The significance of syngenetic and epigenetic graphite occurrences from the Variscan high-temperature/low-pressure Aracena Metamorphic Belt is discussed in the framework of the tectono-thermal evolution of this southern zone of the Iberian Massif. Syngenetic graphite is associated with both low- to medium-grade metamorphic rocks (La Umbría series, Precambrian in age) and high-grade, granulite facies rocks (the Precambrian Fuente del Oro series and a Cambrian calc-silicate series). Epigenetic, fluid-deposited occurrences correspond to overgrowths on existing metamorphic graphite grains and vein-type mineralization. Two types of graphitized particles with remarkable differences in reflectance, anisotropy and size can be distinguished in the Precambrian metapelites of the La Umbría series. Large, >150 μm length, platy crystals with high reflectance and anisotropy are interpreted as detrital and are considered indirect evidence of an old orogenic cycle prior to the Cadomian Orogeny, during which metamorphism exceeded greenschist facies. The coexistence of two types of particles explains the scattering of values of the c parameter of graphite determined by XRD (c = 6.72–6.74 Å), and the anomalously high temperatures of the DTA exothermic peak (close to 600 °C) of graphite with respect to that inferred from mineral assemblages in these rocks. The presence of graphite-rich quartzites and gneisses within the Fuente del Oro series and the calc-silicate series is evidence of sedimentation under reducing conditions in a continental shelf. The characteristics of graphite reflect the high-grade metamorphic conditions attained in the southern area of the Aracena Metamorphic Belt. Pervasive flow of fluids related to a major Variscan extensional event resulted in overgrowths on the pre-existing graphite in the gneisses and quartzites of the calc-silicate series, as evidenced by the heterogeneous isotopic composition of graphite single crystals in these rocks. A later stage of graphite precipitation is represented by scarce vein-type occurrences in mafic granulites that document channelled flow of fluids.

A number of Late Cretaceous ophiolitic bodies are located between the metamorphic massifs of the southeast Anatolian orogenic system. One of them, the Göksun ophiolite (northern Kahramanmaraş), which crops out in a tectonic window bounded by the Malatya metamorphic units on both the north and south, is located in the EW-trending nappe zone of the southeast Anatolian orogenic belt between Göksun and Afşin (northern Kahramanmaraş). It consists of ultramafic–mafic cumulates, isotropic gabbro, a sheeted dyke complex, plagiogranite, volcanic rocks and associated volcanosedimentary units. The ophiolitic rocks and the tectonically overlying Malatya–Keban metamorphic units were intruded by syn-collisional granitoids (∼ 85 Ma). The volcanic units are characterized by a wide spectrum of rocks ranging in composition from basalt to rhyolite. The sheeted dykes consist of diabase and microdiorite, whereas the isotropic gabbros consist of gabbro, diorite and quartzdiorite. The magmatic rocks in the Göksun ophiolite are part of a co-magmatic differentiated series of subalkaline tholeiites. Selective enrichment of some LIL elements (Rb, Ba, K, Sr and Th) and depletion of the HFS elements (Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr) relative to N-MORB are the main features of the upper crustal rocks. The presence of negative anomalies for Ta, Nb, Ti, the ratios of selected trace elements (Nb/Th, Th/Yb, Ta/Yb) and normalized REE patterns all are indicative of a subduction-related environment. All the geochemical evidence both from the volcanic rocks and the deeper levels (sheeted dykes and isotropic gabbro) show that the Göksun ophiolite formed during the mature stage of a suprasubduction zone (SSZ) tectonic setting in the southern branch of the Neotethyan ocean between the Malatya–Keban platform to the north and the Arabian platform to the south during Late Cretaceous times. Geological, geochronological and petrological data on the Göksun ophiolite and the Baskil magmatic arc suggest that there were two subduction zones, the first one dipping beneath the Malatya–Keban platform, generating the Baskil magmatic arc and the second one further south within the ocean basin, generating the Göksun ophiolite in a suprasubduction zone environment.

