The Takab complex is composed of a variety of metamorphic rocks including amphibolites, metapelites, mafic granulites, migmatites and meta-ultramafics, which are intruded by the granitoid. The granitoid magmatic activity occurred in relation to the subduction of the Neo-Tethys oceanic crust beneath the Iranian crust during Tertiary times. The granitoids are mainly granodiorite, quartz monzodiorite, monzonite and quartz diorite. Chemically, the magmatic rocks are characterized by ASI<1.04, AI<0.87 and high contents of CaO (up to ~14.5 wt%), which are consistent with the I-type magmatic series. Low FeOt/(FeOt+MgO) values (<0.75) as well as low Nb, Y and K2O contents of the investigated rocks resemble the calc-alkaline series. Low SiO2, K2O/Na2O and Al2O3 accompanied by high CaO and FeO contents indicate melting of metabasites as an appropriate source for the intrusions. Negative Ti and Nb anomalies verify a metaluminous crustal origin for the protoliths of the investigated igneous rocks. These are comparable with compositions of the associated mafic migmatites, in the Takab metamorphic complex, which originated from the partial melting of amphibolites. Therefore, crustal melting and a collision-related origin for the Takab calc-alkaline intrusions are proposed here on the basis of mineralogy and geochemical characteristics. The P–T evolution during magmatic crystallization and subsolidus cooling stages is determined by the study of mineral chemistry of the granodiorite and the quartz diorite. Magmatic crystallization pressure and temperature for the quartz-diorite and the granodiorite are estimated to be P~7.8±2.5 kbar, T~760±75°C and P~5±1 kbar, T~700°C, respectively. Subsolidus conditions are consistent with temperatures of ~620°C and ~600°C, and pressures of ~5 kbar and ~3.5 kbar for the quartz-diorite and the granodiorite, respectively.

Quantified balanced and restored crustal cross-sections across the NW Zagros Mountains are presented in this work integrating geological and geophysical local and global datasets. The balanced crustal cross-section reproduces the surficial folding and thrusting of the thick cover succession, including the near top of the Sarvak Formation (~90 Ma) that forms the top of the restored crustal cross-section. The base of the Arabian crust in the balanced cross-section is constrained by recently published seismic receiver function results showing a deepening of the Moho from 42 ± 2 km in the undeformed foreland basin to 56 ± 2 km beneath the High Zagros. The internal parts of the deformed crustal cross-section are constrained by new seismic tomographic sections imaging a ~50° NE-dipping sharp contact between the Arabian and Iranian crusts. These surfaces bound an area of 10800 km2 that should be kept constant during the Zagros orogeny. The Arabian crustal cross-section is restored using six different tectonosedimentary domains according to their sedimentary facies and palaeobathymetries, and assuming Airy isostasy and area conservation. While the two southwestern domains were directly determined from well-constrained surface data, the reconstruction of the distal domains to the NE was made using the recent margin model of Wrobel-Daveau et al. (2010) and fitting the total area calculated in the balanced cross-section. The Arabian continental–oceanic boundary, at the time corresponding to the near top of the Sarvak Formation, is located 169 km to the NE of the trace of the Main Recent Fault. Shortening is estimated at ~180 km for the cover rocks and ~149 km for the Arabian basement, including all compressional events from Late Cretaceous to Recent time, with an average shortening rate of ~2 mm yr−1 for the last 90 Ma.

Some large metabasaltic pillows in the uppermost part of the Palaeoarchaean Hooggenoeg Complex in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, exhibit flow-banded margins and homogeneous cores that have a different texture and compositional variation. The margins consist of millimetre to several centimetre thick alternating bands of pale green spherulitic and darker, conspicuously variolitic varieties of non-vesicular and aphyric metabasalt, previously inferred to be due to mingling of two different types of lava. The dark cores have sharp, aphanitic contacts with the flow-banded carapaces. They lack flow banding, have coarse-grained interiors and exhibit well-preserved primary textures with pseudomorphs after prismatic pyroxene set in a groundmass containing skeletal plagioclase. The compositional range of samples from these cores is unlike that of the flow-banded metabasalt but is similar to a 19 m thick lobate metabasalt flow ~150 m stratigraphically further up, at the local top of the Hooggenoeg volcanic sequence. The pillow cores are inferred to result from the later refilling of drained hollow pillows.

