The Campanian Beloe Ozero locality within the Rybushka Formation in Saratov Province, Russia, is one of the richest and most diverse Upper Cretaceous pterosaur localities in Europe. It produces identifiable remains of Pteranodontidae indet. and Azhdarchidae indet., as well as bones which can be attributed to either of these groups. The pteranodontid specimens from the Beloe Ozero locality described in this paper include a cervical III, distal scapula, humerus deltopectoral crest, proximal syncarpal, preaxial carpal and complete femur. Based on the femur and proximal syncarpal, the wingspan estimate for the Beloe Ozero pteranodontid varies from 5.2 to 6.5 m. Volgadraco bogolubovi, known from the neighbouring Shyrokii Karamysh locality of the same formation and attributed previously to the Azhdarchidae, is more likely pteranodontid than azhdarchid. The other putative records of the Pteranodontidae in the Late Cretaceous of North America, Europe and Asia are discussed. Pteranodontid pterosaurs had a much wider distribution on the northern continents in the Late Cretaceous than previously thought.

Summary. As a direct result of new work in the Shelve Ordovician inlier, two new important extrusive andesitic members of a revised Stapeley Volcanic Formation, are described. These members were originally regarded as extrusive. However, they have for over half a century been considered intrusive and a brief literature review attempts to account for this anomaly. A palaeogeographic reconstruction suggests that the members represent the remains of two Llanvirn volcanic islands which, following subsidence, were overlapped and buried by later Llanvirn sedimentation. This reinterpretation considerably increases the volume of andesitic material known to have been erupted in Llanvirn times in this part of the Welsh borderland.

Wiwaxia is an extinct early metazoan with uncertain affinities, which is well represented in strata of Cambrian Series 2–3 age. Well-preserved representatives of Wiwaxia are known from the Burgess Shale Biota and the Kaili Biota. Here, new material of Wiwaxia corrugata (Matthew, 1899) is reported from the upper part of the Tsinghsutung Formation (Cambrian Series 2) near Balang Village, Guizhou Province, China. These specimens have a close evolutionary relationship to Wiwaxia taijiangensis Zhao, Qian & Lee, 1994 from the overlying Kaili Formation. New Wiwaxia material from the Tsinghsutung Formation and observations of specimens with articulated individuals from the Kaili Formation suggest that Wiwaxia taijiangensis should be a junior synonym of W. corrugata. A new study indicates that W. corrugata has a wide geographic distribution, a short geological history and evolutionary uniqueness and provides new data on taphonomy of this genus.

Palaeocurrent directions from cross-beds in the Proterozoic Kimberley Basin sediments, north-western Australia indicate sediment transport predominantly from the north-east in the lower part of the succession, and from the north-west in the middle and upper parts. Most of the sediment was probably derived from the north and only a little from the adjacent exposed areas of older Pre-Cambrian rocks to the south. The suggested northerly source of the sediment is consistent with a probable former position of Western Australia close to Peninsular India and to Burma.

The Cretaceous beds of the Southern Hemisphere contain a peculiar group of Belemnites which differs from all contemporary families previously described in that a ventral groove is never present. Hitherto, the individual species have been recorded either under the generalized name of Belemnites or else as members of such pre-existing genera as Actinocamax. In 1917, however, the independence of the group was recognized by Woods, who remarked that “ It is probable that the group of species to which B. lindsayi belongs should be regarded as a special section of Belemnites ”.

Recently published radiometric data show the duration of the Silurian Period to be approximately 32 Ma, significantly longer than previous estimates. Radiometric and graphic correlation studies demonstrate considerable variation in the durations of the four Silurian epochs: approximately 13 Ma for the Llandovery, 4 Ma for the Wenlock, 5 Ma for the Ludlow and 10 Ma for the Přídolí. Using this new geochronological data, figures for average graptolite zone duration are presented for each epoch, ranging from as little as 0.44 Ma in the Wenlock, to 1.43 Ma in the Přídolí. The figures provide a refined subdivision of the Silurian timescale, of value to studies which use Silurian graptolite zones to calibrate geological processes.

The model recently proposed by Kemežys for the distribution of punctae on the brachiopod shell is examined and found to be insufficient. An alternative model is proposed: punctae appear to conform to a hexagonal close-packing pattern on the shell surface. A hypothesis to account for this is introduced, and further implications are discussed.

