Studies dealing with the response of the continental biosphere to the environmental perturbations associated with Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) are comparatively rare. Here, a quantitative spore-pollen record combined with clay mineral data is presented, which covers the entire early Aptian OAE 1a interval (Forcall Formation, Maestrat basin, east Spain). The well-expressed OAE 1a carbon-isotope anomaly is paralleled by changes in the clay mineral assemblage and by a stepwise decline in the normalized frequency of Classopollis pollen (produced by xerophytic Cheirolepidiaceae) with lowest contents occurring during the positive δ13C shift. In contrast, Araucariacites and Inaperturopollenites pollen show a pronounced increase in relative abundance from low background values to become a significant component of the palynological assemblage during the Classopollis minimum. The observed changes in clay minerals and pollen distribution patterns are interpreted to reflect a major change in the composition of the hinterland vegetation of the Maestrat Basin, most probably due to short-lived but pronounced climatic cooling and changes in humidity. Temperature anomalies driven by organic carbon burial and associated CO2 decline have been postulated for all major Mesozoic OAEs. The palynomorph record from the Iberian Maestrat basins indicates that the climax of this cooling episode was significantly delayed in comparison to the end of organic carbon-rich deposition in the world oceans.

The Middle and Upper Devonian limestone successions at Torquay and in the Lemon Valley SW of Newton Abbot are described. Lithostratigraphic units are proposed for the Torquay succession. The compositions of the coral faunas in both successions are outlined and contribute, together with the other available faunal evidence, towards a broad internal dating of these limestone sequences. Successions elsewhere in the limestones of eastern South Devon are briefly outlined. On the basis of this evidence facies variations from the margin towards the centre of the carbonate platform in eastern South Devon are demonstrated and interpreted as reflecting the development of barrier reefs along parts at least of the platform margin in Givetian times. The character of the reef-complex, named the Tor Bay Reef-Complex, is briefly compared with Devonian reefs elsewhere.

The East Kunlun Orogen (EKO) is the NW part of the Central China Orogenic Belt, which records the evolutionary history of the Proto- and Palaeo-Tethys Oceans from the Cambrian to the Triassic. An Early Palaeozoic eclogite belt has been recognized in recent years, which extends discontinuously for ∼500 km as three eclogite-bearing terranes. In this study, we report an integrated study of zircon grains from mica-schists accompanying the eclogites, in terms of mineral inclusions, U–Pb age systematics and P–T conditions. The presence of coesite is identified, as inclusions within the metamorphic domain of zircons, which provides unambiguous evidence for subducted terrigenous clastic rocks of the Proto-Tethys Ocean exhumed from coesite-forming depths. U–Pb dating of the metamorphic zircons yields a concordia age of 426.5 ± 0.88 Ma, which is likely to be the time of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in the Kehete terrane. P–T calculations suggest that metapelite may have experienced a clockwise P–T path with peak P/T conditions of 685 ± 41 °C and >28 kbar, and equilibrated at 482–566 °C and 5.6–8.9 kbar during subsequent exhumation. The high-pressure – ultrahigh-pressure (HP-UHP) metamorphic belt within the EKO may have formed by collision between the Qaidam Block and the South Kunlun Block, as a consequence of the closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean.

Ichthyosaurs, a lineage of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, have garnered attention in both the palaeontological and developmental literature for the unique limb morphology seen in derived genera. These morphologies include an increase in the number of phalanges per digit (hyperphalangy) and in the number of digits (hyperdactyly), but most interestingly also a shift in element identity. Elements distal to the stylopodium acquire characteristics of mesopodial elements, such as a rounded, nodular shape and a loss of perichondral bone on the anterior and posterior surfaces. Here, we examine numerous aspects of the loss of proximodistal identity in ichthyosaur limbs including phylogenetic progression of the loss of perichondral bone, histology and microstructure of the elements retaining perichondral bone in derived taxa, and correlates of intraspecific variation in degree of perichondral bone reduction in a derived ichthyosaur, Stenopterygius quadriscissus. Results show that loss of limb element identity occurred progressively over ichthyosaurian evolution, and the notches seen on the anterior surface of limb elements in derived ichthyosaurs are homologous to the long bone shafts in terrestrial tetrapods. Variation in the number of notches in S. quadriscissus can best be explained through delayed ossification of the anterior perichondrium, indicating a heterochronic component to the loss of identity. We propose a developmental mechanism – gradual expansion of the polyalanine region of HoxD13 over ichthyosaurian evolution – to explain the progressive loss of limb regionalization as well as the heterochronic delay in perichondral ossification.

