A detailed ecostratigraphical framework is established for the lower Middle Ordovician Kundan regional stage of the East Baltic area corresponding to the Asaphus expansus, A. raniceps and A. eichwaldi trilobite zones (lower Darriwilian). The study is based on approximately 6200 brachiopods collected bed by bed from limestone sections in northern Estonia (Harku Trench and Saka) and western Russia (Putilovo Quarry, Lava River canyon and Lynna River valley) with, in addition, the first detailed systematic assessment of the Kundan brachiopods of the East Baltic. These sections represent an oblique depth transect some 400 kilometres long, deepening eastwards. Five biofacies associations have been recognized using detrended correspondence and cluster analyses: a shallow-water Lycophoria association, a transitional Gonambonites association and two deeper-water associations, the soft-substrate Orthis callactis and the hard-substrate Orthambonites associations. A separate, fifth soft-substrate association is present in the marl beds at the main locality of Putilovo Quarry. The associations reflect a combination of palaeo-water depth and substrate. The biofacies facilitate an ecostratigraphical correlation along the transect, and third and fourth order sea-level curves are reconstructed, reflecting mainly eustasy. The sea-level was relatively low, early in the Kundan, but then rose significantly into the A. raniceps Biozone. This corroborates the recent discovery of possible small early Darriwilian ice caps on Gondwana.

The Serbo-Macedonian Massif is a basement complex in the Internal Hellenides of northern Greece, situated between the Vardar Zone to the west and the Rhodope Massif to the east. The Serbo-Macedonian Massif comprises several distinct basement units interpreted as terranes, the largest of which is the Gondwana-derived Vertiskos Terrane in the northwestern and central parts of the massif. A series of leucocratic meta-granites intrude the Silurian orthogneiss basement of the Vertiskos Terrane. No similar granites are found in any of the other units of the Internal Hellenides. The meta-granites have a pronounced crustal within-plate signature which is visible in lithology, major- and trace-element geochemistry and the Sr isotopic compositions. These intrusions were dated using the Pb–Pb single-zircon evaporation method, and yielded a Triassic age of between 240.7 ± 2.6 Ma and 221.7 ± 1.9 Ma on 17 samples, with a mean age of 228.3 ± 5.6 Ma. The zircons are purely magmatic, indicating that ages are primary crystallization ages. A Rb–Sr errorchron of the whole-rock samples of the Arnea granite yielded an age of 231.6 ± 9.9 Ma (MSWD = 82), and a mean 87Sr/86Sr initial ratio is 0.7142, indicating a crust-dominated source, and suggesting an A-type origin for the granites. The A-type meta-granites together with mafic intrusive bodies (amphibolites) in the Vertiskos Terrane may be evidence of Triassic rifting that led to the formation of a branch of Neotethys (Vardar–Meliata Ocean). Similar rock associations are also exposed in the Cyclades, and in massifs of the wider eastern Mediterranean realm related to the Gondwana-derived Hun Terrane, indicating that the Arnea-type granites are representatives of a major regional rifting event in Triassic times.

The late Cretaceous crinoid Uintacrinus socialis Grinnell, which is a potential marker for the base of the Upper Santonian Substage, is reported from the Inoceramus Shales of St Ann's Great River Inlier on the north coast of Jamaica. This is the first record of this species from the Caribbean region and marks its lowest latitudinal distribution reported to date. The Inoceramus Shales are a deep-water clastic mudstone unit which extends the palaeoecological distribution of this crinoid. Uintacrinus socialis proves that the Inoceramus Shales are of Santonian age and will help constrain correlations between the shallow-water platform carbonate/volcaniclastic facies found in the arc successions of the Caribbean and the international chronostratigraphy.

A scheme of grouped lithostratigraphical units (‘beds’) proposed for the English Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation has been claimed to be also chronostratigraphical, but some of the resulting time-correlations conflict with those of the standard chronozonation based on ammonite biostratigraphy. Review of some critical ammonite species reaffirms the validity of the ammonite zonal scheme and shows that mismatching of lithologies (facies-correlations) has led to incorrect time-correlations. Because the numbering scheme of ‘beds’ was based on correlations of attenuated successions, it is on too coarse a time-scale to identify many non-sequences, and its usefulness as a chronostratigraphical tool is questioned. Evidence suggests that at least some calcareous concretions in the Kimmeridge Clay formed at shallow depths, which is relevant to discussions of the succession in terms of basin analysis.

