as a thrust fault. The interface between the Highland Border Complex and the Lower Old Red Sandstone is shown to be vertical as suggested by surface geology, with the latter rocks a few hundred metres thick.

A 1108.6 m long core was recovered at Site U1457 located on the Indus Fan in the Laxmi Basin of the eastern Arabian Sea during IODP Expedition 355. Shipboard examinations defined five lithologic units (I to V) of the lower Paleocene to Holocene sedimentary sequence. In this study, δ13C values of sedimentary organic matter (SOM) confirm the differentiation of the lithologic units and further divide units III and IV into two subunits (1 and 2). Based on the underlying assumption that the SOM is decided primarily by a mixture of marine and terrestrial origins, δ13CSOM values at Site U1457 provide information on the terrestrial catchment conditions since late Miocene time. Low δ13CSOM values from late Miocene to late Pleistocene times are similar (c. −22.0 ‰) for the most part, reflecting a consistent contribution of terrestrial organic matter from the catchment areas characterized by dominant C3 land plants. Significantly lower δ13CSOM values (c. −24.0 ‰) in Unit III-2 (∼8 to ∼7 Ma) might be due to a greater input of C3 terrestrial organic matter. The increase in δ13CSOM values at ∼7 Ma and the appearance of high δ13CSOM values (c. −18.0 ‰) within Unit III-1 (∼7 to ∼2 Ma) indicate that C4 biomass overwhelmed the terrestrial catchment environment as a result of enhanced terrestrial aridity in the Himalayan foreland. The three-end-member simple mixing model, estimating the relative contributions of SOM from terrestrial C3 and C4 plants and marine phytoplankton, supports our interpretation of the distribution of C3 and C4 land plants in the terrestrial catchment environment.

Moraines which in one case at least contain striated boulders, show that, at the maximum of Quaternary glaciation, small, thin glaciers developed in the island of St. Kilda at certain favourable places. There is no evidence that the Hebridean ice sheet reached the island and no signs of raised beaches which would indicate recent emergence.

Among the most controversial problems of British geology are those concerning the metamorphic rocks which make up the greater part of the Scottish Highlands. The writer, in common with many geologists whose work has brought them into contact with the region, has long felt that the discussion and solution of these problems would be greatly facilitated by a nomenclature less involved and more consistent than that at present in use. A simplified nomenclature, moreover, would do much to stimulate and hold the attention of students and general readers.

The Tien Shan is a Cenozoic orogenic belt in central Asia caused by the post-collisional convergence of India with Asia that reactivated Palaeozoic faults. The Korla Basin is a complex foreland basin within the Chinese Tien Shan; elongate sub-basins within it have received sediment from both the hangingwall and footwall blocks above and below reverse faults on their northern margins. The footwall blocks are themselves uplifted by the next fault to the south: the greater part of the sediment supply measured by area comes from the footwall block. This sediment supply pattern is analogous to that of extensional half-graben.

Modern unvegetated rivers flowing through aeolian-dune fields demonstrate potential as analogues for pre-vegetation fluvial landscapes. A prominent example is contained in the Lençóis Maranhenses of Brazil, a coastal aeolian system hosting the semi-perennial Rio Negro. Remotely sensed images covering c. 45 years display the rhythmic expansion and wind-driven shift of single-threaded and sinuous fluvial trunks alternating with wider braided plains. Sinuous tracts feature mid-channel and bank-attached bars, including expansional point bars with subdued relief. The morphology, accretion and sediment transport of unvegetated point bars in the Rio Negro are compared to the morphodynamics of vegetated meandering rivers. Unvegetated point bars are composed of large coalescent unit bars, lack apparent scroll topography and are preferentially attached to channel banks located on the windward side of the river course. Unvegetated meanders have expansional behaviour related to downwind channel trailing. Point bars maintain an expansional planform despite spatial confinement induced by aeolian dunes. Channel-flow impingement onto cohesion-less banks favours scouring of deep pools along the bar tails, which host bank-collapse deposits subsequently reworked into new bars. Analogies to Precambrian rivers suggest that ancient unvegetated fluvial landscapes were not unequivocally featured by low sinuosity, especially if characterized by a low gradient and stable discharge. This inference is supported by ongoing studies on Proterozoic fluvial–aeolian systems in the Canadian Shield. Lack of scroll topography introduces overlap with low-sinuosity fluvial facies models, underscoring the value of observing ancient fluvial deposits in planform, or along 3D sections where the palaeodrainage of channel bodies and attached bars can be compared.

