The Alpine tectonics in the Pyrenean Range is controlled by motions of basement blocks (High Primary Range, North Pyrenean blocks). These blocks belong to different tectonic units; they are amygdaloid, wedge-shaped, squeezed at their roots, upthrust and displaced with their cover (detached or not) in a convergent shear zone between the European and Iberian plates. These basement blocks are distributed within isopic (isofacial) units with diachronous terrigenous prisms. The stratigraphical analysis of their Mesozoīc cover reveals their relative position during the Mid-Cretaceous continental break-up which induced the separation of the two previously joined plates.

The Mesozoic forearc of Alexander Island, Antarctica, is one of the few places in the world where the original stratigraphic relationship between a forearc basin and an accretionary complex is exposed. Newlydiscovered sedimentary rocks exposed at the western edge of the forearc basin fill (the Kimmeridgian–Albian Fossil Bluff Group) record the events associated with the basin formation. These strata are assigned to the newly defined Selene Nunatak Formation (?Bathonian) and Atoll Nunataks Formation (?Bathonian-Tithonian) within the Fossil Bluff Group.

The Selene Nunatak Formation contains variable thicknesses of conglomeratesand sandstones, predominantly derived from the LeMay Group accretionary complex upon which it is unconformable. The formation marks emergence and subsequent erosion of the inner forearc area. It is conformably overlain by the1 km thick Atoll Nunataks Formation, characterized by thinly-bedded mudstones and silty mudstones representing a marine transgression followed by trench-slope deposition. The Atoll Nunataks Formation marks a phase of subsidence, possibly in response to tectonic events in the accretionary prism that are known to have occurred at about the same time.

The Atoll Nunataks Formation is conformably overlain by the Himalia Ridge Formation, a thick sequence of basin-wide arc-derived conglomerates. This transition from fine- to coarse-grained deposition suggests that a well-developed depositional trough (and hence trench-slope break) had formed by that time. The Atoll Nunataks Formation therefore spans the formation of the forearc basin, and marks the transition from trench-slope to forearc basin deposition.

Studies of melanges in the Shimanto Belt of southwest Japan have shown that many of the included blocks exhibit asymmetric geometries, similar to boudins and inclusions in medium grade metamorphic rocks which have been subjected to markedly non-coaxial strains. Deformation is accomplished by mesoscopically ductile processes such as pore-pressure-controlled or diffusionally-controlled grain boundary sliding, although localized fracture and cataclasis also occurs. It is suggested that the melanges developed by the propagation of extensional displacement zones, analogous to shear bands, through sandstone beds, so progressively dismembering them. Studies of the detailed internal geometries of melanges along with the deformation mechanisms active during their formation may help resolve the mode of formation of these problematic units.

Re-description of the left dentary of Chinshakiangosaurus chunghoensis reveals that it possesses an unusual combination of ‘prosauropod’ and ‘sauropod’ character states. Cladistic analysis places Chinshakiangosaurus as one of the most basal sauropods known currently. Mapping of dentary and dental characters onto the most parsimonious topologies yields insights into the sequence of acquisition of a number of feeding-related characters. For example, it seems that basal sauropodomorphs (traditional prosauropod taxa) possessed a fleshy cheek that attached to the mandible along a marked ridge, and that the same structure was present in the most basal sauropods. The early sauropod skull developed a lateral plate that reinforced the bases of the tooth crowns labially, and had wrinkled tooth enamel and a concavity on the mesial portion of the lingual part of each crown, while retaining a fleshy cheek and a relatively weak symphysis. More advanced sauropods (eusauropods) lost the cheek, perhaps in order to increase the gape of the jaws in response to a change in feeding style that involved collection of larger quantities of poor quality foliage.

Sectioning Cruziana shows that an intrastratal mode of formation is common, as postulated by Seilacher. Beds with Cruziana are typically composite. Burrows were sometimes washed out and then recast by sand with primary structures. Formation as open surface furrows on an eroded and firmed mud, as postulated by others, is sedimentologically plausible in some instances but is unproven and seems biologically unlikely.