The mudstones of the Manganese Shale Group are very similar in their characters throughout, but in the present work, greatest stress is laid upon the mudstones of one horizon—the Bluestone. This is about 5 ft. 6 in. thick, and occurs immediately above the manganese-ore band, which is 30 feet above the base of the group. From this horizon special metamorphic derivatives of the normal mudstones have been obtained from one locality—the lower end of the workings of the Hendre Mines on the north-west slopes of Moelfre, about 2¾ miles east 15 degrees south of the village of Llanbedr. There is no doubt that the types described belong to this one horizon, which is everywhere else remarkable for its uniformity of character. They always follow immediately on the manganese-ore band in the normal manner, without break, and their relationships with the succeeding strata are apparently the same as with the normal rocks. Also, with the exception of the calcite-bearing rock (p. 372), all the rock types are identical chemically.

As in Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh (NEFA) Himalayas, the Upper Palaeozoic (Lower Gondwana) sequence in Sikkim Himalayas contains basic lavas. These are interbedded with boulder bed/pebble slate, sandstone andshale, exposed in a tectonic window. Geochemically the basic lavas are characterized by high contents of TiO2, K2O, P2O5 and ‘incompatible’ trace elements. The chemistryis compatible with a small degree of partial melting under high pressure ofa titan-phlogopite-bearing peridotite mantle. The only primary quench phases are frequent apatite, magnetite and profuse ilmenite, the latter accounting for the high FeO/Fe2O3 ratio of the rock, and demonstrating rapid crystallization. The geochemistry of the lavas appears to be consistent with basic volcanism associated with the initiation of continental rifting. From this study and from a consideration of the geochemistry of the volcanic rocks of similar age in Kashmir area, it is suggested that rifting of the northern continental margin of the Indian plate and formation of a transitional crust during Upper Palaeozoic times are important geotectonic features in the Himalayan region.

Minor folds in slates and sandstones are upright in the south and northerly overturned towards the north, and plunge approximately E.N.E. and W.S.W. towards three major N.W.–S.E. dextral faults. The folds are monoclinal and angular; regardless of attitude, the short limbs lie on the northerly sides of anticlines. Both slaty and fracture cleavages tend to parallel axial planes and local directions of extension. Similarly, the vertical axial planes may closely parallel those of major folds.

Boudins and W.N.W.–E.S.E. dextral oblique faults indicate extension along fold hinges, N.W.–S.E. dextral cross faults a change to N.–S. compression. Folded basic dykes parallel to faults and joints suggest early initiation of the fractures.

An extensive dataset of major- and trace-element and B-isotope composition related to the compositional variation of the tourmalines from the S-type granite and pegmatite from the Upper Bonai and Gangpur Group granitoids, eastern India, is provided. The Gangpur Schist Belt, consisting of the Upper Bonai and Gangpur Group, lies at the eastern end of the Proterozoic Central Indian Tectonic Zone. An attempt to constrain the source of the boron isotope and describe the magmatic–hydrothermal evolution of the granite–pegmatite system is made. The tourmalines record generally low trace-element concentrations, with the exception of some elements such as Zn, Li, Ga, Mn and Ti. The Zn and Li concentration increases from the tourmalines in the granites to the tourmalines in the pegmatite. Trace-element compositions also vary slightly from the core tourmaline to the rim tourmaline. Tourmalines in granites/pegmatites are mostly Fe-rich schorl, and have S-type B-isotopic signature (δ11B = −10‰ to −12‰). Their chemistries reflect changing salinities of the granitic melts as well as vapour exsolution during progressive crystallization. This study indicates that the tourmalines in the pegmatites crystallized from evolved flux-element-rich (F, B, Li) melt, probably after the crystallization of granite-forming melt.

Amongst Mr. James L. Begg’s recent collections of fossils from the Upper Bala (Starfish Bed) of Thraive Glen, Girvan, there are several specimens of the genus Conularia, one of which has the apertural lobes well preserved, which is apparently unique in British Ordovician examples of this genus, and another shows internal structures of peculiar interest. A third new species is closely related to the one which Miss Slater named C. hispida, and a fourth is allied to C. plicata Slater. In Miss Slater’s monograph 1 on the British Conulariae, published in 1907, the following four species were described from the Upper Bala of Thraive Glen: C. cf. aspersa Lindstr., which is typically a Wenlock species; C. hispida Slater, which was also founded on Wenlock specimens; and C. plicata Slater and C. planiseptata Slater, which were recorded only from Thraive Glen.