Six individual tectonostratigraphic units are identified within the İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan Suture Zone in the critical Erzincan area of the Eastern Pontides. The Ayıkayası Formation of Campanian–Maastrichtian age is composed of bedded pelagic limestones intercalated with polymict, massive conglomerates. The Ayıkayası Formation conformably overlies the Tauride passive margin sequence in the Munzur Mountains to the south and is interpreted as an underfilled foredeep basin. The Refahiye Complex, of possible Late Cretaceous age, is a partial ophiolite composed of ~75% (by volume) serpentinized peridotite (mainly harzburgite), ~20% diabase and minor amounts of gabbro and plagiogranite. The complex is interpreted as oceanic lithosphere that formed by spreading above a subduction zone. Unusual screens of metamorphic rocks (e.g. marble and schist) locally occur between sheeted diabase dykes. The Upper Cretaceous Karayaprak Mélange exhibits two lithological associations: (1) the basalt + radiolarite + serpentinite association, including depleted arc-type basalts; (2) the massive neritic limestone + lava + volcaniclastic association that includes fractionated, intermediate-composition lavas, and is interpreted as accreted Neotethyan seamount(s). The several-kilometre-thick Karadağ Formation, of Campanian–Maastrichtian age, is composed of greenschist-facies volcanogenic rocks of mainly basaltic to andesitic composition, and is interpreted as an emplaced Upper Cretaceous volcanic arc. The Campanian–Early Eocene Sütpınar Formation (~1500 m thick) is a coarsening-upward succession of turbiditic calcarenite, sandstone, laminated mudrock, volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks that includes rare andesitic lava, and is interpreted as a regressive forearc basin. The Late Paleocene–Eocene Sipikör Formation is a laterally varied succession of shallow-marine carbonate and siliciclastic lithofacies that overlies deformed Upper Cretaceous units with an angular unconformity. Structural study indicates that the assembled accretionary prism, supra-subduction zone-type oceanic lithosphere and volcanic arc units were emplaced northwards onto the Eurasian margin and also southwards onto the Tauride (Gondwana-related) margin during Campanian–Maastrichtian time. Further, mainly southward thrusting took place during the Eocene in this area, related to final closure of Tethys. Our preferred tectonic model involves northward subduction, supra-subduction zone ophiolite genesis and arc magmatism near the northerly, Eurasian margin of the Mesozoic Tethys.

The Western Granite is the largest of several granitic bodies around the margin of the Rum Central Igneous Complex. We report palaeomagnetic and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data that bear on the emplacement and deformation of the Western Granite. The collection includes samples from 27 sites throughout the Western Granite, five sites in adjacent feldspathic peridotite, and two sites in intermediate to mafic hybrid contact aureole rocks. Palaeomagnetic data from 22 of the 27 sites in the granite provide an in situ group mean D = 213.2°, I = −69.5°, α95 = 5.5° that is discordant to an early Paleocene reverse polarity expected field (about 184°, −66°, α95 = 4.3°). The discrepancy is eliminated by removing an inferred 15° of northwest-side-down tilting about a best fit horizontal tilt axis trending 040°. Data from the younger peridotite and hybrid rocks of the Rum Layered Suite provide an in situ group mean of D = 182.6°, I = −64.8°, α95 = 4.0°, which is statistically indistinguishable from an early Paleocene expected field, and imply no post-emplacement tilting of these rocks since remanence acquisition. The inferred tilt recorded in the Western Granite, which did not affect the younger Layered Suite, suggests that emplacement of the ultrabasic rocks resulted in roof uplift and associated tilt of the Western Granite to make space for mafic magma emplacement. Magnetic fabric magnitude and susceptibility parameters yield two subtle groupings in the Western Granite AMS data set. Group 1 data, defined by rocks from exposures to the east and south, have comparatively high bulk susceptibilities (Kmean, 29.51 × 10−3 in SI system), stronger anisotropies (Pj, 1.031) and oblate susceptibility ellipsoids. Group 2 data, from rocks in the west part of the pluton, have lower values of Kmean (15.89 × 10−3 SI) and Pj (1.014), and triaxial susceptibility ellipsoids. Magnetic lineations argue for emplacement of the granite as a tabular sheet from the south–southeast toward the north and west. Moderate to steeply outward-dipping magnetic foliations, together with deflection of the country rock bedding in the north, are consistent with doming accompanying magma emplacement.

