Evidence of bioalteration of natural basaltic rocks, presently receiving much attention, has so far been restricted to in situ oceanic crust and ophiolites in which fresh glass is still present. Here we present evidence of preserved bio-signatures in the chilled margin of pillow lavas of an old (443 Ma) ophiolite that has suffered pervasive lower greenschist facies metamorphism and deformation. X-ray mapping of initial alteration zones shows the remains of organic carbon associated with highly-concentrated Fe and S. Bioproduction of CO2 is further reflected in the low δ13C values of calcite extracted from pillow rims, compatible with microbe-induced fractionation during oxidation of organic matter. We attribute these effects to growth of sulphate-reducing bacteria at the early stage of ophiolite formation. During energy metabolism these bacteria reduce sulphate to H2S and oxidize organic matter to CO2 . Hydrogen sulphide will eventually react with iron and form pyrite, and carbon dioxide is precipitated as calcium carbonate. The results of this study may thus trigger the search for bio-signatures in glassy volcanic rocks of any age.

A transpressive crustal-scale dextral shear zone is documented in the Variscan Basement of northeastern Sardinia. It indicates the presence of a shear deformation parallel to the belt overprinting previous D1 structures related to nappe stacking and top-to-the-S and -SW thrusting. The L2 stretching lineation points to an orogen-parallel stretching and to a general change in the tectonic transport from D1 to D2. Phase D1 developed during initial frontal collision, whereas the D2 deformation was characterized by dextral shearing during the increasing curvature of the Ibero-Armorican arc. Transpressional deformation developed in a regime of decreasing pressure. It caused telescoping of the Barrovian isograds and the exhumation of the low- to medium-grade metamorphic rocks. In this sector of the Variscan belt, exhumation is due to continuing compression with an increasing component of horizontal displacement. The overall change of the shortening direction in a large sector of an orogenic belt, with the occurrence of increasing orogen-parallel displacement, may be regarded as a general mechanism affecting the exhumation of rocks and preventing the thickened collisional crust from undergoing a generalized gravitational collapse.

A diverse assemblage of Carboniferous plant fossils occurs in the upper Benxi Formation at the Kaihuagou Section near Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. It consists of impressions and fusain fragments, the latter revealing anatomical details. Unlike previously published assemblages from the Benxi Formation, there are no pteridosperms, but a predominance of noeggerathioids and fern fragments. There are three new species: Achlamydocarpon taiyuanensis, Conchophyllum suboblongifolium, and the first reported example of a Selaginella from the Carboniferous System of China, S. benxiensis. The arborescent lycophytes do not to belong to Lepidodendron, as previously claimed, but to Synchysidendron, and three new combinations are therefore proposed for species from the Benxi Formation: S. galeatum, S. subrhombicum and S. tripunctatum. The Benxi Formation flora represents a transition between the tropical swamp vegetation represented in the Westphalian floras of Europe and North America, and the Stephanian and Permian Cathaysian floras of China. It is evidence of an essential continuity between the Late Palaeozoic vegetation of the western and eastern tropics, which should be united as a single phytochorion, the Amerosinian Realm.