In the year 1888 I published a short paper in the pages of the Geological Magazine and in “Nature,” in which I gave a brief account of the discovery of the fauna of the Olenellus (or Lower Cambrian) zone in the Comley or Hollybush Sandstone of Shropshire. Since that date great advances have been made in our knowledge of the Olenellus fauna of other areas, and the Olenellus zone has now generally attained an established rank and systematic position in the Geological Record as the basal zone of the Cambrian system.

Field, microstructural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data from the Palaeozoic Mandi-Karsog pluton in the Lesser Himalayan region reveal a concordant relationship between fabric of the Proterozoic host rock and the granite. The pluton displays a prominent arcuate shape on the geological map. The margin-parallel mesoscopic and magnetic fabrics of the granite and warping of the host rock fabric around the pluton indicate that this regional curvature is either synchronous or pre-dates the emplacement of the granite body. Mesoscopic fabric, magnetic fabric and microstructures indicate that the northern part of the pluton preserves its pre-Himalayan magmatic fabric while the central and southern part shows tectonic fabric related to the Tertiary Himalayan orogeny. The presence of NW–SE-trending aplitic veins within the granite indicates a post-emplacement stretching in the NE–SW direction. Shear-sense indicators in the mylonites along the margin of the pluton suggest top-to-the-SW shearing related to the Himalayan orogeny. Based on these observations, it is envisaged that the extension that gave rise to this rift-related magmatism had a NE–SW trend, that is, normal to the trend of the aplite veins. Subsequently, during the Himalayan orogeny, compression occurred along this same NE–SW orientation. These findings imply that the regional curvature present in the Himachal Lesser Himalaya is in fact a pre-Himalayan feature and the pluton has formed by filling a major pre-Himalayan arcuate extension fracture.

Feeding burrow trace fossils are recorded from the Upper Brioverian of St Ouen's Bay, Jersey. The traces resemble Sabellarites (Dawson) and represent deep water turbidity metazoans of Late Precambrian age, which are unknown in the remaining Brioverian of the Massif Armoricain.

The Periadriatic Lineament Zone which forms the boundary between the Eastern and Southern Alps in the Karawanken region of Austria has a complex history spanning the Variscan and Alpine orogenies. Variscan regional metamorphism and polyphase deformation followed by Late to Post Variscan intrusive activity with accompanying contact metamorphism affects a belt of structurally complex rocks referred to as the Eisenkappel Zone to the north of the lineament. Weak Early Alpine deformation in the Southern Alpine rocks can also be recognized in the Eisenkappel Zone. The Young Alpine intrusion of the Karawanken Tonalite was followed by lateral fault displacements associated with the formation of the Periadriatic Lineament. Late Tertiary sediments, caught up in the northward directed thrusting responsible for the uplift of the Karawanken chain, record the youngest deformation in the area.

We amend the taxonomy and provide new anatomical information on the hadrosaurid dinosaur Saurolophus morrisi (upper Maastrichtian Moreno Formation, central California, USA) derived from full preparation of the referred skull roof. The cranial morphology of this species is distinct enough to justify the new combination Augustynolophus morrisi gen. nov. The morphology of the nasals and surrounding cranial bones indicates that A. morrisi sported a solid nasal crest ending in an elongate triangular plate that extended above the skull roof. Autapomorphies include a crescentic base of the frontal caudodorsal process and extension of the process caudal to the frontal ‘dome’; distal end of nasal crest with knob-like process inflected rostrally; circumnarial depression lightly incised and weakly emarginated, adjacent to caudolateral margin of nasal and occupying two-thirds the width of lateral surface of distal region of crest; and caudal surface of distal nasal crest subrectangular. We formally establish the new tribe Saurolophini consisting of Prosaurolophus, Augustynolophus and Saurolophus. Saurolophin synapomorphies include a premaxilla with broad arcuate contour of rostrolateral region of thin everted oral margin and flat and steeply inclined occlusal surface of dentary dental battery, among other characters. Saurolophin crests evolved towards increasing caudodorsal length, along with caudal extension of the circumnarial fossa and involvement into the crest of adjacent facial elements. Augustynolophus is the second described genus of North American late Maastrichtian hadrosaurids. Its recognition implies a greater diversity among late Maastrichtian dinosaur faunas than previously recognized and is congruent with hypotheses of endemism and/or provinciality during Late Cretaceous time.