Numerous post-metamorphic Miocene granitoids occur in the area of Lavrion, SE Attica, at the western end of the Attic-Cycladic Belt of the Aegean. U–Pb ion microprobe-dating (SHRIMP) of zircon from a granitoid sill in the hanging-wall of a regional detachment fault reveals two distinct ages: (1) 11.93 ± 0.41 Ma, obtained from inherited zircon cores with metamorphic characteristics (homogeneous cathodoluminescence, low Th/U ratios) and granulite-type (round/resorbed) morphology. This age is interpreted as the time of a likely granulite-facies metamorphism of the precursor rock. (2) 8.34 ± 0.20 Ma, obtained by oscillatory zoned zircon domains with cathodoluminescence and Th/U characteristics typical for magmatic origin. This age is interpreted as the crystallization time of the granitoid sills. Although a granulite-facies metamorphic event has not been recognized so far for rocks of the Attic-Cycladic Belt, it seems to be the most plausible hypothesis to explain both the zircon systematics and age results. This hypothesis is consistent with an extensional regime predominating in the Aegean from Late Miocene times onwards. A possible granulite-facies metamorphism can be related to magmatic underplating at the initial stages of extension, setting an upper age of c. 12 Ma for the operation of the detachment fault. The 8.34 ± 0.20 Ma zircon crystallization age is, statistically, marginally different to a previous K–Ar feldspar date of hornblende-bearing dykes (9.4 ± 0.3 Ma) and identical to a 8.27 ± 0.11 Ma K–Ar biotite date of the main granitoid stock in the area, thus being generally consistent with prior age constraints from the region. Operation of the detachment fault in the Lavrion area is therefore bracketed between c. 11.9 Ma and at least 8.3 Ma. This time range is in line with the time of operation of detachment faults suggested previously for the Cycladic islands. Carbonate-hosted replacement-type massive sulphide Pb–Zn–Ag ores are spatially associated with the detachment fault and related extensional structures in the Basal Unit. Therefore, these Pb–Zn–Ag ores probably also formed within the above time span of c. 11.9 to at least 8.3 Ma. U–Pb ion microprobe (SHRIMP) dating of zircon from an orthogneiss within the metaclastic subunit of the Basal Unit in Lavrion yielded a protolith age of 240 ±4 Ma, consistent with ages of Triassic volcanism elsewhere in Greece.

The newly recognized Nant Brianne turbidite system was a focus of laterally supplied coarse-grade sediment deposition that, along with the Caban–Ystrad Meurig system, punctuated late Hirnantian to early Telychian, mudstone-dominated slope apron deposition along the SE margin of the southern Welsh Basin. Geological mapping coupled with detailed biostratigraphy enable the depositional influence of sea-floor topography, an active Llyn Brianne Fault and eustatic sea-level changes to be tracked. The latter may represent ‘far field’ effects relating to the retreat and advance of contemporary Gondwanan ice sheets. Slope apron mudstone facies reveal a strong response to high order eustatic events; however, the response of contemporary, easterly sourced, coarse-grade turbidite systems was more complex, with some periods of increased sand and gravel input coinciding with times of rising global sea level. These anomalous relationships are explained by invoking a series of smaller-scale movements in marine base level. It was the interaction of these lower order events with the main eustatic cycles that appears to have been the primary control on sand and gravel input to the Welsh Basin. An early Telychian expansion of the Nant Brianne turbidite system records a marked increase in tectonically generated sediment at a time of palaeo-plate collision between Baltica/Avalonia and Laurentia before intra- and peri-basinal faulting led to its abandonment as a supply path to the basin centre.

A multi-mineral oxygen isotope study sheds light on the origin, cooling and alteration of Late Neoproterozoic A-type granites in the Arabian–Nubian shield of southern Israel. The oxygen isotope ratio of zircon of the Timna monzodiorite, quartz syenite and alkaline granite are within the range of mantle zircon (δ18O(Zrn) = 5.3 ± 0.6‰, 2σ), supporting the co-genetic mantle-derived origin previously suggested based on geochemical data and similar ɛNd(T) values and U–Pb ages (610 Ma). Likewise, olivine norite xenoliths within the monzodiorite (δ18O(Ol) = 5.41 ± 0.07‰) may have formed as cumulate in a parent mantle-derived magma. Within the Timna igneous complex, the latest and most evolved intrusion, an alkaline granite, has the least contaminated isotope ratio (δ18O(Zrn) = 5.50 ± 0.02‰), whereas its inferred parental monzodiorite magma has slightly higher and more variable δ18O(Zrn) values (5.60 to 5.93‰). The small isotope variation may be accounted for either by small differences in the temperature of zircon crystallization or by minor contamination of the parent magma followed by shallow emplacement and intrusion by the Timna alkaline granite. The Timna alkaline granite evolved, however, from a non-contaminated batch of mantle-derived magma. The formation of Yehoshafat granite (605 Ma; δ18O(Zrn) = 6.63 ± 0.10‰), exposed ~30 km to the south of the mineralogically comparable Timna alkaline granite, involved significant contribution from supracrustal rocks. A-type granites in southern Israel thus formed by differentiation of mantle-derived magma and upper crustal melting coevally. Fast grain boundary diffusion modelling and measured quartz-zircon fractionations demonstrate that the Timna and Yehoshafat alkaline granites cooled very rapidly below 600 °C in accordance with being epizonal. One to three orders of magnitude slower cooling is calculated for 30 Ma older calc-alkaline granites of the host batholith, indicating a transition from thick orogenic to extended crust. Significant elevation of the δ18O of feldspars occurred through water–rock interaction at moderate temperatures (100–250 °C), most probably during a thermal event in Early Carboniferous times.