The metamorphic sole along the base of the Semail ophiolite in Oman records the earliest thrust slice subducted and accreted to the base of the ophiolite mantle sequence. In the Bani Hamid area (United Arab Emirates) a c. 870 m thick thrust slice of granulite facies rocks includes garnet+ diopside amphibolites, enstatite+cordierite+sillimanite+spinel±sapphirine quartzites, alkaline mafic granulites (meta-jacupirangites) quartzo-feldspathic gneisses and calc-silicates. The latter contain garnet+diopside+scapolite+plagioclase±wollastonite. P–T conditions of granulite facies metamorphism are in the range 800–860°C and 10.5±1.1 kbar to 14.7±2.8 kbar. Garnet+clinopyroxene+hornblende+plagioclase amphibolites from the metamorphic sole record peak P–T conditions of 840±70°C and 11.6±1.6 kbar (THERMOCALC average P–T mode) and 840–870°C and 13.9–11.8 kbar (conventional thermobarometry) with low degrees of partial melting producing very small melt segregations of tonalitic material. Pressure estimates are equivalent to depths of 57–46 km beneath oceanic crust, much deeper than can be accounted for by the thickness of the ophiolite. 40Ar39Ar hornblende ages from the amphibolites range from 95–93 Ma, synchronous with formation of the plagiogranites in the ophiolite crustal sequence (95 Ma), eruption of the Lasail (V2) volcanic sequence and deposition of Cenomanian–Turonian radiolaria in metalliferous sediments between the Geotimes (V1) and Lasail (V2) lavas. Protoliths of the metamorphic sole were Triassic–Jurassic and early Cretaceous Haybi volcanic rocks, Exotic limestones and quartzites and were clearly not equivalent to the Semail ophiolite rocks, showing that initiation of subduction could not have occurred at the ridge axis. Heat for metamorphism was derived from the mantle sequence harzburgites and dunites which were at or around 1100–1500°C. All data from the sub-ophiolite metamorphic sole in Oman and the United Arab Emirates indicate that the ophiolite was formed in a Supra-Subduction zone setting and that obduction occurred along a NE-dipping high-temperature subduction zone during Late Cretaceous times.

The Altai orogen (northwest China) represents the southwestern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Geochemical and Nd–Sr isotope analyses were carried out on the Palaeozoic sedimentary and granitic rocks in order to trace their sources and to evaluate the pattern of continental growth of the orogen. Nd isotopic data for both the granites and sediments suggest a significant proportion of middle Proterozoic crust beneath the Altai orogen. However, addition of juvenile material (arc/back-arc oceanic crust) during Palaeozoic times is also significant. Trace elements and isotopic data of sediments suggest their sources were immature. They represent mixtures between a Palaeozoic juvenile component and an evolved continental crust. The early Palaeozoic sediments show εNd(T) = −3.4 to −5.0, TDM = 1.5–1.8 Ga, and ISr = 0.710–0.712. They represent a passive margin setting, with a predominance of evolved crustal material in the source. The Devonian sequences, however, might have been deposited in a back-arc basin setting, produced by subduction of the Junggar oceanic crust along the Irtysh fault. A significant addition of arc material into the sedimentary basin is responsible for the highly variable εNd values (−6 to 0) and ISr (0.711–0.706). The Carboniferous rocks were also deposited in a back-arc basin setting but with predominantly arc material in the source as suggested by an abrupt increase in εNd(T) (+6 to +3) and decrease in ISr (0.7045–0.7051). Voluminous syn-orogenic granitoids have εNd(T) = +2.1 to −4.3, ISr = 0.705–0.714 and TDM = 0.7–1.6 Ga. They were not derived by melting of local metasedimentary rocks as suggested by previous workers, but by melting of a more juvenile source at depth. Post-orogenic granites have higher εNd(T) (∼ +4.4) than the syn-orogenic granitoids, indicating their derivation from a deeper crustal level where juvenile crust may predominate.

Carbon and strontium isotope stratigraphy has been applied to constrain the depositional ages of high-grade marble sequences in the Ofoten district of the North-Central Norwegian Caledonides. Two marble formations hosted by diverse schists from the Bogen Group, all previously correlated over long distances with a Late Ordovician–Early Silurian, low-grade, fossiliferous succession, have been studied for carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopes. The least altered 87Sr/86Sr ratios ranging between 0.7062 and 0.7068, and the best preserved δ13C values falling between +5.0 and +6.5‰ obtained from two marble formations, are consistent with a seawater composition in the time interval 700–600 Ma. The results obtained do not support the previously proposed correlation of the Bogen Group with an Ordovician–Silurian lithostratigraphic succession further north. The apparent depositional ages suggest that the tectonostratigraphic succession studied is inverted and that the tectonostratigraphy of the region requires revision. The Neoproterozoic depositional ages combined with the palaeogeographic position of Baltica imply that carbonates were initially accumulated in seas on a continental shelf, probably Laurentia, and were tectonically transported onto Baltica during Early Silurian, Scandian collision, at c. 425 Ma. Prospecting for new dolomite marble deposits of the Hekkelstrand type and carbonate-hosted manganese–iron ores should be restricted to 700–600 Ma sequences in the Uppermost Allochthon of the Norwegian Caledonides.

