Basic rocks from the West Mexican Batholith and the Coastal Batholith of Peru are described. These are considered representative of the whole range of basic rocks in batholiths and their crystallization and subsequent history is related to the fluid pressure of the magma. Their role in batholithic evolution is discussed.

The inversion temperatures of the quartz from twenty-five specimens of the Beinn an Dubhaich granite have been measured and found to correspond to the inversion temperatures of quartz from rhyolites previously studied. Optical and X-ray studies of the alkali and plagioclase feldspars indicate high temperature modifications. The Beinn an Dubhaich granite has the textural and compositional features of a granite together with mineralogical features normally associated with rhyolitic rocks. The results serve to emphasize that methods are now available which make it possible in some cases to determine whether a particular granite was formed by metamorphism of sediments or by crystallization of a magma. It is concluded that the older granites and those which crystallized at greater depths probably have undergone considerable rearrangement of their mineralogical and textural features subsequent to primary crystallization.

Pterosaur teeth from the Early Cretaceous Lagerstätte of Las Hoyas (Spain) are described. We reassess the track from this site previously ascribed to a pterosaur, concluding that it is a theropod footprint. The teeth belong to two pterodactyloid taxa: a basal Istiodactylidae similar to Haopterus and an indeterminate Ornithocheiridae. From a palaeoecological point of view, the occurrence of such pterosaurs in the freshwater wetland palaeobiota of Las Hoyas strengthens the evidence of the similarity of this Spanish locality to the famous Early Cretaceous Lagerstätten of Liaoning in China.

Combinations of sedimentary structures in the lacustrine Keuper Marl are segregated bathymetrically. Beds deposited below lacustrine wave base are characterized by even bedding, rhythmic lamination, disturbed stratification, graded bedding, load casts, “pull-apart” structures, and oscillation ripple marks. Lacustrine beds deposited above wave base contain even bedding, rhythmic lamination, oscillation and interference ripple marks, current lineation, rib-and-furrow structure, groove casts, mudcracks, and raindrop imprints.

A marine unit in the Keuper Marl is characterized by even bedding, flat-topped oscillation ripple marks, and air-heave structures.

Comparison with sedimentary structures of other known lacustrine deposits suggests that the combination of structures in the non-marine Keuper Marl is diagnostic of lacustrine deposits. Recognition of such combinations of sedimentary structures should aid in interpreting the origin of continental sequences.

Smithian–lower Anisian strata in Peary Land, North Greenland, were deposited at ∼45° N on the northern margin of Pangaea in offshore to upper shoreface settings. The well-constrained succession (palynology and ammonite biostratigraphy) documents a remarkable shift from lycophyte spore-dominated assemblages in the upper Smithian to gymnosperm pollen-dominated ones in the lower Spathian in concert with a marked shift of +6 ‰ in δ13Corg. Correlation with other Smithian–Spathian boundary sections that record terrestrial floral changes indicates that the recovery of gymnosperms began earlier in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere. The lycophyte-dominated Late Smithian Thermal Maximum is here interpreted as reflecting dry and hot climatic conditions with only brief seasonal precipitation unable to sustain large areas of gymnosperm trees, but able to revive dehydrated lycophytes. This suggests that the Late Smithian Thermal Maximum was a time of widespread aridity, which is also supported by red bed deposition in many areas globally, even as far south as Antarctica. The shift to gymnosperm-dominated vegetation during the cooling across the Smithian–Spathian boundary reflects a change to seasonally more humid climatic conditions favouring gymnosperm recovery, and could have been initiated by increased albedo over land due to the widespread aridity during the Late Smithian Thermal Maximum. The recovery of gymnosperm vegetation would have helped to draw down CO2 from the atmosphere and exacerbate global cooling.

A dinosaur braincase from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Oxfordshire (England) is described. The specimen, which has historical significance, has been erratically attributed to either a sauropod or a theropod on the basis of vague phenetic resemblances. It is here re-interpreted in the light of recent cladistic analyses of dinosaurs, allowing the first proper character-based discussion of its affinities. It resembles those of ornithischian and prosauropod dinosaurs in the absence of a prominent, caudolaterally directed bony sheet from either the crista tuberalis (as in all theropods) or the crista prootica (as in all sauropods except juveniles of the eusauropod Shunosaurus). This braincase shows two synapomorphic characters of the Eusauropoda: the region of the cranium is rostrocaudally shortened and the long axis of the supratemporal fenestra is transversely oriented. For these characters, ornithischians, theropods, and prosauropods retain the plesiomorphic condition. It is concluded that the specimen is an important exemplar of a Middle Jurassic sauropod braincase and it is suggested that it could be from the eusauropod Cetiosaurus.