A succession of Viséan (mid- to late Holkerian) volcanic rocks up to 340 m thick is preserved in three fault-blocks at the south end of the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. These rocks form part of the Clyde Plateau Volcanic Formation, which, in this area, disconformably overlies sandstones of the lower Millport Member of the Clyde Sandstone Formation. The lower part of the volcanic succession in south Bute, c. 140 m thick, corresponds to the lower Strathgryfe lavas of the Renfrewshire Hills. This part of the succession is composed dominantly of feldspar-macrophyric and feldspar-microphyric basaltic rocks and mugearites. It is present in all three fault-blocks, whereas the succeeding volcanic rocks (middle and upper divisions) are only preserved in the median St Blane's block where they have a combined thickness of about 200 m. The two younger subdivisions are respectively correlative to the Misty Law Trachytic Centre, which forms a lens between the lower and upper Strathgryfe Members, and the upper Strathgryfe Member of the North Ayrshire section. Lavas of the lower division are feldspar-macrophyric and feldspar-microphyric basaltic rocks and mugearites, but those of the middle and upper divisions display a wider compositional spectrum, including feldspar-macro- and microphyric rocks but ranging from olivine-augite-macrophyric and olivine-augite-feldspar-macrophyric basalts to trachytes. The mafic lavas of south Bute have chondrite-normalized multi-element plots similar to those of ocean island basalts, with enrichment in incompatible elements. The trachytic lavas have similar patterns but are strongly depleted in Sr, P and Ti, reflecting fractionation of such minerals as plagioclase, apatite and magnetite/ilmenite during evolution of the parent magmas. Distribution of high field strength elements favours a within-plate origin for the south Bute lavas and supports derivation from a relatively deep (>50 km) mantle source (garnet lherzolite). Chondrite-normalized REE plots for basaltic lavas of the lower division show enrichment in LREEs and lack strong Eu anomalies. Strong positive Eu anomalies in both felsic and mafic lavas of the middle and upper divisions may be attributable to high oxygen fugacities, but hydrothermal activity or feldspar fractionation may also have played a role. Fe-rich weathering profiles attest to intermittent extrusion and intense weathering processes.

Late Carboniferous red-beds, < 700 m thick, at outcrop and in the subsurface of the Canonbie Coalfield can be assigned to the Warwickshire Group. They are preserved within the axial part of the Solway Syncline and are divisible into the Eskbank Wood, Canonbie Bridge Sandstone and Becklees Sandstone formations. Sedimentation largely took place on a well-drained alluvial plain, characterized mainly by early, primary oxidation of the strata. Large, northerly-flowing braided river systems were common, with overbank and floodplain fines deposited lateral to the channels; soils formed during intervals of low sediment aggradation. The Canonbie succession includes some of the youngest Carboniferous rocks preserved in the UK. Correlation of the Eskbank Wood Formation is equivocal, but using petrographical, heavy mineral, zircon age dating and palaeocurrent data, the Canonbie Bridge Sandstone Formation can be unambiguously correlated with the Halesowen Formation of Warwickshire, the Pennant Sandstone Formation of South Wales and the offshore Boulton Formation. This suggests that southerly-derived detritus travelled considerable distances from the Variscan highlands of Brittany and/or central Germany across the southern North Sea and UK areas, to a position some hundreds of kilometres north of that previously recognized. The Becklees Sandstone Formation has much in common with the Salop Formation of the English Midlands. It appears to have no preserved equivalent elsewhere in the UK or in the UK sector of the southern North Sea but resembles stratigraphically higher parts of the southern North Sea succession seen in the Dutch sector.