Since late Miocene time, post-collisional extension of the internal parts of the Apennine orogenic belt has led to the opening of the Tyrrhenian basin. Extensive, mainly acidic peraluminous magmatism affected the Tuscan Archipelago and the Italian mainland during this time, building up the Tuscan Magmatic Province as the fold belt was progressively thinned, heated and intruded by mafic magmas. An intrusive complex was progressively built on western Elba Island by emplacement, within a stack of nappes, of multiple, shallow-level porphyritic laccoliths, a major pluton, and a final dyke swarm, all within the span from about 8 to 6.8 Ma. New geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic investigations constrain the compositions of materials involved in the genesis of the magmas of Elba Island compared to the whole Tuscan Magmatic Province. Several distinct magma sources, in both the crust and mantle, have been identified as contributing to the Elba magmatism as it evolved from crust-, to hybrid-, to mantle-dominated. However, a restricted number of components, geochemically similar to mafic K-andesites of the Island of Capraia and crustal melts like the Cotoncello dyke at Elba, are sufficient to account for the generation by melt hybridization of the most voluminous magmas (c. εNd(t) −8.5, 87Sr/86Sr 0.715). Unusual magmas were emplaced at the beginning and end of the igneous activity, without contributing to the generation of these hybrid magmas. These are represented by early peraluminous melts of a different crustal origin (εNd(t) between −9.5 and −10.0, 87Sr/86Sr variable between 0.7115 and 0.7146), and late mantle-derived magma strongly enriched in incompatible elements (εNd(t) = −7.0, 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7114) with geochemical–isotopic characteristics intermediate between contemporaneous Capraia K-andesites and later lamproites from the Tuscan Magmatic Province. Magmas not involved in the generation of the main hybrid products are not volumetrically significant, but their occurrence emphasizes the highly variable nature of crust and mantle sources that can be activated in a short time span during post-collisional magmatism.

One of the few detailed records of Mesozoic deep-water sedimentation and volcanism preserved along the tectonically emplaced Arabian continental margin is from the Baer–Bassit region of northern Syria. South-Tethyan units there occur as blocks, broken formation and disrupted thrust sheets within the Bear–Bassit Melange. Two overall composite successions are identified. The first comprises mainly sedimentary successions ranging from Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) in age. The second is dominated by Middle Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous alkaline/ per-alkaline volcanic and minor intrusive igneous rocks. The extrusives are intercalated with radiolarian sediments and capped by Cenomanian ferromanganese-rich pelagic limestone. Facies comparisons and the regional setting suggest that the Triassic to Cenomanian, mainly sedimentary units, formed in deep water near the base of the slope of the Arabian continental margin. The contrasting volcanogenic successions developed in a more distal off-margin setting. Regional comparisons (e.g. with southwestern Cyprus and southwestern Turkey) suggest that continental break-up to form a South-Tethyan oceanic basin took place in Late Triassic time, associated with alkaline volcanism. Similar alkaline volcanism of Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age could reflect the activity of a mantle plume beneath the Arabian plate. Overall, sedimentation was mainly controlled by an interplay of post-rift thermal subsidence, plume-related uplift, siliceous oceanic productivity, climatic change and eustatic sea-level change. The South-Tethyan marginal to oceanic units in northern Syria were detached from an inferred oceanic basement in latest Cretaceous time, emplaced onto the Arabian continental margin, then transgressed by Maastrichian and younger autochthonous successions.