The Basement Complex rocks of the Northern Red Sea Hills, Sudan, are believed to be pre-Cambrian in age. They can be divided into three major sedimentary and volcanic divisions, with four main periods of igneous intrusion. The succession proposed by the author is as follows:—

Red granite.

Injection granite.

Awat series.

(Unconformity with folding, thrusting, and cleavage.)

Basic intrusive phase.

Nafirdeib series.

(Unconformity with folding, and regional metamorphism.)

Primitive system {Acid Gneiss (intrusive). Schists and Gneiss.

A flora of cuticle fragments obtained by maceration of the Bathonian coal of Brora is described together with some lycopod megaspores from the shale below the coal. All the species are known from the Bajocian or Bathonian of N. Yorkshire. Ptero-phyllum cycadites sp. nov. is described as new, the type being a Yorkshire specimen. The formation of the Brora coal is discussed.

Silurian successions deposited on the margins of the Iapetus Ocean in the English Lake District, Southern Uplands of Scotland and Ireland contain recycled Ordovician acritarchs. These include taxa known only from Avalonia and Gondwana, with other recycled acritarchs possibly derived from Baltica. There is no palynological evidence to indicate that Laurentiaconstituted a source area. The data presented herein suggest that provinciality in derived microfossils may be profitably exploited in provenance studies.

A review of the progress of knowledge concerning the Moine Schists shows that, whereas about twenty years ago many geologists supported Horne's contention that the Moine sediments were pre-Torridonian, there has been recently a marked swing towards Peach's view that they are the equivalents of the Torridonian. The interpretation of the structural petrology of these schists in the light of this change of opinion is then discussed.

Formerly there were several surface brine springs in the North-East Coalfield; to-day there are none. From the many accounts of their occurrence nothing has been learned of their exact position, and very little of the composition of their waters. The earliest record, made in 1684, described the Butterby spring (Todd, 1684), and then at various times during the next two centuries brine springs at Framwellgate, Lumley, Birtley, Walker, Wallsend, Hebburn, and Jarrow were noted. In particular the Birtley salt spring is often mentioned, and on the 6-in. Ordnance map, Durham No. 13, 1862 edition, it is sited to the south-east of the village. Although no record has been found there must have been either a brine spring or well at Gateshead, for the name of the present-day suburb, Saltwell, is very old, and brine springs are still active in the coal workings of that area.

Investigation of a section near Morston on the central north Norfolk coast has revealed evidence of a complex sequence of beach deposits laid down under interglacial conditions in association with relative sea levels similar to those of the present. This material rests upon a highly calcareous till and is itself overlain by a deposit comparable with the Hunstanton Till of northwest Norfolk. This site therefore represents the first location at which Hunstanton Till has been found overlying older till, and the only location so far discovered in East Anglia at which interglacial deposits separate glacigenic sediments. The site also contains the only indubitable Quaternary warm stage deposits to have been recognized in central north Norfolk.

Iron-titanium oxides from Taberg in Sweden exhibit under the electron microscope several microstructural features not visible when studied by optical microscopy, including homogeneous nucleation of magnetitess from ulvöspinelss, and the spinodal decomposition of magnetitesss. Such microstructures have promise as indicators of cooling rates.

The Western flanks of the Hellenic Fold and Thrust Belt are similar to the nearby prolific Albanian oil and gas provinces, where commercial volumes of oil have been produced. The Lower Oligocene to Lower–Middle Miocene slope series at this part of the Hellenic Fold and Thrust Belt provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the anatomy and source rock potential of such a system from an outcrop perspective. Slope progradation is manifested as a vertical pattern exhibiting an increasing amount of sediment bypass upwards, which is interpreted as reflecting increasing gradient conditions. The palaeoflow trend exhibits a western direction during the Late Oligocene but since the Early Miocene has shifted to the East. The occurrence of reliable index species allowed us to recognize several nannoplankton biozones (NP23 to NN5). Organic geochemical data indicate that the containing organic matter is present in sufficient abundance and with good enough quality to be regarded as potential source rocks. The present Rock-Eval II pyrolytic yields and calculated values of hydrogen and oxygen indexes imply that the recent organic matter type is of type III kerogen. A terrestrial origin is suggested and is attributed to short transportation distance and accumulation at rather low water depth. The succession is immature with respect to oil generation and has not experienced high temperature during burial. However, its eastern down-slope equivalent deep-sea mudstone facies should be considered as good gas-prone source rocks onshore since they may have experienced higher thermal evolution. In addition, they may have improved organic geochemical parameters because there is no oxidization of the organic matter.

