A soft chalky limestone or coccolith-marl, believed to form a submarine outcrop in the upper part of the continental slope off Brittany, consists largely of coccoliths, with subordinate quantities of foraminifera and sponge-spicules. Of the twenty or more species of Coccolithophoridae found in this deposit, two are preserved as complete coccospheres more frequently than as separate placoliths; these are described and named. The age of the rock is probably late Tertiary.

The zircon age spectrum in a sample from the Canonbie Bridge Sandstone Formation (Asturian) of southern Scotland contains two main peaks. One is Early Carboniferous in age (348–318 Ma), and corresponds to the age of igneous activity during the Variscan Orogeny. The other is of late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian age (693–523 Ma), corresponding to the Cadomian. Together, these two groups comprise 70 % of the zircon population. The presence of these two peaks shows unequivocally that a significant proportion of the sediment was derived from the Variscides of western or central Europe. The zircon population also contains a range of older Proterozoic zircons and a small Devonian component. These could have been derived from the Variscides, but it is possible that some were locally derived through recycling of northerly derived sandstones of Devonian–Carboniferous age. The zircon age data confirm previous suggestions of Variscide sourcing to the Canonbie area, made on the basis of petrographical, heavy mineral and palaeocurrent evidence, and extend the known northward distribution of Variscan-derived Westphalian sediment in the UK.

The effects of current action on the distribution of foraminiferal tests are discussed and evaluated. The distributions of current- drifted and indigenous foraminiferal tests are compared and contrasted. A simple method of plotting abundance data facilitating differentiation between current-drifted and indigenous forms has been developed and applied to assemblages from the Pliocene Coralline Crag of Sutton, Suffolk. It has been found that these assemblages do not represent the original biocoenoses, but consist largely of exotic forms.

Summary. The Alas Formation (shelf limestones) of Sumatra is reinterpreted to be of late Visean age, on the basis of conodonts and brachiopods, rather than of Permian age as previously thought. It is, therefore, the oldest dated formation in Sumatra. The Alas Formation probably underlies or is equivalent to the lower part of the Kluet Formation within the Tapanuli Group.

Next to the metamorphic region of the Northern Highlands there is perhaps no area in Britain where the strata have been so contorted and convulsed as in the great Lower Palæozoic region of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, and it is only by the zonal method of stratigraphy that these complexities can ever be successfully unravelled. So far as the present results of the application of that method enable us to judge, it appears that, underlying all these stratigraphical complexities, there is, in reality, a broad tectonic structure of great simplicity. For, if we make exception, on the one hand, of the lowest strata (the Ballantrae or Arenig rocks), which, as we have seen, only rise to the surface within the limits of the Ballantrae district; and on the other hand of the highest formations (Wenlock-Ludlow), which merely skirt the Upland plateau upon its north-west and south-west flanks, we find that almost the whole of the Lower Palæozoic strata of the Uplands are naturally grouped in two grand lithological terranes, viz. (I.) a Lower Terrane (Moffat Terrane), including strata ranging from the Upper Llandeilo to the Upper Llandovery; and (II.) an Upper Terrane (Gala or Queensberry Terrane), embracing strata generally of Tarannon age.

Two methods of estimating the size of the graptolite zooid are described and discussed. It is possible to size a zooid by reference to cortical bandages or with reference to modem Rhabdopleura and its tubes. These two methods give very different results, with the first suggesting small zooids relative to thecal size and the second suggesting zooids that filled their thecae completely. Comparison is made with the evidence available from rare cases of preserved zooids. When all these observations are considered in the light of the ontogeny of modem pterobranchs, an ontogenetic sequence for the graptolite zooid can be inferred which helps to reconcile the two methods of estimating zooid size. This sequence postulates that most skeletal building occurred early in the life of the zooid, before it developed the capacity to feed or to reproduce, and it implies that only the first of three stages in the zooid's life is recorded in the skeleton. The later stages occurred without normally leaving any trace on the preservable remains of the colony. Finally, there is discussion of the effects which different zooid sizes would have had on some aspects of the functional morphology of a theca and on the hydrodynamic behaviour of the rhabdosome as a whole.