The Alaşehir graben is a well-defined prominent extensional structure in western Turkey, generally trending E–W and containing four sedimentary units. At the beginning of graben formation during Early–Middle Miocene times, the first fault system was active and responsible for the accumulation of the first and second sedimentary units. In Pliocene times, a second fault system developed in the hanging wall of the first system and a third sedimentary unit was deposited. The recently active third fault system separates older graben fill and a fourth sedimentary unit. Activity on each fault system caused the rotation and uplift of previous systems, similar to the ‘flexural rotation/rolling hinge’ model, but our field observations indicate that the rotated first fault system is also active, allowing exhumation of larger amounts of rock units. This paper documents that graben formation in western Turkey is a sequential process. Its different periods are represented by three fault systems and associated sedimentation. Consequently, recent claims using age data from only the second and/or third sedimentary units to determine the timing of graben formation are misleading.

The Outer Hebrides Fault Zone is a major ESE-dipping detachment exposed within basement gneisses of the Archaean–Palaeoproterozoic Lewisian Complex, northwest Scotland. The fault zone exhibits a long-lived displacement history and was active during Proterozoic, end-Silurian, Carboniferous and Mesozoic times. The earliest deformation event preserved onshore was associated with top-to-the-NW ductile thrusting. A previous study proposed that thrust-related protomylonitic and mylonitic fabrics are cross-cut by amphibolites (‘Younger Basics’) and Laxfordian granite and pegmatite sheets. This evidence was used to suggest that ductile thrusting occurred during the Palaeoproterozoic Inverian event at c. 2500 Ma. Our observations demonstrate, however, that mylonitic fabrics within the ductile thrust zone are superimposed on all components of the gneiss complex including amphibolites and Laxfordian intrusions. It therefore follows that the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone cannot be older than c. 1685 Ma, the age of recently dated Laxfordian granites in the Outer Hebrides. Geochronological studies have shown that the basement blocks of the northern Outer Hebrides and Scottish mainland have different geological histories and were amalgamated during Proterozoic times at or after c. 1700 Ma. We propose that early ductile thrusting along the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone formed part of this amalgamation process leading to burial and reheating of the footwall gneisses in Lewis and north Harris. This would account for the c. 1100 Ma thermal event recorded by previous workers and implies that ductile thrusting along the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone is of Grenvillian age.

Ion microprobe analyses of detrital zircons in the Te Akatarawa Terrane, New Zealand, reveal that the age of unfossiliferous turbidites overlying a fusuline- and coral-bearing limestone block olistostromal mélange is no older than 255±4 Ma (Late Permian). This is approximately 15 m.y. younger than the Kungurian age of the fusulinid limestone. We interpret this to indicate collapse of a Permian oceanic seamount as it entered a subduction zone along the Pacific margin of Gondwana. These turbidites differ markedly in composition from adjoining Permian to Middle Triassic sand-stones of the Torlesse Terrane. Detrital zircon age data indicate predominantly Permian and Carboniferous ages for source rocks supplying the Te Akatarawa turbidites, but also reveal significant earlier Palaeozoic and Proterozoic components, ranging back to 1.9 Ga. The warm-water setting of limestone blocks and the short 15 m.y. time period between sedimentation and accretion onto a continental margin require the limestone to have formed in a low-latitude position probably off the northeast Australian (New Guinea) margin of Gondwana. Zircons within the sample underwent re-crystallization at around 230±11 Ma which may be related to alteration during accretion in a subduction zone environment. Over a period of 100 to 150 m.y. from 255 Ma the terrane underwent more than 5000 km translation along the continental margin southward to its current location as an exotic mini-terrane enclosed within the New Zealand Torlesse Terrane.