Bipolar bivalve genera probably existed through the greater part of late Mesozoic (i.e. late Jurassic–late Cretaceous) time. Of the various theories put forward to account for their presence, those based on some form of global climatic zonation seem most appropriate. Although equatorial–polar temperature gradients were substantially less in late Mesozoic time than at the present day, high latitude regions were subjected to temperate (or even cool-temperate) climatic regimes. Macrobenthonic marine faunas may have been more susceptible to differentiation in response to these climatic patterns than nektonic ones. This is particularly so in the late Mesozoic strata of the Southern Hemisphere.

The Precambrian–Cambrian boundary candidate section at Meishucun, China, has yielded trace fossils which are abundant at some horizons. The earliest occur in Unit 3 of the Zhongyicun Member approximately 8 m above the lower selected stratotype reference point for the boundary and include Arenicolites sp., Asteriacites sp., Neonereites biserialis, N. uniserialis and Sellaulichnus meishacunensis. The next trace-fossil-bearing horizon is in Unit 6 of the Zhongyicun Member where Cochlichnus sp., Monomorphichnus sp., Neonereites biserialis and N. uniserialis occur. Immediately above, in Unit 7, are Cruziana sp., Didymaulichnus miettensis, Monomorphichnus sp. and Rusophycus sp. In the Badaowan Member at the top of the section there are Didymaulichnus sp. and Taphrhelminthopsis circularis in Unit 9, Arenicolites sp., Diplocraterion sp., Gordia molassica, Skolithos sp. and T. circularis in Unit 11, and Gordia meandria, ? Plagiogmus sp., Skolithos sp. and T. circularis in Unit 12.

Comparison of this trace-fossil distribution with that in key Precambrian–Cambrian boundary sections in other countries indicates that the ranges of a few trace fossils cross the boundary (e.g. Didymaulichnus, Neonereites, Planolites) but most appear only in the Cambrian. Different ichnogenera seem to appear at various levels above the boundary. Arenicolites and Asteriacites are among the first, while Taphrhelminthopsis circularis is only encountered higher in all sequences. Some have only been recorded at much higher levels and relatively close to the first appearance of trilobites (e.g. Cruziana, Diplocraterion, Rusophycus). This suggests that the first appearance of specific trace fossils or groups of trace fossils may be valuable for locating the boundary in some sections and for correlating late Precambrian and early Cambrian strata.

The Lower Carboniferous (Asbian) sediments and volcanics of the Pettycur region in Fife, Scotland, yield several important anatomically preserved floras including that from the famous ‘Pettycur Limestone’. The plant fossils are preserved as calcareous permineralizations and fusain within limestone blocks which occur at the base of basaltic lava flows or within pyroclastic sequences. The geology and sedimentology of these plant deposits have been investigated, and it is demonstrated that a number of plant-bearing facies can be recognized which reflect different modes of transport, deposition and fossilization. Of these facies the ‘Pettycur Limestone’ is the most well known. The lithology is composed of a distinct assemblage dominated by lycopods and the pteridosperm, Heterangium. Other assemblages include a limestone dominated by zygopterid ferns which are frequently fusainized and the Kingswood Limestone which contains a completely different flora to that at Pettycur, being dominated by pteridosperms, other gymnosperms and the lycopod Oxroadia. Each sediment type is characterized by a distinct mineralization history of the plants reflecting different sites of fossilization.

A hypothesis concerning the original ecology of the plant assemblages within the basaltic volcanic terrain is proposed. It is suggested that the Pettycur Limestone represents an established original peat within which the plants were permineralized. The zygopterid ferns occupied sites which were susceptible to wildfire and did not establish long-lived peat-forming communities. The Kingswood flora was established in a region where plants were prone to fire and then subsequently transported into an area of limestone deposition along with unburnt plant fragments. This flora was separated by space and/or time from the Pettycur floras. Lakes developed on lava surfaces and provided sites of fossilization for plant fragments as compressions.