The base of the Lower Leintwardine Beds (Silurian-Ludlow Series) in the shelf sequences of the Welsh Borderland is marked by a widespread development of shelly conglomeratic limestone beds. Borings into some intraclasts indicate that they were hardgrounds. The early lithification, sometimes in situ, of both sand-grade and mud-grade carbonates is demonstrated by the conglomerates. Some compound intraclasts (‘hiatus concretions’) indicate a complex history of deposition, scouring and lithification. Boring of clasts which have not been further eroded is inferred to have taken place locally. The borings are of the narrow, single entrance form referable to Trypanites. The distribution of the conglomerates relates closely to Leintwardinian palaeogeography. Repeated hardground formation in sequences of inner shelf areas reflects episodic deposition alternating with periods of omission and erosion. There is evidence throughout the shelf of a break in sedimentation with hardground formation at the end of Bringewoodian times. The nature of the conglomerates suggests that they formed in shallow water conditions; there is no lithological indication of sub-aerial exposure. The absence of the Aymestry Limestone in the SE shelf is more probably due to its non-deposition or lateral lithological change to muddier beds with a different faunal assemblage than to its subsequent removal by erosion.

Cyclopyge genatenta Stubblefield, 1927, is interpreted from new material, and established as the type species of a new cyclopygid genus, Prospectatrix. The morphology of Prospectatrix shows that the cyclopygids and nileids are closely related, and together with the Taihungshaniidae, these families are included in an expanded concept of the Cyclopygacea. The subfamily Ellipsotaphrinae Kobayashi and Hamada, 1971 is excluded from the Cyclopygidae. Pelagic habits arose on at least five separate evolutionary lines among Ordovician trilobites: Prospectatrix lies near the origin of one of these. Cremastoglottos Whittard was derived from a robergioid ancestor by forward migration of the eyes.

Haematites of great commercial importance occur in West Cumberland, chiefly in the Carboniferous Limestone. Worked as early as the twelfth century the annual output reached half a million tons by 1861, since when the output has varied between that figure and one million tons. During these years of active exploitation many ore-bodies in the exposed ore field were worked out and active exploration is now concentrated around and to the south of Egremont, where the Carboniferous Limestone plunges beneath the New Red rocks. Among the problems confronting the searchers for new ore-bodies in this concealed ore field there is one of long standing, upon which unanimity has not been reached, namely the origin of the haematites. The question of origin is not one of mere academic interest. Its solution affords an important clue in the search for new ore-bodies. Two theories—magmatic origin and deposition from meteoric waters—are and have been propounded by rival advocates during the last fifty years. J. D. Kendall (1893) attributed the origin of the ores to ascent of magmatic solutions in pre-Permian times. To him we owe the theory of metasomatic replacement of the limestone by haematite, now generally accepted.

From 70 km northeast of Milford Sound (44.14° S, 168.55° E) to the coast at Milford Sound (44.53° S, 167.83° E) the trace of the Alpine Fault is nowhere more than 1.2 km from the arc with a centre at 48.81° S, 173.20° E and a radius of 628 km (5.65° latitude). Earthquake epicentres indicate that the arc defines the position of the fault just off Fiordland's outer coast and then to near the north end of Puysegur Trench at 46.9° S, 165.25° E. Along the fault vertically to a depth of 10 km the Fiordland rocks are 0.6 Mg/m3 denser than those to the northwest. Displaced post-glacial topography at and near Milford Sound shows that the dip of the fault is southeast at 75 ± 5° and that the faulting is pure dextral at a rate of at least 46 ± 5 mm/yr.