The heavy mineral distribution of the Palaeogene flysch deposits of the Ionian, Gavrovo–Tripolitza and Pindos zones of the Peloponnese has been systematically investigated. The Ionian zone is distinguished from the Gavrovo–Tripolitza zone by higher amounts of detrital chrome spinel. The Ionian and the western occurrences of the Gavrovo–Tripolitza flysch are comparable with the successions of the Greek mainland, whereas samples of the Gavrovo–Tripolitza flysch from central and eastern locations of the Peloponnese, which crop out in tectonic windows, are clearly distinct. On the basis of heavy mineral distribution, the Gavrovo–Tripolitza flysch of the central and eastern Peloponnese shows clear relationships to the metaflysch sediments exposed in the tectonic windows of Olympos and Ossa, in Thessaly, which have no relation to the Gavrovo flysch of the mainland. The Pindos flysch from the Peloponnese contains the same heavy mineral assemblages as the pre-Middle Eocene deposits of the mainland. Younger Pindos flysch sediments are not observed on the Peloponnese. The differences in heavy mineral distribution within the Gavrovo–Tripolitza flysch, between the western and eastern localities, can be explained by an intensive reworking of Pindos flysch during the tectonic progradation of the Pindos nappe onto its foreland basin.

Numerous footprints of dinosaurs, pterosaurs and birds, together with arthropod tracks, have been discovered in the upper Cretaceous Uhangri Formation which crops out along the south-western coastline of South Korea. This ichnofauna contains the first pterosaur tracks reported from Asia. The digitigrade tridactyl manus impressions exhibit features of a typical pterosaur hand print. The pes impressions, however, show features that are different from pterosaur footprints reported previously: there is no visible trace of impressions of individual digits, and the toes are triangular or rounded in shape distally without distinct claw impressions. As these features clearly distinguish the Uhangri tracks from Pteraichnus and Purbeckopus, we assign them to a new genus, Haenamichnus which accommodates the new ichnospecies, Haenamichnus uhangriensis. The prints are five to six times larger than those of Pteraichnus, and are currently the largest pterosaur ichnites known. They show virtually no trace of the 5th phalange of the pes, indicating that they were made by pterodactyloids; moreover, features of the tracks suggest that they can be attributed to azhdarchids, the commonest pterosaur of the Late Cretaceous. The longest pterosaur trackway yet known from any track site (length 7.3 m) and consisting of 14 pairs of foot impressions, was also found in the Uhangri Formation and suggests that azhdarchids, at least, were competent terrestrial locomotors. The fossil track site at Uhangri represents the first occurrence of the tracks of pterosaurs, dinosaurs and web-footed birds all on the same level. This demonstrates that pterosaurs and birds visited the same habitat, but the large size disparity suggests that they occupied different ecological niches.

Recent detailed studies on the Batain nappes (northeast coast of Oman), which represent a special part of the so-called ‘Oman Exotics’, have led to a better understanding of the Neotethyan geo-dynamic evolution. The Batain Exotics bear witness to volcanic activity, sea-level changes, tectonic instability, rifting and oceanization along the Eastern Oman margin during Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic times. They allow definition of the Batain basin as an aborted Permian branch of Neotethys. This marine basin was created in Early Permian times extending southward to the East African/ Madagascar region and was linked to the Karoo rift system. The presented revised classification of the Batain nappes considers the Batain basin to be no longer a part of the Hawasina basin and the Neotethyan margin proper. We attribute the Batain basin to a Mozambique–Somali–Masirah rift system (Somoma). This system started in Early Permian, times, creating a marine basin between Arabia and India/Madagascar; rifting in the Late Triassic and oceanization during Late Jurassic times led to the separation of East Gondwana.

A new Late Cambrian trilobite–brachiopod fauna from the Kurchavinskaya Formation, Severnaya Zemlya, northern Siberia, allows correlation of the Ketyi Horizon of the NW Siberian succession with the praecursor Zone of the Baltic olenid zonation. The presence on Severnaya Zemlya of the typically Siberian trilobite Kujandaspis ketiensis indicates that even if Severnaya Zemlya lay on a separate plate, whether Kara or Arctida as postulated by other authors, then it was still probably not far from Siberia. However, the associated brachiopods are partly endemic to Severnaya Zemlya, thus giving some support to the independent palaeomagnetic evidence for their origin on a plate separate from Siberia.