Within internal regions of orogenic belts, systems of ductile thrusts and folds may form which are geometrically and kinematically analogous to those observed in foreland thrust belts. The Moine Nappe of Sutherland, northwestern Scotland, developed during WNW-directed Caledonian displacements under amphibolite facies conditions. Broad zones of mylonite associated with the ductile Ben Hope and Moine thrusts both contain numerous, small-scale folds which can be attributed to transient flow perturbations. It is possible to isolate and differentiate generations of such folds basedon their association with particular major thrust zones and'or their geometry. In regions of lower strain between these thrusts, there are a series ofkilometre-scale buckle folds, the axial traces of which define arcuate trends. Those with hinges orthogonal to transport are northwestvergent, whilst those plunging subparallel to the mineral lineation display variable vergence. The spatial distribution of these geometries suggests a causal relationship with displacements on specific underlying thrusts. We propose that they reflect larger (kilometre-scale), and possibly longer-lived flow perturbations. The transport parallel folds are persistent features that often centre on earlier structural culminations, and are thought to reflect components of differential shear. The most prominent set of regional buckle folds root downwards into the ductile Moine Thrust, and openly refold the structurally overlying Ben Hope Thrust and its associated buckle folds, thus supporting a foreland propagating sequence of ductile displacements.

This paper presents new radiolarian biostratigraphic and igneous/metamorphic geochemical data for a Mesozoic volcanic–sedimentary mélange on the island of Evia (Euboea or Evvoia), eastern Greece. This mélange includes dismembered thrust sheets and blocks of radiolarian chert and basalt. Biostratigraphic age data show that radiolarites interbedded with basalt-derived, coarse clastic sediments near the base of a coherent succession were deposited in Middle and Late Triassic time (Late Ladinian–Carnian, Norian?). Geochemical evidence shows that associated extrusive rocks, of inferred Triassic age, range from ‘enriched’ alkaline basalts, to ‘transitional’ basalts, and more ‘depleted’ mid-ocean ridge-type basalts. Amphibolite facies meta-basalts from the metamorphic sole of the over-riding Evia ophiolite exhibit similar chemical compositions. Both the basalts and the meta-basalts commonly show an apparent subduction-related influence (e.g. relative Nb depletion) that may have been inherited from a previous subduction event in the region. The basalts are interpreted to have erupted during Middle–Late Triassic time (Late Ladinian–Carnian), related to initial opening of a Neotethyan ocean basin adjacent to a rifted continental margin. Radiolarites located stratigraphically higher in the coherent succession studied are dated as Middle Jurassic (Late Bathonian–Early Callovian). Similar-aged radiolarites are depositionally associated with ophiolitic rocks (including boninites), in some other areas of Greece and Albania. During initial ocean basin closure (Bajocian–Bathonian) the adjacent shallow-water carbonate platform (Pelagonian zone) disintegrated to form basins in which siliceous sediments were deposited and highs on which shallow-water carbonates continued to accumulate. This facies differentiation is seen as a response to crustal flexure as the Neotethyan ocean began to close. The over-riding Pagondas Mélange and other similar units in the region are interpreted as accretionary prisms related to subduction of Neotethyan oceanic crust in Middle–Late Jurassic time. These mélanges were emplaced, probably diachronously during Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian time, when the passive margin collapsed, creating a foredeep ahead of advancing thrust sheets of mélange and ophiolites.