We report on the newly discovered almandine garnet phenocrysts in rhyolitic ignimbrites (Sukhda Tuff) in the Precambrian Churtela Shale Formation of the Chhattisgarh Supergroup in central India. SHRIMP ages of igneous zircon from the ignimbrites range from 990 Ma to 1020 Ma. These ignimbrites exhibit characteristic eutaxitic texture with compacted curvilinear glass shards with triple junctions. Quartz (commonly embayed; bluish cathodoluminescence) and albite (altered but retaining ghosts of twinning) are common phenocrysts; others are apatite, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite, zircon, monazite and garnet. There are no metamorphic or granitic xenoliths in the ignimbrites. Garnet grains occur as isolated broken isotropic crystals with sharp or corroded boundaries in a very fine-grained groundmass of volcanic ash that consists principally of albite, quartz, magnetite and glass. They do not have any systematically distributed inclusions. A few have penetratively intergrown phenocrysts of apatite, ilmenite, rutile and zircon, which we interpret as subophitic texture. Extensive SEM-BSE imaging of more than 100 grains and electron microprobe traverses across about 30 grains showed no zoning or systematic compositional variability. Common (metamorphic) garnets are usually zoned with respect to Fe–Mg–Mn and typically have mineral inclusions. We infer, therefore, that these observed garnets are not metamorphic xenocrysts. The average major oxide composition of analysed garnets from five different horizons within the Sukhda Tuff, spanning approximately 300 m of the stratigraphic section, have very small standard deviation for each element, which is suggestive of a single magmatic source. Phenocrysts of quartz, including those in contact with coexisting garnets, show blue scanning electron CL, indicating rapid cooling from high temperature; this suggests that adjacent coexisting garnets are not slowly cooled restites. We conclude, on the basis of texture, mineral chemistry and absence of any indicative xenoliths or xenocrysts, that these almandine garnets (Al78.7Py12.3Gr7.4Sp1.6) are phenocrysts within the Sukhda Tuff. Almandine of such composition is stable under high pressure. We infer that almandine crystallized at lower crustal depths in a magma that ascended very rapidly and may have erupted explosively.

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.

An almost complete but predominantly disarticulated ptyctodont fish, Kimbryanodus williamburyensis n. gen., n.sp. from the Late Devonian Gneudna Formation, is described. The fossils occur as three-dimensionally preserved isolated plates, and this has allowed the reconstruction of the fish. A taxonomic revision of the ptyctodonts was undertaken based on recently described Australian taxa and new reconstructions of Australian, American and European specimens. The phylogenetic analysis supports a threefold division of the ptyctodonts, with Rhamphodopsis being the most basal taxon and the other ptyctodonts divided into those possessing a median dorsal spine, spinal plate and simple V-shaped overlap of the anterior lateral and anterior dorsolateral plates and those taxa which do not.

The Eastern Layered Intrusion of the Rum Central Complex, NW Scotland, comprises 16 macro-units broadly defined by a basal peridotite body overlain by gabbros and troctolites. The local term for the upper plagioclase-bearing cumulates is ‘allivalite’. The Unit 12 allivalite contains five subsidiary peridotite horizons, each continuous on the kilometre scale. Field, textural and geochemical evidence points to the Unit 12 allivalite forming by progressive accumulation of crystals from up to seven separate magma batches, varying from picrite to basalt. The thickness of the magma lens in the sill-like chamber was as low as 30 m during a significant part of the development of the Unit 12 allivalite, and evidence supports one eruption from the chamber during its accumulation.