We have analysed 129 stratigraphic sections from the Timan–Pechora basin, from its adjacent continental shelf and from the South Barents Sea basin, in order to determine whether existing models of extensional sedimentary basin formation can be applied to these intracratonic basins or whether new mechanisms of formation need to be invoked. The subsidence history of each section has been calculated using standard backstripping techniques. An inverse model, based on finite-duration lithospheric stretching, has then been used to calculate the distribution of strain rate as a function of time required to fit each subsidence profile. Results demonstrate an excellent fit between theory and observation. By combining our analysis with independent field-based and geophysical observations, we show that the Timan–Pechora basin underwent at least four phases of mild lithospheric stretching during the Phanerozoic (β<1.2). These phases occurred in Ordovician, Late Ordovician–Silurian, Middle–Late Devonian and Permian–Early Triassic times. Growth on normal faults, episodes of volcanic activity and regional considerations provide corroborative support for the existence of all four phases. Although less well constrained, subsidence data from the South Barents Sea basin are consistent with a similar Early–Middle Palaeozoic history. The main difference is that Permian–Early Triassic extension is substantially greater than that seen onshore. This similarity implies structural connectivity throughout their respective evolutions. Finally, subsidence modelling demonstrates that rapid foreland basin formation, associated with the Uralian Orogeny, was initiated in Permo-Triassic times and is confined to the eastern margin of the Timan–Pechora basin. Coeval foreland subsidence does not occur on the eastern margin of the South Barents Sea basin, supporting the allochthonous nature of Novaya Zemlya. The most puzzling result is the existence of simultaneous lithospheric extension and foreland loading in Permian–Early Triassic times. This juxtaposition is most clearly seen within the Timan–Pechora basin itself and suggests that convective drawdown may play a role in foreland basin formation.

The lithospheric mantle beneath the North China Craton changed dramatically in its geophysical and geochemical characteristics from Palaeozoic to Cenozoic times. This study uses samples of Mesozoic basalts and mafic intrusions from the North China Craton to investigate the nature of this mantle in Mesozoic times. Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic data demonstrate that the Late Mesozoic lithospheric mantle was extremely heterogeneous. In the central craton or the Luzhong region, it is slightly Sr–Nd isotopically enriched, beneath the Taihangshan region it has an EM1 character (87Sr/86Sri=0.7050–0.7066; εNd(t)=−17–−10), and beneath the Luxi–Jiaodong region, it possesses EM2-like characteristics (87Sr/86Sri up to 0.7114). Compositional variation with time is also apparent in the Mesozoic lithospheric mantle. Our data suggest that the old lithospheric mantle was modified during Mesozoic times by a silicic melt, where beneath the Luxi–Jiaodong region it was severely modified, but in the Luzhong and Taihangshan regions the effects were much less marked. The silicic melt may have been the product of partial melting of crustal materials brought into the mantle by the subducted slab during the formation of circum-cratonic orogenic belts. This Mesozoic mantle did not survive for a long time, and was replaced by a Cenozoic mantle with depleted geochemical characteristics.

Western Turkey is one of the most spectacular regions of widespread active continental extension in the world. The most prominent structures of this region are E–W-trending grabens (e.g. Gediz and Büyük Menderes grabens) and intervening horsts, exposing the Menderes Massif. This paper documents the result of a recent field campaign (field geological mapping and structural analysis) along the southern margin of the modern Gediz Graben of Pliocene (∼ 5 Ma) age. This work provides field evidence that the presently low-angle ductile-brittle detachment fault is cut and displaced by the high-angle graben-bounding normal faults with total displacement exceeding 2.0 km. The evolution of the N–S extension along the Gediz Graben occurred during two episodes, each characterized by a distinct structural styles: (1) rapid exhumation of Menderes Massif in the footwall of low-angle normal fault (core-complex mode) during the Miocene; (2) late stretching of crust producing E–W grabens along high-angle normal faults (rift mode) during Pliocene–Quaternary times, separated by a short-time gap. The later phase is characterized by the deposition of now nearly horizontal sediments of Pliocene age in the hanging walls of the high-angle normal faults and present-day graben floor sediments. The evolution of extension is at variance with orogenic collapse and/or back-arc extension followed by the combined effect of tectonic escape and subduction rollback processes along the Aegean-Cyprean subduction zone. Consequently, it is misleading to describe the Miocene sediments exhumed on shoulders of the Gediz Graben as simple graben fill.