The Early Toarcian (Early Jurassic, c. 183 Ma) was characterized by an Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE), primarily identified by the presence of globally distributed approximately coeval black organic-rich shales. This event corresponded with relatively high marine temperatures, mass extinction, and both positive and negative carbon-isotope excursions. Because most studies of the T-OAE have taken place in northern European and Tethyan palaeogeographic domains, there is considerable controversy as to the regional or global character of this event. Here, we present the first high-resolution integrated chemostratigraphic (carbonate, organic carbon, δ13Ccarb, δ13Corg) and biostratigraphic (calcareous nannofossil) records from the Kastelli Pelites cropping out in the Pindos Zone, western Greece. During the Mesozoic, the Pindos Zone was a deep-sea ocean-margin basin, which formed in mid-Triassic times along the northeast passive margin of Apulia. In two sections through the Kastelli Pelites, the chemostratigraphic and biostratigraphic (nannofossil) signatures of the most organic-rich facies are identified as correlative with the Lower Toarcian, tenuicostatum/polymorphum–falciferum/serpentinum/levisoni ammonite zones, indicating that these sediments record the T-OAE. Both sections also display the characteristic negative carbon-isotope excursion in organic matter and carbonate. This occurrence reinforces the global significance of the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event.

The post-impact Dalby Limestone (Kukruse; Upper Ordovician) of the Tvären crater, southeastern Sweden, has been analysed with regards to polychaetes, as represented by scolecodonts. A palaeoecological succession is observed in the Tvären-2 drill core sequence, as the vacant ecospace was successively filled by a range of benthonic, nektonic and planktonic organisms. Scolecodonts belong to the first non-planktonic groups to appear and constitute one of the most abundant fossil elements. The polychaete assemblage recorded has an overall composition characteristic of that of the Upper Ordovician of Baltoscandia. Oenonites, Vistulella, Mochtyella and the enigmatic ‘Xanioprion’ represent the most common genera, whereas Pteropelta, Protarabellites?, Atraktoprion and Xanioprion are considerably more rare. The assemblage differs from coeval ones particularly in its poorly represented ramphoprionid fauna and the relatively high frequency of ‘Xanioprion’. A taxonomic succession and changes in abundance and relative frequency of different taxa is observed from the deepest part of the crater and upwards towards more shallow water environments. The initial post-impact assemblage does not, however, necessarily represent a benthonic colonization of the crater floor. Instead it seems to be a taphocoenosis, as indicated by its taxonomic correspondence to the rim facies fauna recovered from Dalby Limestone erratics of the Ringsön island. The Tvären succession has yielded considerably richer scolecodont assemblages than hitherto recorded from the approximately coeval Lockne crater, possibly as a consequence of shallower water settings in the former area.

An integrated bio-, magneto- and cyclostratigraphic study of the Ypresian/Lutetian (Early/Middle Eocene) transition along the Otsakar section resulted in the identification of the C22n/C21r chron boundary and of the calcareous nannofossil CP12a/b zonal boundary; the latter is the main correlation criterion of the Lutetian Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) recently defined at Gorrondatxe (Basque Country). By counting precession-related mudstone–marl couplets of 21 ka, the time lapse between both events was calculated to be 819 ka. This suggests that the age of the CP12a/b boundary, and hence that of the Early/Middle Eocene boundary, is 47.76 Ma, 250 ka younger than previously thought. This age agrees with, and is supported by, estimates from Gorrondatxe based on the time lapse between the Lutetian GSSP and the C21r/C21n boundary. The duration of Chron C21r is estimated at 1.326 Ma. Given that the base of the Eocene is dated at 55.8 Ma, the duration of the Early Eocene is 8 Ma, 0.8 Ma longer than in current time scales. The Otsakar results further show that the bases of planktonic foraminiferal zones E8 and P10 are younger than the CP12a/b boundary. The first occurrence of Turborotalia frontosa, being approximately 550 ka older that the CP12a/b boundary, is the planktonic foraminiferal event that lies closest to the Early/Middle Eocene boundary. The larger foraminiferal SBZ12/13 boundary is located close to the CP12a/b boundary and correlates with Chron C21r, not with the C22n/C21r boundary.