Thin-section observations and electron probe analyses, and trace element data are reported from a new mantle xenolith hosted in Miocene alkali basalt from the western flank of Simien shield volcano, Ethiopia. The spinel lherzolite enclaves contain variable proportions of olivine, orthopyroxene, green clinopyroxene and brown spinel, and have undergone deformation and partial recrystallization. They represent unmetasomatized, fertile xenoliths which were subjected to a late-stage melt–rock reaction. Trace element contents of clinopyroxene crystals are extremely low and quite different from those of the other xenoliths within the East African Rift System.

The Rochdale Formation of eastern New York (= Fort Ann and lower Bascom formations, designations abandoned) is now recognized to record the earliest stages of the Great Ordovician Radiation of cephalopods. The earliest Bassleroceratidae, Tarphyceratidae and endoceridans on the east Laurentian shallow carbonate platform occur in the upper, thrombolite-bearing member of the Rochdale. This fauna demonstrates that the earliest radiation of Ordovician nautiloids took place in the late Tremadocian and is best recorded in tropical platform facies. Revision of this cephalopod fauna based on approximately 190 specimens collected along a 200 km, N–S belt in easternmost New York has provided new information on inter- and intraspecific variation of earlier described species. The ellesmerocerid Vassaroceras and the endocerids Mcqueenoceras and Paraendoceras are emended. New taxa include Bassleroceras champlainense sp. nov. and B. triangulum sp. nov., Mccluskiceras comstockense gen. et sp. nov., Exoclitendoceras rochdalense gen. et sp. nov. and Paraendoceras depressum sp. nov. A rank abundance plot of 146 specimens from a locality in the Lake Champlain lowlands provides information on the community structure of a nautiloid fauna in which the longiconic cyrtoconic Bassleroceras is shown to dominate strongly. The nautiloid community structure of the Rochdale Formation is similar to that of the underlying Tribes Hill Formation (late early Tremadocian) with respect to the depositional setting, diversity and evenness but displays a remarkably increased taxonomic distinctness.

The chief features exhibited by the heavy mineral residues from the various formations will now be summarized, but it is difficult to show, by tabulating or otherwise, the differences or resemblances between residues, although such may be quite obvious to the investigator. This is because the differences consist of a sum total of variations in size, shape, colour, and frequency of the mineralscontained in the residues under examination, and it is scarcely possible to indicate such differences in writing, without frequent repetition of words, there by involving a loss in clarity of expression, or if tables be employed, without losing sight of other connected data.

Remains of coleoptera collected by Miss Chandler from the Barnwell Station beds (Cambridge) are described. Twenty-one recognizable taxa are recorded, all of which represent living genera or species. Five species are no longer found living in Britain and are confined today to arctic or sub-arctic environments. This interpretation of the fauna is in marked contrast to the identifications of P. Lesne, whose manuscript determinations are attached to the slides. He had attributed many of the specimens to new genera and species.

The fauna as here interpreted indicates a truly tundra environment and qualitatively and quantitatively resembles very closely other British coleopteran assemblages from the latter part of the Upton Warren (Mid-Weichselian) interstadial, i.e. about 30,000 years B.P.

Orthograptus obuti sp.nov. and Orthograptus insectiformis Nicholson are shown to exhibit a complex proximal meshwork developed from a much-divided virgella which closely resembles retiolitid clathrial and lacinial networks. The virgellar meshworks tend to enclose the rhabdosome, at least for the first few thecal pairs, and may support a tenuous periderm. This kind of virgellar complexity is contrasted with a newly discovered form of sicular spinosity represented by the species Glyptograptus (Pseudoglyptograptus) tabukensis sp.nov. and G. (P.) rhayaderensis sp.nov

The Taihangshan Mountain Belt, in the central North China Craton, represents an important crustal and tectonic boundary. To explore the complex tectonic evolution of this area during the Mesozoic–Cenozoic, we gathered zircon and apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronology data along a vertical transect (elevation of 630−1584 m) of the northern part of the Taihang Mountain Belt. From our data, we observed three separate rapid cooling phases that occurred at 100 Ma, 50−40 Ma and 27 Ma. Combined with previously published geochronological ages, we suggest that the uplift of the Taihang Mountain Belt initiated during the Jurassic and experienced multiphase rapid uplift from the Cretaceous to the Cenozoic. The early Cretaceous rapid cooling/uplifting events are widespread in the North China Craton and are caused by the collision between the Okhotomorsk Block and the East Asian continental margin. The Eocene and Oligocene rapid cooling events correspond to the initial rifting and thermal subsidence of the Bohai Bay Basin, indicating a coupling between the creation of basins and mountains.