Whole-rock geochemical and Sm/Nd isotope data are presented for a representative suite of crustal rocks from the Pindos Ophiolite in order to resolve the origin of the geochemical signature of the boninites. Comparison is made with Triassic MORB from the Avdella mélange and with other ophiolitic rocks of northwestern Greece. Hydrothermal alteration results in large scatter in Sr and K and some variability in Ba, Th and U. The Pindos boninites contain high Zr and Hf with respect to REE, characteristic of many boninites. Pb, La/Sm and Nb decrease with decreasing TiO2 from MORB to IAT, but then increase in the boninites. Nd isotopic values expressed as εNd decrease systematically with decreasing TiO2, from 7–8 in IAT to 0.6–3.0 in boninites. As mantle wedge harzburgite became increasingly depleted, another magma source contributed significant amounts of Pb, REE and probably Nb. The Pb and other large-ion lithophile elements may have been transported in aqueous solutions from the subducting slab, but the REE and Nb imply an ocean-island basalt (OIB)-type source within the mantle wedge. This OIB source is a consequence of mantle plume activity during late Triassic rifting.

The regionally significant 0.5–2 km thick Høybakken detachment in central Norway bounds the southern margin of the Central Norway Basement Window and exhibits a well-developed top-to-the-WSW fabric characteristic of late Scandian, Devonian ductile extension. 40Ar–39Ar data obtained from hornblende, mica and K-feldspar mineral separates of rocks collected in a transect through the Høybakken detachment yield well-defined plateau and isochron mineral ages. Early Devonian exhumation and cooling of the Høybakken detachment footwall is recorded by hornblende ages of ∼ 400 Ma and mica ages of ∼ 390 Ma. The mylonitic fabric overlying the footwall records younger Middle Devonian mica crystallization ages of 384–381 Ma that are among the youngest extensional ductile fabrics dated in the Caledonides and suggest prolonged extensional activity on the Høybakken detachment. After inferred cessation of ductile extension at 381 Ma, the rate of uplift and cooling was reduced, and the footwall records Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous K-feldspar ages of 371–356 Ma. Prolonged extensional activity at Høybakken is compatible with recent U–Pb ages of deformed titanite crystals and established Rb–Sr ages of white mica in shear-related pegmatites, both from the southwestern part of the Fosen Peninsula, and 40Ar–39Ar ages of syn-tectonic mica overgrowth from the adjacent Hitra–Snåsa Fault. Together, these ages suggest the onset of ductile extension soon after ∼ 401 Ma, and with the Middle Devonian crystallization ages determined here, suggest that ductile extension on the Høybakken detachment had a duration of 11–20 Ma. The youngest age of 320 Ma was obtained from a K-feldspar in a cataclastic granite of the Høybakken detachment's hangingwall and is considered to date a phase of post-Scandian brittle deformation that overprinted the mylonitic shear fabric.

The Upper Ordovician Kyrkås Quartzite Formation at the Nifsåsen Quarry (Jämtland, Sweden) exhibits c. 90 m of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks deposited on a shallow shelf at the craton-attached part of the Caledonian foreland basin. Five lithologies are distinguished, including claystone, mudstone, siltstone, subarkose and sublitharenite. Based on these five lithologies, sedimentary structures and biota, three marine facies associations are defined: the Mudstone association (FA1) deposited close to storm wave base, the Sandstone/mudstone association (FA2) formed between storm and fair-weather wave bases, and the Sandstone association (FA3) accumulated above fair-weather wave base. The facies associations are arranged in two sequences, c. 50 and 40 m thick, separated by a transgressive surface, indicating repeated shoreline progradation. Both sequences commence with marine heterolithic shales and siltstones, with upwardly increasing frequency of tempestites. Continued shoaling is indicated by a dominance of hummocky and trough (locally tabular) cross-stratified sandstone beds in the upper part of each sequence. Sand beds are increasingly amalgamated up-sequence, reflecting progressively diminishing accommodation space. The depositional style and sedimentary structures indicate that the study area was storm-dominated with an abundant supply of siliciclastic material. Biostratigraphic data tie the depositional changes to the globally recognized Late Ordovician (Hirnantian) glacial interval. These data suggest that the first sequence was formed during the initial phase of regression in the earliest Hirnantian. The lowermost part of the overlying sequence contains elements of a typical Hirnantia fauna followed by beds yielding Normalograptus persculptus, suggesting a second regressive cycle in the Jämtland basin during the early N. persculptus Biozone.

