The mineral assemblages of the pelitic rocks of the chlorite and biotite zones of the Kumaon Himalaya are characteristic of the quartz–albite–muscovite–cnlorite and quartz–albite–epidote–biotite sub-facies of the greenschist facies. The appearance of garnet in the sericite–chlorite pelites is due to bulk composition which plots above the muscovite–chlorite join in the AKF diagram. The variation in composition of coexisting sericite and chlorite is related to bulk composition of the rock.

Isopachytes of boulder clay in an area of Northwest Lancashire have been constructed from borehole-controlled geoelectrical data by separately using manual and automatic contouring techniques. At the sites of later drillings, the known boulder-clay thicknesses compare favourably with those indicated by both contour distributions, suggesting that the automatic techniques have a useful application in problems of this kind.

Quantitative methods of X-ray fluorescence analysis have been employed to the determination of Pb, Zn, Ni, As, Rb, Ce and Y, in soils of the Teign Valley of SW Devon. The results enable a comparison to be made of the ore metal and non-metal anomalies found, and demonstrate the applicability of non-metals as lode indicators.

Sheet-like bodies of dolerite with granophyre within the Hypersthene-gabbro on the NE shore of Sanna Bay are shown to be akin to the granophyric quartz-dolerite, and suggest that the latter originally extended for a considerable distance N of its previously mapped limits.

A series of metamorphosed (amphibolite facies) basic and intermediate igneous rocks from upper Swat, Pakistan, is described, with seven chemical analyses. The rocks intrude ?Palaeozoic metasediments and are partially bordered by other, later, intrusive and volcanic rocks. The group, now represented by, from S–N, epidote amphibolites, amphibolites, noritic and hypersthene gabbros, and quartz diorites, is considered to be derived from a series of plagioclase hypersthenites, norites, hypersthene gabbros, and hypersthene diorites. Variation diagrams are used to show that the series forms a differentiated sequence; FMA and lime-alkali diagrams suggest that it is similar to the rocks of the Garabal Hill–Loch Fyne area of Scotland. Some of the mineralogy of the group is briefly discussed, with five chemical analyses. A K/Ar age determination gives 67 Ma; thus the rocks probably derive from an early Himalayan (Alpine) tholeiitic basalt magma.

The charnockite series consisting of pyroxene granulites and charnockites are not formed by magmatic differentiation, although both units had their antecedents in igneous material. The solid-state recrystallization of pyroxene granulite and the liquid-state crystallization of charnockite are inferred from the field criteria. The pyroxene granulites with the associated paragneisses are formed from the original sedimentary-volcanic sequence under granulite facies of metamorphism. The magmatic charnockites emplaced into these rocks resulting in the development of intermediate varieties by the partial assimilation and incorporation of the pyroxene granulites. The stability of the minerals is not affected by this migmatization, which is therefore thought to have taken place under granulite facies conditions. The evolutionary trend of the charnockite series is one of retrogression from the earlier granulite facies to the later almandine-amphibolite facies, caused by the subsequent granite invasion.

K–Ar measurements of the Chotanagpur granite and associated intrusive rocks are found to be younger than the geological events in the Singhbhum region of Bihar. The history of metamorphism, granitic activities and igneous intrusions in the Chotanagpur area continued for a period from over 1000 Ma to 185 Ma. The relevant geological sequences and correlations are briefly discussed.