Upper mantle peridotites and associated oceanic rocks from the Lizard Complex, southwest England, preserve evidence for a multistage geological history. Steeply dipping pre-emplacement fabrics record high-temperature (900–1100°C) shearing and exhumation of the mantle peridotites apparently formed during localized NE–SW rifting in a pull-apart basin setting (c. 400–390 Ma). Associated oceanic rocks (Landewednack amphibolites) preserve a pre-emplacement prograde brown amphibole-bearing metamorphic assemblage and steeply dipping fabric thought to have formed as the newly formed oceanic crust was juxtaposed with newly exhumed hot mantle peridotite during NE–SW rifting. In both the peridotites and Landewednack amphibolites, steep pre-emplacement structures are cross-cut by low-angle mylonitic fabrics thought to have formed during the initial phases of emplacement of mantle over crustal rocks in a partially intra-oceanic setting (c. 390–375 Ma). The fabrics in peridotites and amphibolites exhibit retrograde mineral assemblages (c. 500–800°C), with the amphibolites preserving two superimposed assemblages, green amphibole + titanite and colourless magnesio-hornblende, respectively, that are thought to record progressive down-temperature deformation during thrusting. Emplacement-related structures in both the basal peridotites and amphibolites consistently dip at low to moderate angles NW, with down-dip lineations and kinematic indicators showing consistent top-to-the-NW senses of shear. Syn-emplacement magmatism is recorded by intrusions of foliated Kennack Gneiss. Anastomosing serpentine-filled faults mark many existing low-angle contacts between the peridotites and Landewednack amphibolites and appear to represent the final, lowest-temperature (< 250°C) stages of emplacement (c. 370 Ma). This study shows that ‘dynamothermal aureoles’ in ophiolites may preserve evidence for tectonothermal events that pre-date thrust emplacement.

Mesozoic picritic and alkali basalts from central Lebanon represent a significant part of an extension-related Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous discontinuous volcanic belt which occurs throughout the Middle East. Volcanism was associated with an episode of intraplate extension that followed a period of continental break-up, where Mesozoic micro-continental blocks separated from Gondwana as the Neotethys ocean opened in Jurassic times. This volcanic episode produced mafic lava flows ranging in thickness from 5 to 20 m, along with some minor pyroclastic flows. These flows are stratigraphically intercalated with thick carbonate platform deposits. The basalts are made up of about 15–20% olivine (Fo78–91), 30–35% clinopyroxene (salite), 40–50% plagioclase (An56–71) and opaque Fe–Ti oxides (∼5%). Geochemically, the rocks exhibit a relatively wide range of SiO2 (40.4 to 50.5 wt%) and MgO (5.1 to 15.5 wt%) contents, are relatively enriched in TiO2 (1.7 to 3.7 wt%) and vary in composition from alkali picrite and basanite to alkali basalt. The Mg numbers range from 0.56 to 0.70, with an average of 0.63. The rocks are enriched in incompatible trace elements such as Zr (86–247 ppm), Nb (16–66 ppm) and Y (19–30 ppm). Such compositions are typical of those of HIMU-OIB and plume-related magmas. The REE patterns are fractionated ((La/Yb)N = 11), LREE enriched, and are generally parallel to subparallel. Elemental ratios such as K/P (1.1–4.7), La/Ta (11–13), La/Nb (0.57–0.70), Nb/Y (0.68–1.55) and Th/Nb (0.20–0.36) suggest that crustal contamination was minor or absent. This may be related to a rapid ascent of the magma, in agreement with the nature (mafic, oceanic-like) and the small thickness (about 12 km) of the Mesozoic crust of the Eastern Mediterranean region. The 143Nd/144Nd isotopic compositions of the lavas range from 0.512826 to 0.512886, and 87Sr/86Sr from 0.702971 to 0.703669, suggesting a HIMU-like mantle source. Trace element compositions indicate a melt segregation depth of 100–110 km, well within the garnet lherzolite stability field. The geochemical characteristics of the rocks are typical of within-plate alkali basalts, and suggest that the magmas were derived from a fertile, possibly plume-related, enriched mantle source. Petrogenetic modelling indicates that the magmas were produced by very small degrees of batch partial melting (F = 1.5%) of a primitive garnet-bearing mantle source (garnet lherzolite).