Biostratigraphical study of the early to mid-Ordovician conodont fauna from ribbon-banded radiolarian cherts of the middle Burubaital Formation in Central Kazakhstan reveals an almost complete succession of conodont biozones from the late Tremadocian to the early Darriwilian. During this interval, biosiliceous sediments were deposited in basinal environments, inhabited by lingulate brachiopods, sponges, pterobranchs and caryocaridids in conditions of high fertility and primary productivity of surface water. The community structure of taxonomically diverse conodont assemblages typifying open oceanic environments is not significantly different from that of epicratonic basins of the North Atlantic conodont province. The regional increase of oxygenated bottom waters at the base of the Oepikodus evae Biozone is possibly related to considerable changes in palaeo-oceanographical circulation patterns. The finds of three natural clusters of Prioniodus oepiki (McTavish) enable us to propose an emended diagnosis of this species.

Single grains of detrital white mica from two different synorogenic sediments in the Southern Urals were analysed using the in situ ultraviolet laser ablation Ar–Ar dating technique to discriminate between age signatures associated with a high-pressure signal (phengites) from those related to muscovite only. Two disparately aged sandstone formations of Neoproterozoic (Upper Vendian) and Upper Devonian (Famennian) age were formed by the erosion of high-relief source areas with contemporaneously exhumed high-pressure rocks. A bimodal distribution of ages and chemical compositions can be detected in the two detrital populations. There is no age overlap between the two populations, reflecting completely different source areas containing high-pressure rocks of different ages. Within the Upper Vendian sandstones, detrital white mica from a 571–609 Ma age group is phengitic in composition (Si 3.3–3.41 per formula unit), while an older 645–732 Ma age group is comprised of muscovite composition grains only. The first group is compatible with the time of late exhumation and emplacement of a source area containing high-pressure rocks, the Neoproterozoic Beloretzk terrane. The older age range is compatible with a long history of cooling and the allochthonous nature of this terrane. Detrital white mica from the Famennian sandstones (Zilair Formation) comprises one age group (342–421 Ma) containing phengite (Si 3.21–3.39 per formula unit) and muscovite, and a second group (446–496 Ma) containing muscovite only. While the derivation of the second group cannot be correlated with any as yet known regional data, the first age group indicates the earliest arrival of high-pressure rocks at the surface along the suture zone after Late Devonian arc–continent collision.

Transition from diagenesis to metamorphism has been characterized in the central part of the Picos de Europa unit (Cantabrian Zone) by conodont colour alteration index (CAI), complemented with Kübler index (KI) data. This unit essentially comprises Carboniferous limestone. The study leads us to deduce two successive tectonothermal events. The first event generated a pattern with palaeotemperatures increasing towards the Pisuerga–Carrión unit, located south of the Picos de Europa unit. The present pattern is the result of an original dip to the north of the isothermal surfaces and the subsequent rising of the Picos de Europa unit along the frontal ramp of a deep Alpine thrust. This episode is interpreted as related to an extensional tectonic regime that occurred close to the Carboniferous–Permian boundary. The second event, which gave rise to thermal anomalies in the pattern of the first episode, was the result of hydrothermal processes in which fluid movement was facilitated by a dense network of fractures in the area close to the eastern section of the studied region. These processes gave rise to numerous mineralizations and have been related to a Permian extensional tectonic regime.