The Mäekalda section presents a c. 12 m thick succession of mainly limestones, dolomites and siltstones of late Tremadoc to late Llanvirn age, exposed on the eastern outskirts of Tallinn, northern Estonia. The condensed sequence is rich in well-preserved conodont elements that provide the basis for detailed biozonation. In the Baltoscandian zonation, beds from the upper Varangu Paltodus deltifer Zone up to the lower Aseri Eoplacognathus foliaceus Subzone have been identified. In all, the conodont faunas exhibit a close resemblance to Swedish faunas. Many intervals can also be compared with coeval strata in western Russia. The presence at some levels of representatives of Laurentian conodont lineages provides an unusual opportunity for correlating Baltoscandian sequences with sequences in North America, especially in the lower Arenig part of the succession. The middle Volkhov (upper middle Arenig) Paroistodus originalis Zone at Mäekalda is remarkably complete bearing in mind the highly condensed nature of the section as a whole. The details of this zone can be correlated with the equivalent intervals in Swedish sections. In the upper Volkhov–lower Kunda beds there is a considerable stratigraphic gap in the section, but the upper Kunda has provided an excellent series of successive populations of Eoplacognathus, indicating that in this part the section is virtually complete.

Aeolian-fluvial Upper Rotliegend sandstones from Bebertal outcrops (Flechtingen High, North Germany) are an analogue for deeply buried Permian gas reservoir sandstones of the North German Basin (NGB). We present a paragenetic sequence as well as thermochronological constraints to reconstruct the diagenetic evolution and to identify periods of enhanced mesodiagenetic fluid–rock reactions in sandstones from the southern flank of the NGB. Bebertal sandstones show comparatively high concentrations of mesodiagenetically formed K-feldspar but low concentrations of illite cements. Illite-rich grain rims were found to occur preferentially directly below sedimentary bounding surfaces, i.e. aeolian superimposition surfaces, and indicate the lowest intergranular volume. Illite grain rims also indicate sandstone sections with low quartz and feldspar cement concentrations but high loss of intergranular volume due to compaction. 40Ar–39Ar age determination of pronounced K-feldspar grain overgrowths and replacements of detrital grains indicates two generations: an early (Triassic) and a late (Jurassic) generation. The latter age range is similar to published diagenetic illite ages from buried Rotliegend reservoir sandstones. The first generation suggests an early intense mesodiagenetic fluid flow with remarkably high K+ activity synchronous with fast burial of proximal, initial graben sediments on the southern flank of the NGB. Accordingly, zircon fission-track data indicate that the strata already reached the zircon partial annealing zone of approximately 200°C during early mesodiagenesis. Zircon (U–Th)/He ages (92 ± 12 Ma) as well as apatite fission-track ages (~ 71–75 Ma) indicate the termination of mesodiagenetic processes, caused by rapid exhumation of the Flechtingen High during Late Cretaceous basin inversion.

It is suggested that the Scotia Arc was formed after the disruption of a continental strip between South America and Antarctica by an eastward advance of the Pacific crust; volcanic island arcs and associated trenches developed at the juction of the Pacific and Atlantic crustal types; the Scotia Arc migrated eastward with time; and that the crustal structure of the Scotia Sea is in the process of changing from an oceanic (Pacific) to a continental type.