The Zagros fold-and-thrust belt of SW Iran is a young continental convergence zone, extending NW–SE from eastern Turkey through northern Iraq and the length of Iran to the Strait of Hormuz and into northern Oman. This belt reflects the shortening and off-scraping of thick sediments from the northern margin of the Arabian platform, essentially behaving as the accretionary prism for the Iranian convergent margin. Distribution of Upper Cretaceous ophiolites in the Zagros orogenic belt defines the northern limit of the evolving suture between Arabia and Eurasia and comprises two parallel belts: (1) Outer Zagros Ophiolitic Belt (OB) and (2) Inner Zagros Ophiolitic Belt (IB). These belts contain complete (if disrupted) ophiolites with well-preserved mantle and crustal sequences. Mantle sequences include tectonized harzburgite and rare ultramafic–mafic cumulates as well as isotropic gabbro lenses and isolated dykes within the harzburgite. Crustal sequences include rare gabbros (mostly in IB ophiolites), sheeted dyke complexes, pillowed lavas and felsic rocks. All Zagros ophiolites are overlain by Upper Cretaceous pelagic limestone. Limited radiometric dating indicates that the OB and IB formed at the same time during Late Cretaceous time. IB and OB components show strong suprasubduction zone affinities, from mantle harzburgite to lavas. This is shown by low whole-rock Al2O3 and CaO contents and spinel and orthopyroxene compositions of mantle peridotites as well as by the abundance of felsic rocks and the trace element characteristics of the lavas. Similarly ages, suprasubduction zone affinities and fore-arc setting suggest that the IB and OB once defined a single tract of fore-arc lithosphere that was disrupted by exhumation of subducted Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone metamorphic rocks. Our data for the OB and IB along with better-studied ophiolites in Cyprus, Turkey and Oman compel the conclusion that a broad and continuous tract of fore-arc lithosphere was created during Late Cretaceous time as the magmatic expression of a newly formed subduction zone developed along the SW margin of Eurasia.

Limestone megaclasts up to hundreds of metres in size are present within the Gwna Group mélange, North Wales, UK. The mélange has been interpreted as part of a Peri-Gondwanan fore-arc accretionary complex although the age of deposition remains contentious, proposals ranging from Neoproterozoic to Early Ordovician. This paper uses strontium isotope chemostratigraphy to establish the age of the limestone blocks and thus provide a maximum age constraint on mélange formation. Results show that, although the carbonates are locally dolomitized, primary 87Sr/86Sr ratios can be identified and indicate deposition sometime between the late Tonian and earliest Cryogenian. This age is older than that suggested by stromatolites within the limestone and indicates that the limestone did not form as cap carbonate deposits.

Between 1271 and 1246 Ma, dolerite dykes and sills of the Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group intruded into the Fennoscandian Shield during three distinct magmatic pulses. They are distributed around five large magmatic complexes extending from Sweden to western Finland and record large-scale intracratonic tensional stress. Coeval plutonism is observed in the westernmost terrane of the Sveconorwegian orogen in southern Norway, but differs in the sense of a bimodal character and uncertain Fennoscandian ancestry of the host terrane. We report a U–Pb baddeleyite age of 1269 ± 12 Ma for a gabbronoritic member of an E-trending set of dykes, called the Moslätt Dolerites, near Lake Vättern in southern Sweden, much farther to the south than any previously known Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group rock. A similar age of approximately 1275 Ma is obtained for a meta-dolerite sheet in the Børgefjell basement window in the Scandinavian Caledonides in Mid-Norway. The initial epsilon-Hf values for these two dykes are +3.9 and +10.1, respectively, and correspond to the range of values for other occurrences of the Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group (+4.7 to +10.3). They add to the evidence that the Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group is characterized by more positive epsilon values (depleted source) than other mafic Proterozoic suites in Fennoscandia. These results extend the distribution of c. 1270–1245 Ma mafic magmatism in Fennoscandia, particularly when accounting for significant Caledonian shortening. The Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group and coeval bimodal magmatism in S Norway may represent distal magmatic events related to a Mesoproterozoic subduction along the western margin of Fennoscandia rather than hotspot (mantle plume) activity as previously suggested.