A mineralogical and 4OAr/39Ar study of 13 amphibole samples in the Kamila Amphibolite Belt and Kamila Shear Zone in northern Pakistan has found a correlation between the degree of greenschist facies alteration and quantity of excess 40Ar. Additionally, there is a north–south divide with amphibole samples from the northern region showing larger degrees of gree schist facies alteration, brittle deformation, and excess 40Ar incorporation compared to the predominantly plastically deformed, less altered, amphibole samples from the Kamila Shear Zone in the south. Acid leaching of two amphiboles from the Kamila Amphibolite Belt indicates that a large proportion of the excess 40Ar is correlated with later greenschist facies alteration hases, and can be easily removed by acid etching, thus revealing acceptable regional 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages.

Twelve 40Ar–39Ar biotite and four hornblende age determinations have been carried out to constrain the cooling history of the Proterozoic bedrock near Oskarshamn, SE Sweden, an area identified as a possible site for long-term nuclear waste storage. The bedrock hosts c. 1.80 Ga granites and diorites of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt and two 1.45–1.44 Ga granite intrusions, the Götemar and Uthammar plutons. Biotite was selected from three surface samples, representing both the older rocks and the younger granites, and from three cored boreholes at nine different depth levels. Hornblende was extracted from samples at the top and bottom of one borehole and at two sub-surface levels of another borehole. Three age groups were distinguished: ≥1.62 Ga, 1.51–1.47 Ga and 1.43–1.42 Ga. In the first group, two hornblende analyses yielded ages of 1799±4 Ma and 1773±13 Ma, which indicate initial fast cooling after emplacement of 1.80 Ga rocks of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt. Two biotite ages of 1618±7 Ma and 1621±3 Ma are interpreted to date final cooling, through 300 °C, after the youngest suite (1.68–1.67 Ga) of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt in south-central Sweden. Seven biotite ages, in the range 1.51–1.47 Ga, are enigmatic to interpret but largely coincide in age with the end of widespread rapakivi magmatism in Fennoscandia and the initiation of the Danopolonian event. The 1.43–1.42 Ga biotite and hornblende ages reflect cooling after thermal heating from the 1.45–1.44 Ga Götemar and Uthammar plutons. Later events thermally affected the bedrock in the Oskarshamn area as indicated by a poorly defined biotite age of 928±6 Ma and other disturbed 40Ar–39Ar ages of samples bordering a complex deformation zone.

The receipt of a grant from the Trustees of the Percy Sladen Fund in 1911 made a return to the Balearic Islands possible in the latter part of the same year. Majorca was visited for the third time while a search for Pleistocene ossiferous remains was undertaken for the first time in Menorca and Ibiza, from which no Pleistocene mammalian remains had previously been recorded. No success attended the search in Ibiza. The deposits discovered in Menorca yielded remains of Myotragus balearicus, those of a gigantic land tortoise, and of a large Eliomys, which proves to be a hitherto undescribed species.

The Lower Limestone Group, which outcrops extensively on the east coast of Fife, southeast Scotland, consists of interbedded sandstones, siltstones and claystones with occasional coal seams, and limestone beds. Several of the coals have been mined economically in the past.

The sequence was deposited in a shallow-water, deltaic setting. Three facies associations have been distinguished; (1) laminated claystones, and marine bioclastic limestones, which were deposited in prodelta and marine shelf environments, (2) crudely coarsening-upward sandstone units, interpreted as delta front deposits of fluvially-dominated though wave-influenced, shallow-water deltas, and (3) interbedded clastic sedimentary rocks and coals, deposited in delta plain environments. The sequence as a whole accumulated by repeated progradation and abandonment of deltaic complexes.

Palaeosol profiles of four types are superbly preserved within the delta plain facies association. These are (1) organic soils (peats), now coal seams, (2) gley palaeosols, which formed in persistently waterlogged conditions, (3) freely drained soils which formed on a quartz sand-rich substrate, and (4) similar profiles formed by free drainage through variable substrates and involving B horizon accumulation of concretionary iron oxides. Compound palaeosols are common.