Twenty eruptive events from the Northeast Crater of Stromboli volcano recorded by a thermal monitoring camera in early 2004 were analysed in order to understand the eruptive dynamics. Selected events were chosen to be typical of explosions that characterize the steady activity of Stromboli in terms of jet height and duration. Most of the explosions consisted of clast-rich single bursts, originating from the same vent inside the Northeast Crater. Conspicuous ash emission was scarce. Eruptions were preceded by the flashing of a perturbation wave characterized by low temperatures and an average propagation velocity of about 35–100 m s−1. This perturbation was thought to be caused by the bursting of the gas slug at the bottom of the crater and is interpreted as an air wave. This was immediately followed by the expansion of a jet of ‘hot’ gas and particles, at a velocity of 35–75 m s−1. Ejecta coarser than 138 cm appeared ~1.6–2 s after the onset of the explosion, moving at a variable velocity (30–60 m s−1). Eruptive events were either vertical or inclined 7–13° towards the NNW. This inclination is thought to be a consequence either of the morphology of the conduit, following modest rock falls that partially obstructed the uppermost part of the crater, or of the displacement of the internal conduit due to the explosive activity of the volcano. The instability of the summit area is a further possible cause of the deformation of the conduit.

A different approach to the naming of trace fossils is advocated. The primary ichnotaxobase should be the form of the burrow actually occupied, and the secondary ichnotaxobase should be the morphology of the structure that reflects the manner in which this burrow has been displaced and/or extended. Only by attempting to name trace fossils in this way will it be possible to eliminate features due to sedimentological factors that took place on termination of the animal’s activities, including passive infill and diagenesis. To discriminate between different preservational states the citation should include both the taxonomic and preservational aspects.

The Stoer is the lowest of three groups comprising the Torridonian Supergroup, a clastic succession deposited late in Mesoproterozoic times on the (Lewisian) metamorphic foreland to the Caledonian Orogen in northwest Scotland. This study reports a palaeomagnetic, rock magnetic and magnetic fabric investigation through the full stratigraphic thickness of the succession. A primary magnetic fabric of sedimentary origin defines current flow from a westerly veering to northwesterly source. Rock magnetic studies identify the presence of both magnetite and hematite in these sediments. Magnetite is apparently of primary detrital origin whilst the hematite probably results mostly from early diagenesis in an environment of restricted chemical weathering. Palaeomagnetic study of sedimentary slumps shows that magnetic remanence post-dates deposition but was probably fixed by early dewatering and lithification because slumped blocks of Stoer in basal Torridon Group sediments preserve a primary remanence. Tilt adjustment, although inconclusive, also implies that magnetic remanence is older than pre-Torridian Group tectonic deformation. The lower part of the Stoer succession shows a progressive increase of magnetic inclination with shallower components resident in magnetite and steeper components in hematite. The succession above the Stac Fada Member has the steepest magnetic inclination and shows no significant difference between magnetite and hematite component directions. The inferred time sequence of palaeopoles coincides with the Gardar palaeomagnetic track (∼ 1250–1130 Ma) at 1180 Ma, conforming to a Pb–Pb determination of 1199±70 Ma. The Stoer Group was fully lithified and deformed before deposition of the Torridon Group at ∼ 1030 Ma because it contains no vestige of the range of Caledonian and later overprints found extensively in the latter. Sedimentation and lithification of the Stoer Group are therefore linked with a phase of extensional tectonism at 1200–1150 Ma and deformation is attributed to a culminating phase of deformation in the nearby Grenville Belt at ∼ 1100 Ma.