A simple flexural model is used to explore the relationship between magmatic underplating and denudation. First, we show how denudation can be calculated as a function of underplating. The distribution and density of underplate are obviously important parameters in determining the wavelength and amplitude of denudation. However, the denudational pattern can be considerably modulated by the flexural rigidity of the lithosphere. Several other parameters also play a significant role. For example, we show how variations in pre-existing bathymetry and in present-day topography affect denudational calculations. We have applied our simple algorithm to the problem of Paleogene underplating beneath the British Isles. Forward and inverse modelling of travel-time data from a wide-angle seismic experiment which traversed the British Isles suggests that a large pod of high velocity material occurs at Moho depths beneath the Irish Sea. The shape and inferred density of this pod are used to calculate the amplitude and wavelength of denudation for different flexural rigidities. We compare our predictions with the observed pattern of Paleogene denudation and conclude that the bulk of the observed denudation can be accounted for by magmatic underplating associated in a general way with the Iceland Plume. Notwithstanding this agreement, there is compelling evidence for additional mild uplift events especially during the Neogene. These mild events may reflect fluctuating dynamic topography associated with the Iceland Plume.

The outcrops of the Sierra de Albarracín (NE Spain) allow a precise reconstruction of the shallow sedimentary domains of a late Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp, developed in western marginal areas of the Iberian Basin. The sedimentary record shows a hierarchical sequence stratigraphic organization, which implies sea-level changes of different frequencies. The studied succession is arranged in a long-term transgressive–regressive sequence, which is likely to reflect local variation in the subsidence rates. This sequence includes four higher-order sequences A to D, which have variable thickness (from 3 to 21 m). The similar sedimentary evolution observed in distant localities suggests the existence of high-frequency sea-level fluctuations controlling the sequence development. The average amplitude of these cycles would range from 5 to 10 m. The precise estimation of their duration (some few hundreds of kyr) and their possible assignment to any of the long-term orbital cycles (the 100 or the 400 kyr eccentricity cycles) is uncertain. Sequences A and B, formed during the long-term transgressive interval, are relatively thin (from 3 to 9 m) give-up sequences that were never subaerially exposed. These sequences are locally formed by five shallowing-upward elementary sequences. Sequences C and D are catch-down sequences with evidence of emersion of subtidal facies. Sequence C, formed during the stage of maximum gain of long-term accommodation, is the thickest sequence (from 13 to 21 m) and includes coral–microbial reefs (pinnacles up to 16 m in height). The increased production rates were able to fill part of the accommodation created during the early stage of high-frequency sea-level rise and the shallow platform was eventually exposed to subaereal erosion and meteoric cementation.

In the eastern Mendip Hills, on the northern margin of the Wessex Basin, SW England, the Carboniferous Limestone is cut by numerous fissures that are filled with Mesozoic sediments (sedimentary dykes, neptunian dykes). The fissures contain a record of Triassic–Lower Jurassic sediments that are only sparingly preserved in their normal stratigraphical position between the Carboniferous Limestone and the unconformably overlying Upper Inferior Oolite of Bajocian age. Detailed analysis of cross-cutting relationships, facies analysis, biostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy and strontium-isotope ages of relevant Mesozoic sediments has allowed the construction of an Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic fissure-fill stratigraphy for the eastern Mendip area. Most fissures were clearly formed by rapid influx of unlithified sediment from the land surface or sea floor. Some smaller cavities, or larger cavities with restricted access to the unconformity, were apparently filled by sediment that trickled down into the fissure system. The vast majority of the Mendip fissures are interpreted as having formed as a response of the Carboniferous Limestone, north of major basin-bounding faults, to pulses of tectonic extension during Ladinian–Norian/Rhaetian, late Hettangian–early Sinemurian, late Sinemurian–early Pliensbachian, mid-Pliensbachian, late Pliensbachian and Bajocian times. Triassic–earliest Jurassic fissures have a broad spread of strike from E–W to NW–SE to N–S, accommodating extension in a roughly NE–SW direction. Younger Jurassic fissures show well-defined E–W and N–S trends with the former becoming dominant through time. Total extension of ∼4.7% N–S and ∼0.6% E–W was produced by the formation of Triassic–Jurassic fissures within the Carboniferous Limestone. Such patterns of extension are thought likely to be characteristic of the subsurface geology in much of southern England and Wales. Major implications of this study are that: (1) the presence of seismically unresolvable sediment-filled fissures in supposedly rigid fault blocks can lead to a significant underestimate of regional extension based on the restoration of motion on normal faults on seismic-reflection profiles, and (2) the isolation of pulses of tectonic activity with a temporal resolution of 105–106 years may provide a means of identifying a tectonic signal in relative sea-level curves derived from the Jurassic sedimentary record.