Accessory chrome spinels are scattered throughout the serpentinite masses in two allochthonous thrust sheets belonging to the Penjween–Walash sub-zone of the northwestern Zagros Suture Zone in Kurdistan. Based on field evidence, the serpentinites are divided into two groups: (1) highly sheared serpentinites (110–80 Ma), which occupy the lower contact of the ophiolitic massifs of the Upper Allochthonous sheet (Albian–Cenomanian age), and (2) ophiolitic mélange serpentinites of mixed ages (150 and 200 Ma) occurring along thrust faults on the base of the volcano-sedimentary segment (42–32 Ma) of the Lower Allochthonous sheet. The Cr-spinels of both groups show a wide range of YCr (Cr/(Cr + Al) atomic ratio) from 0.37 to 1.0, while the XMg (Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) atomic ratio) ranges from 0.0 to 0.75. Based on the Cr-spinel compositions of the entire dataset and in conjunction with back-scattered electron imaging, from core to rim, three spinel stages have been recognized: the residual mantle stage, a Cr-rich stage and a third stage showing a very narrow magnetite rim. These three stages are represented by primary Cr-spinel, pre-serpentinization metamorphosed spinel and syn- or post-serpentinization spinel, respectively. The chemical characteristics of primary (first-stage) Cr-spinels of both serpentinite groups indicate a tectonic affinity within a fore-arc setting of peridotite protoliths. The second stage indicates that Cr-spinels have undergone subsolidus re-equilibration as a result of solid–solid reaction during pre-serpentinization cooling of the host rock. Here the primary Cr-spinel compositions have been partly or completely obscured by metamorphism. During the third stage, the Cr-spinels have undergone solid–fluid re-equilibration during syn- or post-serpentinization processes. Both the second and third stages point to diachronous metamorphic paths resulting from continuous tectonic evolution influenced by either slow or fast uplift of mantle protoliths. In the fast metamorphic paths, the primary chrome spinels are flanked by a very narrow magnetite rim. The presence of two groups of distally separated serpentinites with different emplacement ages and fore-arc tectonic affinity could indicate that the closure of the Tethys Ocean culminated in two fortuitous subduction processes.

The monophyly of the trilobite Order Asaphida has been challenged. The Superfamily Remopleuridioidea was included in the Order Asaphida, based on the ventral median suture and highly bulbous protaspis of the late Furongian–Tremadocian representatives of the group. The remopleuridioid, Haniwa quadrata Kobayashi, 1933 from the Furongian (late Cambrian) Hwajeol Formation of Korea, represents a primitive morphology of the Remopleuridioidea. This trilobite does not have a typical globular morphology of asaphoid protaspis, and the free cheeks remained yoked together during the whole of the development. This supports the previous proposition that the Superfamily Remopleuridioidea should be excluded from the Order Asaphida. In addition, the evolution of a highly globular protaspis of the Ordovician remopleuridioid trilobites from the less bulbous protaspis corroborates the possibility of multiple evolutions of a highly globular protaspis. It can be argued that the possession of a highly globular protaspis does not guarantee the membership of the Order Asaphida, and thus the concept of the Order Asaphida should be emended.