The Blackband Ironstone, at present extensively wrought at Borough Lee, Dryden Vale, about 5½ miles to the south-east of Edinburgh, is a member of the Middle Division of the Carboniferous Limestone Series. It abounds in fish remains, most of them unfortunately in a fragmentary and scattered condition, nevertheless many of these are clearly new to science. Such of these new forms as are most distinctly marked I propose to notice in the present communication ; the list will, however, doubtless be considerably extended by additional patient research, and we may also hope, that some further light will be thrown on the fishes, to which some of these fragments belonged.

The subsidence and stratigraphic evolution in an eastern section of the Subbetic Zone (External Zones of the Betic Cordilleras, Spain) during Jurassic and early Cretaceous times have been examined. The sediments have been deposited on a passive margin undergoing rifting. The data indicate that the activity was complex and spasmodic, with two distinct rift and post-rift phases. The beginning of the first syn-rift and post-rift phases are recorded by two regional sedimentary breaks, in the Late Carixian and in the Bathonian, respectively. The second rift and post-rift phases began, with less clearly defined limits, during the Oxfordian and at the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary, respectively.

The c. 1.5–1.3 Ga Wilton package, the upper succession of the greater McArthur Basin, preserves detailed tectono-sedimentary evidence for the Mesoproterozoic evolution of the North Australian Craton (NAC). In addition, it is a valuable global sedimentary repository for the poorly explored Mesoproterozoic. New detrital zircon U–Pb age and Lu–Hf isotope data, collected from multiple, geographically separated, basins that make up the Wilton package, are compiled with previously published data to illuminate the basin evolution. The spatial and temporal variation in sedimentary provenance illustrates two major geographic changes that correspond to continent-scale tectonic convulsions of the NAC during the Mesoproterozoic. The first is shown by the influx of sediment sourced from east and southeast terranes. This is linked to rifting between Proterozoic Australia and Laurentia at c. 1.45 Ga, resulting in the uplift of the eastern margin of the NAC–SAC (South Australian Craton). The second basin geographic change is illustrated by a flux of southerly-sourced detritus that is interpreted to be tectonically driven by the uplift of the southern NAC, during the subduction/closure of the Mirning Ocean at c. 1.32 Ga. Spatially, sediment in the Wilton package is separated into two depositional systems: sedimentary rocks within the Birrindudu Basin, the western component of the Wilton package, have different detrital signatures relative to other Wilton package successions found east of the Daly Waters Fault Zone, in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, the McArthur Basin and the South Nicholson Basin. The Daly Waters Fault Zone is interpreted as an ancient bathymetric high, blocking sediment transport. Although they differ in sources, rocks in both the Birrindudu Basin and the eastern Wilton package record coeval shifts of basin provenance to southern sources. The coherent evolution of basin provenance indicates a consistent tectono-sedimentation history, and links the Birrindudu Basin and the other Wilton successions in a tectonic framework.

The recently uplifted and exposed Pliocene and Pleistocene sedimentary infill of the neotectonic Polis graben provides an excellent opportunity to understand extensional basin development in a marine setting. Fieldwork, facies analysis and dating using nannofossils and strontium isotopes reveal how the sedimentary conditions evolved during infill of the Polis graben during Pliocene and Pleistocene time, and allow a composite succession for the depocentre to be determined for the first time. Six lithofacies are recognized in the northern Polis graben, allowing evolving palaeoenvironments to be inferred. By the end of Miocene time (Messinian) a major c. N–S-trending graben was established; extensional faulting continued during the Pliocene–Pleistocene until recent time. Post-Messinian salinity crisis deposition began with deposition of hemipelagic muds (c. 5.08–2.76 Ma), equivalent to the Nicosia Formation. This was followed by upwards incoming of repeated normal-graded bioclastic carbonates (couplets) (c. 2.76–1.6 Ma), which are interpreted as age-equivalents of the Athalassa Formation elsewhere in Cyprus. The upwards sudden facies change is explained by tectonically controlled shallowing which enabled neritic carbonate production on the basin margins. The appearance of basement-derived material (e.g. ophiolitic extrusive detritus) in the highest stratigraphic levels of the basin fill in the north (c. 1.7–1.6 Ma) reflects onset of rapid surface uplift focused on the Troodos ophiolitic massif. Overall, the syntectonic basin infill appears to document a two-stage, pulsed uplift related to early-stage collision of the African and Eurasian plates in the easternmost Mediterranean region.