The intensity and extent of anoxia during the two Kellwasser anoxic events has been investigated in a range of European localities using a multidisciplinary approach (pyrite framboid assay, gamma-ray spectrometry and sediment fabric analysis). The results reveal that the development of the Lower Kellwasser Horizon in the early Late rhenana Zone (Frasnian Stage) in German type sections does not always coincide with anoxic events elsewhere in Europe and, in some locations, seafloor oxygenation improves during this interval. Thus, this anoxic event is not universally developed. In contrast, the Upper Kellwasser Horizon, developed in the Late linguiformis Zone (Frasnian Stage) in Germany correlates with a European-wide anoxic event that is manifest as an intensification of anoxia in basinal locations to the point that stable euxinic conditions were developed (for example, in the basins of the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland). The interval also saw the spread of dysoxic waters into very shallow water (for instance, reefal) locations, and it seems reasonable to link the contemporaneous demise of many marine taxa to this phase of intense and widespread anoxia. In basinal locations, euxinic conditions persisted into the earliest Famennian with little change of depositional conditions. Only in the continental margin location of Austria was anoxia not developed at any time in the Late Devonian. Consequently it appears that the Upper Kellwasser anoxic event was an epicontinental seaway phenomenon, caused by the upward expansion of anoxia from deep basinal locales rather than an ‘oceanic’ anoxic event that has spilled laterally into epicontinental settings.

Extensive continental collision-related volcanism occurred in Turkey during Neogene–Quaternary times. In central Anatolia, calc-alkaline to alkaline volcanism began in the Middle–Late Miocene. Here we report trace elemental and isotopic data from Quaternary age samples from central and eastern Anatolia. Most mafic lavas from central Anatolia are basalt and basaltic andesite, with lesser amounts of basaltic trachyandesite and andesite. All magma types exhibit enrichment in LILE (Sr, Rb, Ba and Pb) relative to HFSE (Nb, Ta). Trace element patterns are characteristic of continental margin volcanism with high Ba/Nb and Th/Nb ratios. 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd isotopic ratios of central Anatolian lavas range between 0.704105–0.705619 and 0.512604–0.512849, respectively. The Quaternary alkaline volcanism of eastern Anatolia has been closely linked to the collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. Karacadaǧ and Tendürek volcanic rocks are represented by alkali basalts and basaltic trachyandesites, respectively. As expected from their alkaline nature, they contain high abundances of LIL elements, but Tendürek lavas also show depletion in Nb and Ta, indicating the role of crustal contamination in the evolution of these magmas. 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd ratios of the Karacadaǧ and Tendürek lavas range from 0.703512 to 0.704466; 0.512742 to 0.512883 and 0.705743 to 0.705889 and 0.512676, respectively. Petrogenetic modelling has been used to constrain source characteristics for the central and eastern Anatolian volcanic rocks. Trace element ratio plots and REE modelling indicate that the central Anatolian volcanism was generated from a lithospheric mantle source that recorded the previous subduction events between Afro-Arabian and Eurasian plates during Eocene to Miocene times. In contrast, The Karacadaǧ alkaline basaltic volcanism on the Arabian foreland is derived from an OIB-like mantle source with limited crustal contamination. Tendürek volcanism, located on thickened crust, north of the Bitlis thrust zone, derived from the lithospheric mantle via small degrees (1.5 %) of partial melting.