Batfishes of the family Ogcocephalidae are derived lophiiform fishes characterized by having a dorsoventrally depressed body and a distinctive series of morphological features. A new genus and species of batfish, Tarkus squirei gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Eocene (Ypresian) limestone of the celebrated locality of Monte Bolca, Italy. It is based on five well-preserved specimens that display a unique combination of characters (body moderately depressed; disk rounded in outline; caudal peduncle thick and stout; frontals with median groove for the illicium; teeth present on jaws and palate; illicial bone pitted and trilobate; body covered with thick slightly overlapping tubercles) that support its recognition as a new genus of the family Ogcocephalidae. Tarkus gen. nov. is also characterized by having distally branched pectoral-fin rays, a condition unique within the family, and by a peculiar structure of the axial skeleton, which possibly represents the plesiomorphic state for the ogcocephalids. Tarkus gen. nov. shows a certain degree of phenetic affinity with the extant shallow-water batfish genera Halieutaea and (more particularly) Halieutichthys. The specimens of this taxon are the first articulated skeletal remains of the Ogcocephalidae ever recorded as fossils, also representing the oldest members of the family known to date. The general structure of the skeleton of Tarkus gen. nov. provides unambiguous evidence that the existence of the modern ogcocephalid body plan was already established in the early Eocene, and probably originated well before that period. Palaeoenvironmental considerations suggest that Tarkus gen. nov. was a tropical batfish that inhabited the inner-shelf palaeobiotopes of the central-western Tethys.

The Mt Cer Pluton, Serbia, is a complex laccolith-like intrusion (~ 60 km2), situated along the junction between the southern Pannonian Basin and northern Dinarides. It intrudes Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks causing weak to strong thermal effects. Based on modal and chemical compositions, four rock-types can be distinguished: (1) metaluminous I-type quartz monzonite/quartz monzodiorite (QMZD); (2) peraluminous S-type two-mica granite (TMG), which intrudes QMZD; (3) Stražanica granodiorite/quartz monzonite (GDS); and (4) isolated mafic enclaves (ME), found only in QMZD. 40K–39Ar dating and geological constraints indicate that the main quartz monzonite/quartz monzodiorite body of Mt Cer was emplaced not later than 21 Ma, whereas the emplacement ages of the Stražanica granodiorite/quartz monzonite and two-mica granites are estimated at around 18 and 16 Ma, respectively. The Mt Cer pluton is similar to the Mt Bukulja pluton, some 80 km southwestwards. Genesis of QMZD cannot be interpreted by fractional crystallization coupled with mixing or assimilation. It is best explained by a convection–diffusion process between mantle-derived minette/leucominette magmas and GDS-like magmas followed by two end-member magma mixing. The composition of GDS rocks suggests that GDS-like magmas could have formed by melting of lower crustal lithologies similar to amphibolite/metabasalts. The geochemistry of TMG is reproduced by an Assimilation/Fractional Crystallization model with a ratio of rate of assimilation to rate of fractional crystallization of 0.4, using the compositions of the least evolved TMG of the Bukulja pluton and adjacent metamorphic rocks as proxies for the parental magma and contaminant, respectively. The origin and evolution of the Mt Cer and adjacent Mt Bukulja plutons provide new constraints on the Tertiary geodynamics of the northern Dinarides–southern Pannonian region. The quartz monzonite/quartz monzodiorite is interpreted as a result of the Oligocene post-collisional Dinaride orogen-collapse, which included a limited lithosphere delamination, small-scale mantle upwelling, and melting of the lower crust. By contrast, the two-mica granite magmas formed through melting in shallower crustal levels during the extensional collapse in the Pannonian area.

