This paper reviews the stratigraphic micropalaeontology of the Lapithos Group of Cyprus, which is now known to be Upper Cretaceous to Lower Miocene in age. A three-fold subdivision, on the basis of planktonic foraminifera, into Lower (Upper Cretaceous) Middle (Danian to Eocene) and Upper (Oligocene to Lower Miocene) Lapithos Formations is suggested and a summary of the outcrops of each formation is given. The foraminiferal faunas of the Lapithos Group are discussed and it can be shown that a planktonic and a neritic faunal assemblage is present in each formation. The Terra Limestone, hitherto considered as part of the Dhali Group, shows faunal affinities with the Upper Lapithos neritic facies and is therefore placed in the Lapithos Group.

A narrow layer of quartzite, emplaced within epidiorite by foldthrusting, is transformed to albite-trondhjemite aplite and contiguous zones of the epidiorite are enriched in biotite. By reference to six chemical analyses it is found that, with but small additions of potash these transformations can be accounted for by the combined processes of (a) mechanical mixing of the initial quartzite and epidiorite, and (b) metamorphic inter-diffusion between this mixture and the adjoining epidiorite.

The paper describes a conodont fauna from the Namurian of North Staffordshire. Seventeen genera and thirty-four species are identified in the fauna, of which Hibbardella fragilis, Hibbardella pennata, Lambdagnathus macrodentata, Mestognathus bipluti, Neoprioniodus spathatus, and Subbryantodus subaequalis are new species. The composition of the fauna and its correlation with similar faunas in the United States of America and Germany are discussed.

Lepidostrobus fimbriatus Kidston is redescribed as Lepidostrobophyllum fimbriatum (Kidston) from a new locality, in the Drybrook Sandstone of the Forest of Dean. The sporophyll consists of two parts bent at right angles, forming a heel of hard tissue. The sporangium is attached to a small area by the midrib, and is only partly occupied by the four spiney megaspores. A ligule is present.

The species Alveolites fibrosa Lonsdale, 1839, described also as Stenopora fibrosa var. β Regularis McCoy, 1851, and referred to as Stenopora fibrosa var. incrustans McCoy, was recognized originally by Lonsdale (1839) as different from Calamopora fibrosa Goldfuss, 1826. It is described here as Orbignyella fibrosa (Lonsdale) and shown to occur typically in beds of Leintwardine age.

Attention is drawn to the widespread occurrence of perthosite bodies in the Basement Complex of southern Nyasaland, and a description of these rocks is given.

It is suggested that these rocks represent a late stage in the differentiation of basaltic or andesitic magma which produced basic intrusives and volcanics and ultrabasic complexes in the late Pre-Cambrian. These were subsequently metamorphosed at a high grade. The nepheline-syenite gneisses of Port Herald and Tambani are believed to be related to the same series.

The remarkable similarities between the late Pre-Cambrian igneous history and that of the Karroo to Chilwa Series period is commented upon, and the occurrence of similar “ring structuress” in both series is described.

In both north-east Shetland and the Jotunheim area of Norway two nappes of crystalline rocks occur lying one above the other and separated in time and space by orogenic sediments. These sediments were formed in part at least by erosion of the lower, and first emplaced, of the two nappes in both areas. Later emplacement of the upper nappes caused the deformation and metamorphism of these rocks. In both Norway and Shetland large quartzite conglomerates which occur immediately beneath the upper nappes have been deformed on patterns which have been determined from a study of the pebble shapes. From these patterns in both areas it is argued that the deformation was due to flow caused by pressure differences developed in the sole of the advancing nappe and possibly to extrusion from beneath the nappe.

The occurrence of hypersthene in Hawaiian basalts, related broadly to the lime-silica values in the bulk analyses, is now considered and graphically expressed in terms of the quantitative proportions of the normative constituents, diopside, hypersthene, olivine, and quartz in analyses of Kilauea and Mauna Loa lavas.