Because magmatism associated with subduction is thought to be the principal source for continental crust generation, assessing the relative contribution of pre-existing (subducted and assimilated) continental material to arc magmatism in accreted arcs is important to understanding the origin of continental crust. We present a detailed Nd isotopic stratigraphy for volcanic and volcaniclastic formations from the South Mayo Trough, an accreted oceanic arc exposed in the western Irish Caledonides. These units span an arc–continent collision event, the Grampian (Taconic) Orogeny, in which an intra-oceanic island arc was accreted onto the passive continental margin of Laurentia starting at ∼ 475 Ma (Arenig). The stratigraphy corresponding to pre-, syn- and post-collisional volcanism reveals a progression of εNd(t) from strongly positive values, consistent with melt derivation almost exclusively from oceanic mantle beneath the arc, to strongly negative values, indicating incorporation of continental material into the melt. Using εNd(t) values of meta-sediments that represent the Laurentian passive margin and accretionary prism, we are able to quantify the relative proportions of continent-derived melt at various stages of arc formation and accretion. Mass balance calculations show that mantle-derived magmatism contributes substantially to melt production during all stages of arc–continent collision, never accounting for less than 21% of the total. This implies that a significant addition of new, rather than recycled, continental crust can accompany arc–continent collision and continental arc magmatism.

Sedimentation ages of metamorphosed clastic sedimentary rocks in the southern Schwarzwald were determined by associations of palynomorphs. In the northern subunit of the Badenweiler–Lenzkirch Zone, two lithostratigraphic assemblages could be discerned in low-grade metamorphic units by their facies and age, thus revealing a more complex internal structure of this zone than previously assumed. Lower Ordovician metagreywackes and metapelites were discerned from Silurian metasiltstones. In the cataclastically overprinted metasiltstones and phyllites of the southern subunit of the Badenweiler–Lenzkirch Zone, only poorly preserved microfossil remains could be detected. These show that the sedimentation ages must be Ordovician or younger, but still probably Early Palaeozoic. High-grade metapelitic rocks of the South Schwarzwald Gneiss Complex contain chitinozoans in lenses and layers of schists, that are rich in biotite and graphite. They yielded mid-Silurian ages and show that this crystalline complex does not represent an older basement unit but was the result of marine sedimentation at that time. The new age determinations have a bearing on geodynamic reconstructions of the internal Variscides in Early Palaeozoic time. They show that sedimentation in the oceanic realm of the Badenweiler–Lenzkirch Zone or its margins did not occur before the Ordovician. After transformation of the northern passive into an active continental margin, younger greywackes not older than Middle Devonian received detritus from a volcanic arc, forming above the subduction zone.

Dinoflagellate cysts and other palynomorphs from the Pliocene Kattendijk and Lillo formations, exposed in two temporary outcrops in northern Belgium, provide new information on the biostratigraphic position and sequence stratigraphic interpretation of these units. Dinoflagellate cysts from the Kattendijk Formation indicate an age between about 5.0 Ma and 4.7–4.4 Ma (early Early Pliocene) in our sections, confirming a correlation with standard sequence 3.4 and implying a slightly greater age than the Ramsholt Member of the Coralline Crag Formation of eastern England. The unconformity at the base of the Kattendijk Formation was not seen, but presumably correlates with sequence boundary Me2 at 5.73 Ma. The overlying Lillo Formation is late Early Pliocene or early Late Pliocene (c. 4.2–2.6 Ma) in age, and the unconformity at its base may be correlated with sequence boundary Za2 at 4.04 Ma or Pia1 at 3.21 Ma. The Oorderen Sands and superjacent Kruisschans Sands members (Lillo Formation) are both part of the same depositional cycle. They were probably deposited before 2.74 Ma, and certainly before the onset of Northern Hemisphere cooling at c. 2.6 Ma. Evidence from dinoflagellate cysts indicates that both a shelly unit at the base of the Lillo Formation and the lower part of the overlying Oorderen Sands were deposited during a conspicuously cool climatic phase, with warmer temperatures returning during later deposition of the Oorderen Sands and Kruisschans Sands members. Many dinoflagellate cyst and acritarch species are reported here for the first time from the southern North Sea Basin. Selenopemphix conspicua (de Verteuil & Norris, 1992) stat. nov. is proposed.