Electron microprobe analyses of 128 detrital rutile grains from two Jurassic sandstone samples (Hettangian and Bajocian–Bathonian in age) from hydrocarbon exploration wells on the Norwegian margin confirm that more than 85 % of the rutiles were derived from metapelitic rocks. Zr-in-rutile geothermometry confirms that about 83 % of the rutile was formed under high-grade metamorphism (>750 °C). Sixty-two rutile grains, including 60 of the identified high-temperature rutile population, were also analysed for U–Pb geochronology using SHRIMP. The 206Pb–238U rutile ages range from approximately 485–292 Ma, with a major cluster between 450 and 380 Ma. These data suggest that the detrital rutile was predominantly derived from a felsic source that experienced granulite-facies metamorphism about 450–380 Ma ago. This conclusion is consistent with derivation from high-grade Caledonian metasedimentary rocks, probably the Krummedal sequence in central East Greenland, as previously suggested by an earlier provenance study using conventional heavy mineral analysis, garnet geochemistry and detrital zircon age dating. The present study underscores the importance of rutile geochemistry and geochronology in quantitative single-mineral provenance analysis of clastic sedimentary rocks.

Protrusions and lenses of serpentinite–matrix mélanges occur at several places along the thrust faults of the Zagros Suture Zone. They separate the lower allochthonous thrust sheet, the ‘Lower Allochthon’ (i.e. Walash–Naopurdan nappe), of Paleocene–Eocene age from sediments of the Arabian platform and the upper thrust sheet of Mesozoic, ophiolite-bearing terranes termed the ‘Upper Allochthon’ (i.e. Gemo–Qandil nappe). The serpentinite–matrix mélanges occur mostly as stretched bodies (slices) on both sides of the Lower Allochthon (Hero, Halsho and Pushtashan (HHP) and Galalah, Qalander and Rayat (GQR)). Their overall chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns form two main groups. Group One exhibits enrichment in the total REEs (> 1 × chondrite) whereas the Group Two pattern shows depletion (i.e. < 1 × chondrite). Bulk-rock MORB-normalized profiles of Group Two are almost flat in the MREE–HREE region with flattening profiles in the Gd–Lu range (> 3 times the MORB composition). In comparison with Group One, Group Two has extremely high REE content and displays variable depletions in the moderately incompatible high-field-strength elements (HFSEs) (Zr, Hf, Y) relative to their adjacent REEs. The REEs in the GQR serpentinite–matrix mélanges have a noticeably high LREE content, and a positive Eu anomaly, and their HREE content never reaches more than 1 × chondrite (i.e. < 0.01 to 1 × chondrite). The latter indicates that the hemipelagic sedimentary, melt-like components (i.e. high LREE, U/La, La/Sm and low Ba/Th) control the geochemical peculiarities of this type of serpentinite. The HHP serpentinite–matrix mélanges, however, are either equally divided between the two REE pattern groups (e.g. Hero, Halsho) or inclined towards Group One (e.g. Pushtashan). Contrary to GQR serpentinites, the variation in HHP serpentinite–matrix mélanges spans a compositional spectrum from U/La-rich to more Ba/Th-rich. Such ratio variations reflect the large variation in these two subducted sedimentary components (i.e. carbonate and hemipelagic sediment mix). The obvious differences in the trace element signatures of the GQR and HHP serpentinite–matrix mélanges might be related to plate tectonic parameters such as convergence rate, subduction age and thickness and type of subducted slab. It is more likely that the influx of subducted components to the mantle wedge relied heavily on the composition of the sedimentary inputs. These vary considerably with time from the relatively deepwater hemipelagic sediments (Qulqula Radiolarite Formation) to platform carbonate sediments (Balambo limestone). The trace element signatures of the GQR and HHP serpentinite–matrix mélanges might suggest multi-staging of the allochthonous sheet emplacement on the Arabian platform sediments.

The Old Red Sandstone on Anglesey, North Wales, presumed Lower Devonian in age, is folded and locally cleaved, but the intensity of this deformation has previously been understated. We describe two S-verging anticline–syncline pairs, one with a strongly overturned middle limb, their associated minor folds and an axial-planar cleavage. The intensity of the deformation calls into question a proposed link to Variscan fault displacements, and the angular unconformity below the Old Red Sandstone precludes the deformation being part of a continuous ‘late Caledonian’ phase. We consider this deformation of the Old Red Sandstone to be mid-Devonian, correlating with the Acadian phase in mainland Wales. It is predated by a Silurian shortening deformation on Anglesey that is possibly related to the closure of the Iapetus Ocean, absent in mainland Wales and the Lake District, but perhaps preserved also on the Isle of Man.