Lamproite dykes that cross-cut Middle Jurassic Karoo-related flood basalts in Vestfjella, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, have been dated at 158.7±1.6 Ma by 40Ar/39 Ar incremental heating of phlogopite. Compared to most lamproites, these dykes are unusually low in SiO2 (40.09–40.18 wt%) and high in CaO (12.35–16.24 wt%) and P2O5 (3.03–3.81 wt%). They have broad affinities to spatially and temporally related group II kimberlites of southern Africa, but the geochemically closest correlatives are CaO- and P2O5-rich diopside madupitic lamproites from Leucite Hills, USA. The Kjakebeinet lamproites are notably high in incompatible elements, show negative initial εNd values (−6.0, −6.7) and positive initial εSr values (+14, +17) with TDM model ages of c. 1.1 Ga, and probably record melting of metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath western Dronning Maud Land. Their emplacement records the youngest recognized magmatic event in the region, coincides with the proposed second and final stage of Gondwana breakup between Africa and Antarctica, and may be associated with deep-seated coast-parallel strike-slip faulting in Dronning Maud Land. Survival of old, easily fusible lithospheric mantle material 20 Ma after the eruption of voluminous flood basalt magmas suggests that the latter were emplaced within narrow zones of lithospheric thinning and that the source of lamproites remained largely intact between these zones.

A Nd isotope map of early Cambrian epeiric basins has been inferred from the Nd isotopic signature recorded in phosphatic Small Shelly Fossils. The most radiogenic εNd(t) values characterize water reservoirs along the Avalonian and Cadomian belts, while εNd(t) values of −10 to −20 were obtained in Laurentia and East Gondwanan Australia and China. Such a distribution of Nd isotope signatures results from the different provenance of early Cambrian epeiric seas: juvenile magmatic arcs and/or cordilleran for Mongolia, Siberia, Iberia and adjacent terranes, and cratonic sources for Laurentia and East Gondwana. Biogenic apatite of Small Shelly Fossils may be a useful tool for mapping of Nd isotope composition and documenting water mass exchange between discrete basins.

The Tertiary fold-and-thrust belt on Brøggerhalvøya is characterized by a NE-vergent pile of nine thrust sheets. The sole thrust of the pile is located in Precambrian phyllites and climbs up-section to the northeast. Four lower thrust sheets consisting predominantly of Upper Palaeozoic sediments are overlain by two thrust sheets in the central part of the stack which contain a kilometre-scale syncline and anticline. The fold is cut by juxtaposed thrusts giving rise to the formation of three structurally higher basement-dominated thrust sheets. A multiple-stage kinematic model is proposed including (1) in-sequence foreland-propagating formation of the lower thrust sheets in response to N–S subhorizontal bedding-parallel movements, (2) a change in tectonic transport to ENE and out-of-sequence thrusting and formation of the kilometre-scale fold-structure followed by (3) truncation of the kilometre-scale fold and stacking of the highest basement-dominated thrust sheets by hind-ward-propagating out-of-sequence thrusting. The strain of the thrust sheets is predominantly compressive with the exception of the structurally highest thrust sheets, reflecting a temporal change to a more transpressive regime. Thrusting was followed by (4) N–S extension and (5) W–E extension. Comparison of the structural geometry and kinematic evolution of Brøggerhalvøya with the data reported for the fold belt further south allows us to assume a coeval evolution with the fold belt. A latest Paleocene/Early Eocene age for the main phase of thrusting is suggested for the West Spitsbergen Fold-and-Thrust Belt; the main phases therefore pre-date the separation of Svalbard and Greenland due to right-lateral movements along the Hornsund Fault Zone. The fold belt's temporal evolution followed by the formation of the Forlandsundet Graben can be linked with the plate-kinematic framework in the span between latest Paleocene and Middle Eocene times.