Based on seven measured sections from Svalbard, the marine strata of the Permian Kapp Starostin Formation are arranged into seven transgressive–regressive sequences (TR1–TR7) of c. 4–5 Ma average duration, each bound by a maximum regressive surface. Facies, including heterozoan-dominated limestones, spiculitic cherts, sandstones, siltstones and shales, record deposition within inner, middle and outer shelf areas. The lowermost sequence, TR1, comprises most of the basal Vøringen Member, which records a transgression across the Gipshuken Formation following a hiatus of unknown duration. Temperate to cold, storm-dominated facies established in inner to middle shelf areas between the latest Artinskian and Kungurian. Prolonged deepening during sequences TR2 and TR3 was succeeded by a long-term shallowing-upward trend that lasted until the latest Permian (TR4–TR7). A major depocentre existed in central and western Spitsbergen while to the north, Dickson Land remained a shallow platform, leading to a shallow homoclinal ramp in NE Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet. The Middle Permian extinction (late Capitanian) is recorded near the base of TR6 in deeper parts of the basin only; elsewhere this sequence is not recorded. Likewise the youngest sequence, TR7, extending to the upper formational contact of latest Permian age, is found only in the basin depocentre. Comparison with age-equivalent strata in the Sverdrup Basin of Canada reveals a remarkably similar depositional history, with, for example, two (third-order) sea-level cycles recorded in the Late Permian of both regions, in keeping with the global record. Sequence stratigraphy may therefore be a powerful correlative tool for onshore and offshore Permian deposits across NW Pangaea.

The geological succession and structure of the district are briefly summarized. Evidence of stress conditions becomes increasingly abundant as one passes from south to north towards the boundary of the Carboniferous.

The thermal alteration due to the Bodmin Moor granite is definitely delimited by tracing the outer limit of spotting in normal pelitic sediments.

Petrographical study of phyllites from outside this limit shows considerable mineralogical reconstruction in the sediments, with crystallization of white mica, chlorite and chloritoid; in some instances garnet is developed. The distribution of these types shows no relationship to the granite outcrop, but accords with the main structural features of the area.

Analogous changes are prominent in the igneous horizons, with the formation of schists of the general type of prasinite.

Within the aureole thermal effects can be traced superposed on the earlier dynamic changes.

From these lines of inquiry it is concluded that many of the changes in the phyllites, notably the formation of porphyroblastic white mica, chlorite and chloritoid, hitherto ascribed with greater or less finality to the action of the granite, are due to an earlier dynamic metamorphism.

It is many years ago since Sir Archibald Geikie pointed out that the Tertiary basalts of the Western Isles of Scotland and North-East Ireland were remnants of plateaux built up of lavas extruded from fissures after the manner described by von Richthofen. In historic times fissure eruptions have taken place in Iceland, and in The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain a chapter is included on “The Modern Volcanoes of Iceland as illustrative of the Tertiary Volcanic History of North-Western Europe” (1, p. 260). Whilst little remains to be added in support of the very definite analogy exhibited in the nature of the lava streams themselves, the equivalent of the thin bands of red rock so typically intercalated in the Tertiary series has not been particularly examined, and I have visited Iceland in order to study the red beds themselves and search for their counterparts in the modern lava deserts.

Eight metabasic bands with pillow structures are exposed in a synclinal area immediately to the north-west of Read's (1955) position for the Boyne Line. Their petrography indicates (a) that they have undergone a sequence of metamorphic changes leading from the production of syntectonic biotite-albite-sphene-iron ore schists, through a stage of static annealing, to the development of post-tectonic amphibolites and (b) that they are of unusual chemical composition. Their stratigraphic position is discussed and compared with that of other occurrences of Dalradian pillow lavas, both in Scotland and in Ireland.