Very hard cemented chalk stacks and crusts found locally in the upper part of the Cretaceous Chalk of north Norfolk, UK, are related to solution features. The solution features, mainly pipes and caves, formed after deposition of the overlying Middle Pleistocene Wroxham Crag, probably by routing of sub-glacial, or glacial, melt-waters derived from late Pleistocene glaciers. New geochemical (particularly stable isotope) data shows that cementation of the chalks, although related spatially to the solution features, was not caused by glacier-derived waters. The carbon isotope composition of the chalk cements is typically around −9.5‰, indicative of biologically active soils. Moreover, the oxygen isotope compositions of the cements, around −5‰, are incompatible with water δ18O values much below −9 to −10‰ (which probably precludes isotopically negative glacier-derived water), as resulting palaeo-temperatures are below zero. Taken together, the isotope data suggest chalk cementation occurred under interglacial conditions similar to the present. Dissolved calcium carbonate for cementation came from dissolution of reworked chalk in overlying MIS 12 glacial tills.

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.

Micropalaeontological investigations of Upper Ordovician carbonate mud-mounds and enclosing strata of subsurface Gotland, Sweden, demonstrate that jaw-bearing polychaetes formed the most diverse faunal element associated with these build-ups. Although not present within the mound cores (intra-mound facies), scolecodonts, or polychaete jaws, occur abundantly immediately below and particularly above the mounds; the supra-mound facies also has the most diverse fossil assemblages. By contrast to the scolecodont distribution, the most diverse conodont faunas were recorded in the intra-mound facies. This reinforces the fact that scolecodont and conodont abundance and diversity numbers are commonly inverse to one another, suggesting that these metazoans occupied different niches and responded differently to taphonomical processes. The polychaete assemblage has no less than 27 species belonging to 12 genera, of which Oenonites, Mochtyella and Pistoprion are the most abundant. The assemblage has a characteristic Baltic signature and is similar in taxonomic composition to coeval ones from other areas of the Baltoscandian palaeobasin, such as that of present-day Estonia. A principal component analysis clusters the Gotland assemblage most closely to those recorded from shallow to transitional shelf environments of Estonia, indicating that the mud-mounds were formed in such environments.

Stratigraphic fluctuations of carbon isotope values of terrestrial organic matter within the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Santonian) sequence in the Obira area of Hokkaido, Japan, record distinctive δ13C fluctuations for the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary, the Middle Turonian, the upper Turonian–lower Coniacian, and the Santonian. A biostratigraphic framework of the age-diagnostic taxa (ammonoids, bivalves and planktic foraminifers) indicates that these δ13C fluctuation events are comparable with those recorded in δ13C data of terrestrial organic matter in Japan and marine carbonates in Europe. These correlations reinforce the utility of these δ13C events in terms of global chemostratigraphy. In particular, the δ13C patterns within the overall positive interval of the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary event are highly conformable between marine and terrestrial records. The consistent nature of these different records of δ13C fluctuation patterns demonstrates that the terrestrial organic δ13C data mirror the global-scale δ13C patterns in the carbon reservoir of ocean–atmosphere–terrestrial biosphere during the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary event. In addition, global correlation of short-term marine and terrestrial organic δ13C fluctuations of the Upper Cretaceous sequence indicate that the magnitude of several terrestrial organic δ13C events appears more amplified than that of coeval marine carbonate δ13C events. This correlation is interpreted to mean that the effects of local CO2 emission into the atmosphere by release of terrestrial methane hydrate or biomass burning of terrestrial vegetation in the hinterland of the NE Asian region have been superimposed on the global δ13C trend and resulted in the terrestrial organic δ13C records of the Yezo Group.

The theropod teeth from the Berriasian (Early Cretaceous) site of Anoual (N Morocco) are described. The assemblage is important in that it comes from one of the very few dinosaur sites of this age globally and the only one for the whole of Gondwana. The theropod teeth from Anoual are morphologically diverse. Most of the material possibly belongs to the clade Dromaeosauridae, which would be an early occurrence for this taxon. The palaeogeographic position of Anoual enables it to provide data on the dispersal events that affected terrestrial faunas during Mesozoic times. A Laurasian influence is evidenced by the presence of Velociraptorinae and, on the whole, the theropod fauna from Anoual provides support for the existence of a trans-Tethyan passage allowing terrestrial faunal interchanges during Late Jurassic and/or earliest Cretaceous times. Additionally, Anoual records the existence of diminutive theropods. However, it cannot yet be determined whether the small size of the specimens is genetic or ontogenetic.