Structural data and a regional tectonic interpretation are given for the NE–SW-trending Hatay Graben, southern Turkey, within the collision zone of the African (Arabian) and Eurasian (Anatolian) plates. Regional GPS and seismicity data are used to shed light on the recent tectonic development of the Hatay Graben. Faults within Upper Cretaceous to Quaternary sediments are categorized as of first-, second- and third-order type, depending on their scale, location and character. Normal, oblique and strike-slip faults predominate throughout the area.The flanks of the graben are dominated by normal faults, mainly striking parallel to the graben, that is, 045–225°. In contrast, the graben axis exhibits strike-slip faults, trending 100–200°, together with normal faults striking 040–060° and 150–190° (a subset strikes 110–130°). Similarly orientated normal faults occur throughout Upper Cretaceous to Pliocene sediments, whereas strike-slip faults are mostly within Pliocene sediments near the graben axis. Stress inversion of slickenline data from mostly Pliocene sediments at ten suitable locations (all near the graben axis) show that σ3 directions (minimum stress axis ≈ extension direction) are uniform in the northeast of the graben but orientated at a high angle to the graben margins. More variable σ3 directions in the southwest may reflect local block rotations. During Miocene times, the Arabian and Anatolian plates collided, forming a foreland basin associated with flexurally controlled normal faulting. During the Late Miocene there was a transition from extension to transtension (oblique extension). The neotectonic Hatay Graben formed during the Plio-Quaternary in a transtensional setting. In the light of modern and ancient comparisons, it is suggested that contemporaneous strain was compartmentalized into large-scale normal faults on the graben margins and mainly small-scale strike-slip faults near the graben axis. Overall, the graben reflects Plio-Quaternary westward tectonic escape from a collision zone towards the east to a pre- or syn-collisional zone to the west in the Mediterranean Sea.

Small theropod post-cranial material from Tendaguru, Tanzania, the only known Late Jurassic theropod locality in the Southern Hemisphere, is reviewed. Material originally described as ‘coelurosaurs’ includes at least one taxon of basal tetanuran and one taxon of small abelisauroid. Together with the abelisauroid Elaphrosaurus and the presence of a larger ceratosaur in Tendaguru, this material indicates that ceratosaurs were an important faunal element of Late Jurassic East African theropod faunas. One bone furthermore shares derived characters with the holotype of the poorly known Middle Jurassic Australian theropod Ozraptor and allows the identification of the latter as the oldest known abelisauroid, thus indicating an early divergence of ceratosaurids and abelisauroids within ceratosaurs. Abelisauroids might have originated in Gondwana and represent important faunal elements of Cretaceous Gondwanan theropod faunas in general.

Summary. The late Triassic (Rhaetian) Cotham Member in southwest Britain was deposited in a shallow, dominantly freshwater lagoon and contains a bed of synsedimentary deformation which can be traced for at least 25 km. The bed includes microfaults and plastically deformed slump-folds. In south Wales and north Somerset the top of the bed is slightly eroded and desiccation cracks up to I m deep are present. The deformation was probably caused by earthquake activity and associated uplift in the north Somerset-south Wales area. Earthquake activity is inferred to have been part of the early Cimmerian tectonic phase in northern Europe. The bed of synsedimentary deformation is a stratigraphic 'event' which can be used for correlation in this area.

Composite Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb zircon and 40Ar–39Ar step-heating biotite-hornblende ages are used to provide constraints on the timing and origin of the felsic gneissic rocks in the Baiyunshan Mountains region and to elucidate their tectonothermal history. SHRIMP dating and CL imaging of zircons give magmatic zircon crystallization ages between Late Ordovician and Early Silurian (c. 453.5 Ma, 446 Ma, and 439 Ma) for three representative felsic gneisses, suggesting that most of the Baiyunshan gneiss cannot represent basement rocks of the Cathaysia Block as previously thought. Including the present age information, a synthesis of available age data for regional Wuyun (Wuyi-Yunkai) events reflects the emergence of orogen-wide magmatism that could be syn-orogenic and have occurred mainly between 460 and 420 Ma in the South China Block. Inherited zircons are abundant, with ages clustering at late Mesoproterozoic (1189–1017 Ma) and middle Mesoproterozoic (772 Ma), which reveals that the Baiyunshan orthogneiss samples a crustal basement containing significant igneous or recycled components related to the Rodinia amalgamation and break-up. A SHRIMP date of 212 ± 12 Ma from a white rim of zircon provides evidence for metamorphic overprinting of an Indosinian tectonothermal event on the Baiyunshan gneiss. Incremental heating experiments with six biotite samples and one hornblende sample from a variety of metamorphic rocks yielded two distinct 40Ar–39Ar age groups: 150–155 and 94–98 Ma. The older ages are similar to zircon U–Pb dates for widespread granitic intrusions in central Guangdong. We attribute them to Late Jurassic magmatism-induced thermal resetting of the biotite K–Ar system. On the other hand, the younger age group is interpreted to record either cooling through the biotite closure temperature of ~300–350 °C or a second resetting of biotite Ar isotopes at c. 94–98 Ma due to contemporaneous magmatic activity. Our present age data suggest that the Maofengshan orthogneiss was exhumed to 8 to 10 km crustal levels at c. 150 Ma, whereas the eastward components of gneissic rock masses appear to have passed upward through the same crustal depth synchronously or later (by c. 94 Ma). Exhumation of middle crustal-level rocks in the study area since c. 155 Ma is roughly coeval with exhumation of gneissic rocks from elsewhere in the Wuyun Orogen, suggesting a large-scale mechanism for the exhumation pulse related to the Yanshanian extensional tectonic regime.