The composition of the upper mantle bounded by the Canaries, Eastern Anatolia, Libya and Poland is indirectly investigated by means of the chemical composition of igneous rocks with ‘anorogenic’ geochemical characteristics emplaced during the Cenozoic. The relatively homogeneous composition of these products in terms of incompatible trace-element content and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic composition is unexpected, considering the variable lithospheric structure of this large area and the different tectono-thermal histories of the various districts. In order to reconcile the geochemical characteristics with a statistical sampling model, it would be necessary to propose volumes of the enriched regions much lower than the sampling volumes for each volcano (that is, less than 10 cubic metres), or alternatively, efficient magma blending from larger areas. The data are consistent with a relatively well-stirred and mixed sub-lithospheric upper mantle, in the solid state, which is also hard to understand. This contrasts with the situation under oceans where magma blending from diverse sources and sampling theory can explain the compositional statistics.

The Karimnagar granulite terrane is an integral part of the Eastern Dharwar Craton (EDC), India, having been the subject of much interest because of the only reported granulite facies rocks in the EDC. It shows a large variety of rock types with a wide range of mineral parageneses and chemical compositions, namely charnockites (Opx+Pl+perthite+Qtz±Bt±Grt), gneisses (Opx+Crd+Bt+Pl+Qtz+perthite±Sil±Grt±Spl; Bt+Qtz+Pl±Crd±Hbl±Spl), mafic granulites (Cpx+Pl+Qtz±Opx±Hbl), quartz-free granulites (Spr+Spl+Bt+Crd+Kfs+Crn; Bt+Crd+Kfs±Crn±Spl±Krn; And+Bt+Kfs+Chl), granites (Qtz+Pl+Kfs±Bt±Hbl), altered ultramafic rocks (Chl+Trem+Tlc), metadolerites (Cpx+Pl±Bt±Qtz±Chl), banded magnetite quartzites and quartzites. Andalusite- and chlorite-bearing assemblages presumably suggest a retrograde origin. Investigation of quartz-free granulites of the area brings out some interesting and important observations, reflecting the presence of refractory phases. These granulites are devoid of sillimanite and contain corundum instead. Reaction textures in the gneisses include breakdown of garnet to form coronas and symplectites of orthopyroxene+cordierite, formation of cordierite from garnet+sillimanite+quartz and late retrograde biotite and biotite+quartz symplectites. In the mafic granulites, inclusions of quartz and hornblende within orthopyroxene are interpreted as being a part of the prograde assemblage. At a later stage orthopyroxene is also rimmed by hornblende. The quartz-free granulites display a variety of spectacular coronas, for example, successive rims on corundum consisting of spinel+sapphirine+cordierite±orthopyroxene, rare skeletal symplectitic intergrowth of sapphirine+cordierite+potash feldspar, and late retrograde formation of chlorite, corundum, spinel and andalusite from sapphirine±cordierite. Based on chemographic relationships and petrogenetic grids, a sequence of prograde, isothermal decompressive and retrograde reactions have been inferred. Quartz-free sapphirine granulites and mafic granulites record the highest P–T conditions (~7 kbar, 850°C), whereas the gneisses were formed at lower P–T conditions (~5 kbar, 800°C). In addition, the presence of andalusite-bearing rocks suggests a pressure of around 2.5 kbar. This change in pressure from 7 kbar to around 2.5 kbar suggests a decompressive path for the evolution of granulites in the study area, which indicates an uplift for the granulite-facies rocks from lower crustal conditions. The implications for supercontinent history are also addressed in light of available geochronological data.