Sedimentary rocks from the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary record important biological, climatic and geotectonic changes during this time. To date, only few geochemical investigations on the upper Ediacaran – upper Cambrian rocks in the Tarim Basin have been carried out. Here, we report high-resolution δ13Ccarb records from the Penglaiba, the Wushi phosphorite and the Dongergou sections from Ediacaran–Cambrian Series 3 in the Keping area of the Tarim Basin. The sections display several obvious δ13Ccarb shifts; δ13Ccarb values increased from 3‰ to 6.7‰ across the Qigebulage Formation. Moreover, a negative δ13Ccarb shift across the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary is apparent; δ13Ccarb values decreased to a minimum of −9.8‰ in the Wushi phosphorite section (−7.7‰ in Dongergou section and −5.4‰ in Penglaiba section), followed by a positive carbonate carbon isotopic excursion across the Yuertusi Formation into the middle of the overlying Xiaoerbulak Formation. Furthermore, more or less invariable positive δ13Ccarb values characterize the middle and upper Xiaoerbulak Formation. The most negative δ13Ccarb value (−14.3‰) occurred near the base of the Shayilik Formation, which is the absolute minimum value among the studied sections of the Cambrian Series 2 to Cambrian Series 3 transition in the world. The δ13C data from Keping, Tarim Basin are in good agreement with carbon isotope profiles recorded in South China, and these events may reflect the perturbation of the carbon cycle in the Tarim Basin during the Ediacaran–Cambrian and the Cambrian Series 2 – Cambrian Series 3 transitions.

Orogenic forelands host interactions between deformation and static or migrating fluids. Given their accessibility and dimensions, these areas are not only historic landmarks for structural geology, but they are also areas of prime interest for georesource exploration and geological storage, and loci of potential geohazards. Geochemical techniques applied on cements filling tectonic structures and associated trapped fluids can constrain the temperature, pressure, origin and pathways of fluids during deformation and allow the characterization of the past fluid system. In this review focused on calcite cements, we first present and critically discuss the most used geochemical techniques to appraise specific parameters of the fluid system. Second, we summarize the outcomes of selected case studies where the past fluid system was reconstructed with consideration of tectonics, either at the scale of the individual fold/thrust or at the scale of the fold-and-thrust belt. At first order, the past fluid system evolves in a similar way with respect to the considered stage of deformation, being rather closed to external fluids when deformation is bounded to mesoscale structure development, and opening to vertical flow when thrust and folds develop. In a more detailed view, it seems that the past fluid system evolves and distributes under the influence of the structural style, of the geometry of the major faults and of the lithology of the sedimentary succession. Through this review, we illustrate the concept of geochemistry-assisted structural geology through case studies where the geochemistry of calcite veins constrained subsurface geometries and structural developments in orogenic forelands.

A new stratigraphic survey of the pyroclastic deposits blanketing Pompeii ruins shows departures from prior reconstruction of the events that occurred inside the town during the two main phases (pumice fallout and pyroclastic density currents) of the ad 79 Vesuvius eruption. We document the depth and distribution of subaerial erosion surfaces in the upper part of the pyroclastic sequence, formed during two short-lived breaks occurring in the course of the second phase of the eruption. These pauses could explain why 50% of the victims were found in the streets during the pyroclastic density currents phase.

Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages recovered from the La Meseta Formation cropping out in Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, are studied herein and their distribution is compared with the biostratigraphic scheme available for the Palaeogene of the Southern Ocean and other high-latitude regions. In this way, the La Meseta Formation is dated as middle Lutetian to Priabonian (46.2–36 Ma), which differs from the age provided by other fossils, isotopes and also with the magnetostratigraphic scheme recently performed for the unit. The dinoflagellate cyst data support the proposal of ocean circulation patterns on the South American Shelf prior to the opening of Drake Passage. Assemblages from the La Meseta Formation contain Antarctic-endemic taxa which are also dominant in several circum-Antarctic sites, located south of 45° S. Their distribution reflects an ocean-circulation scheme with wide clockwise gyres surrounding Antarctica that were disrupted as a consequence of the deepening and definitive apertures of the Tasmanian Gateway and Drake Passage towards the Eocene/Oligocene transition. The palaeoenvironmental inference based on the S/D ratio (sporomorphs versus dinoflagellate cysts) and the P/G ratio (peridinioid versus gonyaulacoid dinoflagellate cysts) suggests an overall trend through the section from marine-dominated assemblages with poorly productive waters in the lower part of the section to more terrestrially dominated assemblages with increasing productivity in the upper part of the unit, reflecting a shallowing trend to the top.