Professor Steenstrup, some years ago, questioned the fact as to whether the Zoantharia tabulata and rugosa, included by him under the common name of “Cyathophylla,” might be considered as true polyps. MM. Edwards and Haime in framing those great subdivisions of their “Coralliaria,” remarked their striking dissimilarity from the other Actinozoa. Professor Agassiz, in his grand monograph on the Acalephæ of North America, considers these differences so important that henceforth all connection between the above-named groups and the Zoantharia aporosa and perforata will be impossible. But besides these peculiar characteristics of the Rugosa, such, for instance, as the compact imperforate structure of the calyx and septa (the septa originating from four primary ones), the absence of costæ, the strange septal fossæ in the bottom of the calyx, the processes resembling rootlets, the transverse floors or tabulæ in the interior, which often have a cellular or vesicular structure; there is another peculiarity as yet not much known.

A sedimentary formation beneath the Bray Series is found to have an extensive outcrop in southern Co. Wicklow. Evidence is given of the Pre-Cambrian age of both series. They are exposed in a Caledonian anticlinorium, which has been cut by thrusts and high-angle faults, but they had suffered strong orogenic deformation and prolonged erosion before the unconformable deposition of Lower Palaeozoic strata.

The Keystone/Muddy Mountain thrust of South East Nevada provides a spectacular example of a thrust sheet that has travelled across the earth's surface for a distance of at least 25 km, probably as much as 50 km. Along the thrust a Palaeozoic to early Mesozoic succession (> 4 km thick) has moved over a channelled erosion surface cut into Jurassic aeolian sandstone. Clasts in the channels are stratified, with those in upper layers being easily matched with the rocks in the thrust sheet – thus the clasts ‘herald’ the approach of the sheet. The clasts are only weakly deformed by the thrusting which belongs to the Sevier-Laramide orogeny.

Erosion appears to be a significant if not crucial factor in the emplacement of the Keystone thrust sheet. Adopting an erosion rate of 1 mm/a (in accord with Alpine and Himalayan estimates) and a rate of thrusting of 5 mm/a (in accord with estimates from the Canadian Rockies) it follows that the thrust sheet was ‘half-eroded’ after travelling about 25 km.

It is concluded that large displacement (i.e. > 25 km) may be impossible without erosion and one of two ‘erosion models’ would greatly facilitate transport up to 50 km, which is the likely maximum displacement.

The middle and upper members of the Gavilán Formation near Vélez-Rubio (Almería Province, southeast Spain) are interpreted as carbonate platform deposits. The studied outcrops form geologically part of the External Zones of the Betic Cordillera (South Iberian Palaeomargin). A genetic unit limited by intra-Sinemurian and intra-Upper-Carixian sedimentary breaks is defined. The evolution of the parasequence sets in the area, and the development of deeper sedimentation in its northern outcrops, suggest that this platform was isolated with regard to the South Iberian Margin. Three distinct parasequence sets are proposed: progradational parasequence set (only locally present), retrogradational parasequence set (middle member of the Gavilán Formation) and aggradational parasequence set (basically composed of the upper member of the Gavilán Formation). Sedimentary features (such as neptunian dykes, sharp lithological changes, thickness variations), the presence of palaeofaults and the subsidence history all lead to the conclusion of a significant regional tectonic influence in the genetic unit evolution. Normal extensional faulting has been proposed as a major control on sedimentation on this isolated platform. This regional factor has completely distorted the effect of the eustatic fluctuations for this period of time.

The area east of the Burnsall Knolls in the north-east Lowlands of Craven is occupied by limestones of the Northern facies type, apparently unaffected by the presence of the North Craven Fault.

The beds are overlain unconformably by the Grassington Grit, which, overstepping the flanks of the Skyreholme anticlne, thus continues to the south the unconformity noticed north of the fault. It is suggested hat the line of the Skyreholme anticlne is the axis of uplift which gave rise to pre-Millstone Grit denudation. Passing westwards the beds become Reef-like in character and eventually grade into the Reef limestones of Burnsall.

Finally, my best thanks are due to Mr. R. G. S. Hudson for much help and guidance during the progress of the above work.

Early folds (F1) in the Mylor Beds are upright or overturned to the north-west and trend north-easterly. They are cut by a flat-lying cleavage (S2) which is related to small-scale recumbent folds (F2) superimposed on the steep limbs of the early folds. The sequence of development of folds can be found elsewhere in the Mylor-Gram-scatho Beds and also in the Lizard Head mica schists. It is shown that F2 folds and S2 cleavage resulted from vertical shortening, which is believed to have been caused by the superimposition of slide sheets. It is suggested that the previously accepted age order of the Mylor and Gramscatho Beds should be reversed.