Deposition of the Lower Limestone Group was influenced by the tectonic and volcanic instability of the Fife area during Visean times. Frequent seismic events centred on active fault lines caused local uplift of parts of the normally waterlogged delta plain environment, allowing the formation of well-drained soils. Peats (coals) were best developed and least affected by oxidation in an elongate, fault bounded zone of enhanced subsidence.

Nearly ten years ago I proposed the term ‘hemera.’ The term is coming into use; but, so far as I am aware, in the majority of cases it is greatly misunderstood. From this cause arise objections as to its use, such objections being based on the misconception that the hemera is a subdivision of a zone. It is nothing of the kind.

The ultramafic—mafic complex at North Cape lies in a Mesozoic—Lower Tertiary tectonic belt linking New Zealand with New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea. The complex is faulted against Cretaceous submarine tholeiites and contains (1) serpentinized harzburgite and lherzolite of probable cumulus origin (and intruded by more Fe-rich wehrlitic veins and dykes), overlain by (2) layered olivine- and orthopyroxene-gabbro subvolcanic cumulates which are themselves host for (3) a sheeted dyke swarm of mainly quartz-diorite composition. It is suggested that the complex was emplaced with the Cretaceous volcanics by obduction of Mesozoic oceanic crust during the Lower Tertiary.

The Zhangguangcai Range in the Xing’an Mongolian Orogenic Belt, NE China, contains Early Jurassic (c. 188 Ma) Dabaizigou (DBZG) porphyritic dolerite. Compared with other island-arc mafic rocks, the DBZG dolerite is characterized by high trace-element contents, relatively weak Nb and Ta enrichments, and no Zr, Hf or Ti depletions, similar to OIB-type rocks. Analysed rocks have (87Sr/86Sr)i ratios of 0.7033–0.7044, relatively uniform positive ɛNd(t) values of 2.3–3.2 and positive ɛHf(t) values of 8.5–17.1. Trace-element and isotopic modelling indicates that the DBZG mafic rocks were generated by partial melting of asthenospheric mantle under garnet- to spinel-facies conditions. The occurrence of OIB-like mafic intrusion suggests significant upwelling of the asthenosphere in response to lithospheric attenuation caused by continental rifting. These processes occurred in an incipient continental back-arc environment in the upper plate of a palaeo-Pacific slab subducting W–NW beneath East Asia.

The Bångonåive basement culmination, a doubly plunging antiform trending SW-NE in its southern part and SSW-NNE in the north, is part of a major Caledonian antiform in north-central Scandinavia. Crystalline, Proterozoic basement rocks (mainly syenite) are unconformably overlain by a sedimentary cover including tillites at the base, passing up into arkoses, quartzites and shales, capped by black phyllites. This sequence is correlated with the Varangian to Cambrian succession of the Baltoscandian platform farther east. Detailed mapping revealed a succession of five basement-cover horses, which represent the accessible part of an antiformal stack exposed beneath the Middle and Upper Allochthons and taken here as the Lower Allochthon structural level.

Caledonian deformation varies in intensity from penetrative near thrusts and in pelitic rocks to very weak in the more internal parts of the horses. A penetrative foliation is associated with the growth of white mica and rare biotite. This early fabric is overprinted by a mylonitic foliation related to localized shear zones, which separate the structural units within the Lower Allochthon. Stretching and mineral lineations trend WNW-ESE and related shear-sense criteria indicate transport (top) towards the ESE. Structural units (horses) are thrust into an antiformal stack and folded around the lowermost horse exposed, which is itself folded into an anticlinal lift-off fold. Towards the northeast, the antiformal stack is overprinted by a pop-up and an out-of-sequence thrust. The latter breached the roof of the Lower Allochthon and transported part of it over the Middle and Upper Allochthons. Further folds are associated with lateral and oblique ramps in the Lower Allochthon. These structures relate very well with the complex fold pattern previously observed in the higher structural units and thrust tectonics provides a straightforward genetic explanation for these folds. Therefore, earlier genetic models of the Bångonåive basement culmination as a simple imbrication of basement into higher units, as a buckling structure or as a gravitational dome structure are rejected here. The structural information, supported by gravimetric data, is consistent with an essentially flat regional detachment surface (2° dip) extending from the present external Caledonian margin to the base of the Bångonåive antiformal stack.