Little is known about the physical properties of carbonatite magmas, making it difficult to predict dynamic behaviour in carbonatite-bearing magmatic systems. The viscosity of calcium-rich carbonatite magma is approximately estimated from molten salt data to be 0.1 Pa s at 700–800°C, while density is estimated at 2.3−2.5 × 103 kg m−3. The corresponding values for natrocarbonatite are 0.01 Pa s and 2.0−2.1 × 103 kg m−3. It is thus possible for carbonatite to be negatively buoyant with respect to some silicate magmas. The surface tension in air of carbonatite magmas is estimated at 0.25 and 0.21 N m−1 for Ca-carbonatite and natrocarbonatite respectively. Knowledge of the interfacial tension between carbonatite and silicate liquids is critical before the formation and behaviour of silicate–carbonatite emulsions can be properly understood. Interfacial tension is constrained to < 0.09 N m−1 by the application of multiphase drop theory to experimentally-produced textures, and this value receives some support from geological observations. The mechanics of extraction from layered carbonatite-silicate magma chambers are briefly examined using the recommended density and viscosity values and the equations of Blake & Ivey (1986); the degree of eruptive mingling is dependent on which liquid was uppermost in the chamber.

The Struma (Kraištid) Lineament is a part of a fault belt of regional importance. It strikes NNW-SSE and cuts through different Alpine tectonic zones along the whole Balkan Peninsula. Normal and strike-slip faults occurred in environments of extension and graben formation during collapse after or between collision epochs in the Palaeogene and Early Neogene, and in a back-arc extensional environment during the neotectonic (end of Middle Miocene-Quaternary) stage. The last Alpine compression phase occurred in the beginning of the Miocene, and Early-Middle Miocene planation formed the initial peneplain. New intense faulting marked the beginning of the neotectonic stage (Late Badenian), and the neotectonic development, including sedimentation, proceeded in four regional macrocycles: Badenian-Sarmatian; Maeotian; Pontian-Dacian; and Eopleistocene-Pleistocene. The neotectonic development was marked by formation of the Serbo-Macedonian Swell as well as by rifting (the Vardar and Struma rifts).

The Archaean Jiaodong Terrane is located in the southern segment of the Palaeoproterozoic Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt, which separates the Eastern Block of the North China Craton into the Longgang and Langrim blocks. Controversy has long surrounded the issue of whether the Jiaodong Terrane is part of the North China Craton or an exotic terrane. This study presents new zircon U–Pb ages for the major lithologies of the Jiaodong Terrane, and the results indicate that the terrane underwent two main magmatic events at ~2.89 Ga and 2.62–2.56 Ga and two metamorphic events at ~2.5 Ga and 1.9–1.8 Ga. These ages are consistent with those of other metamorphic complexes in the Eastern Block, suggesting that the Jiaodong Terrane was part of the Neoarchaean basement of the Eastern Block, which was reworked at 1.9–1.8 Ga in association with the development of the Palaeoproterozoic Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt.