Marion Island is a youthful intraplate shield volcano in the Southern Ocean, generally considered to represent the location of a mantle plume. New K–Ar age determinations on 37 whole rock samples of so-called older grey basalt from the island range from 450±10 to ∼30 ka. The lavas are remarkably fresh and holocrystalline, appearing to be ideal for dating. The age results from two almost vertical sections, where relative age relationships are not in doubt, are in accord with the stratigraphy. A third section gave aberrant ages that indicate the presence of inherited or excess radiogenic argon. This is highly unusual for subaerial flows on an oceanic island. We therefore urge caution in accepting K–Ar ages on samples without stratigraphic control. Volcanic activity on Marion could have been essentially continuous during the last half million years but on the basis of local unconformities and gaps between the measured ages it is considered more likely to have been episodic. Eight periods of effusive activity at approximately 450, 350, 240, 170, 110, 85, 50 and <10 ka ago can be distinguished with varying degrees of confidence. Glacigene deposits that are intercalated with the lavas can be correlated with glacial stages 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 of the Pleistocene time scale based on the marine oxygen isotopic record. Indications are that at least some of the earlier volcanic activity coincided with glacial stages but the two most recent episodes, including the Holocene one extending up to the present, are clearly interglacial.

In the High Himalayan Crystalline Series of Northwest India, numerous peraluminous granites intruded the metasediments of the late Proterozoic to early late Cambrian Haimanta Group. Nd and Sr isotope systematics confirm that they were derived from heterogeneous crustal sources. New geochronological data from two plutons range in age from late Precambrian to early Ordovician: single zircon U–Pb dating yielded an age of 553 ± 2 (2σ) Ma for the Kaplas granite, whereas mineral Sm–Nd isotope systematics define a crystallization age of 496 ± 14 (2σ) Ma for the tholeiitic mafic rocks in the Mandi pluton, where evidence of magma mingling documents a close association between mafic and granitic melts. The end of this period of magmatic activity coincides with the depositional gap below the Ordovician transgression, caused by surface uplift and erosion, that is an important feature in the stratigraphy of the Northwest Himalaya. In Spiti, the transgression of the Ordovician basal conglomerates on a normal fault indicates pre-Ordovician extensional faulting. Therefore, the early Palaeozoic magmatic activities in the Northwest Himalaya could be correlated with a late extensional stage of the long-lasting Pan-African orogenic cycle which ended with the formation of the Gondwana supercontinent.

Lower Permian volcanism was the first magmatic activity to occur after the collision events in the Mongolian orogenic zone, east China. The Permian volcanic rocks are therefore a key to understanding the dynamics of the unified continental lithosphere. The volcanic rocks consist of basic and intermediate rocks. The intermediate rocks with high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7051 to 0.7052) and low εNd values (−0.73 to −3.57) generally overlie the basic rocks in the field. The basic rocks have relatively low initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7034 to 0.7051) and high εNd values (2.72 to −0.10). Two parallel Rb–Sr isochrons give almost the same age, about 270 Ma. One consists of the basic rocks giving an initial isochron 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7035. The other consists of the intermediate rocks and one sample of basalt, which give an initial isochron 87Sr/86Sr value of 0.7051. The strong correlations between SiO2 and other major elements suggest that fractional crystallization played an important role in the magmatic processes. However, fractional crystallization cannot explain the geochemistry of most incompatible trace elements and Sr–Nd isotope characteristics. The positive correlation between Th/Nb and (La/Sm)N ratios demonstrates the direct relation between the enrichment of the light rare earth elements and the contamination of continental sediments. The high contents of large ion lithosphere elements (LILE) in the Permian volcanic rocks may suggest an additional ‘crust + fluid’ component, especially in the intermediate rocks, which are highly enriched in Ba (> 400 ppm) relative to the basic rocks (> 200 ppm). We propose that the subduction slab dropped into depleted mantle and released fluid, which induced the mantle metasomatism and LILE enrichment. The metasomatized mantle partially melted and formed the ‘primary’ magma. This primary magma assimilated with the Proterozoic biotite–quartz schist during its rise, and finally formed the Permian volcanic rocks. Magma assimilated with the Proterozoic biotite–quartz schist in small amounts could have produced the basic rocks, while assimilation of larger amounts of magma (because of longer assimilation time) would generate intermediate rocks.

The analysis of ‘mélanges’ of various types (sedimentary, diapiric, tectonic and polygenetic) is generally difficult and depends on a variety of criteria. However, understanding the nature and origin of mélanges is crucial to deciphering the evolution of some mountain belts. The Lichi Mélange of the Taiwan Coastal Range is juxtaposed against remnant forearc basin sequences by thrust faults and is composed of exotic ophiolite and sedimentary blocks, with sizes ranging from metres to kilometres, and coherent turbidite beds, all embedded in a sheared scaly argillaceous matrix. The Lichi Mélange has been interpreted either as a subduction complex, or as an olistostrome. By separating four main deformation levels based on the degree of disruption within the Lichi Mélange and adjacent sedimentary rocks, we have made new detailed geological maps and structural profiles in two key areas of the Lichi Mélange. We paid particular attention to the original stratigraphic relationships between the mélange and the adjacent flysch formation. Our field results compared with submarine seismic profiles suggest that the present-day structure of the Lichi Mélange results mainly from the shearing of lower forearc basin sequences, rather than from a subduction complex or a mere olistostrome. In Late Miocene time, because lithospheric subduction turned into arc–continent collision in the southern Taiwan area, the site of the proto-Manila trench changed from an active plate boundary into a deformation zone with several thrusts. A new plate suture zone between the Eurasian plate (eastern Central Range) and the Philippine Sea plate (Coastal Range) was therefore formed along the Longitudinal Valley. The Longitudinal Valley originated as a submarine arc–prism boundary, an innate weak zone within the overriding plate, and has become a prominent tectonic feature of the arc–continent collision. This inference is supported by observations on the Lichi Mélange in the Coastal Range and the Huatung Ridge off southeastern Taiwan.

Gabbro and leucogabbro are volumetrically important rocks in the Nordingrå rapakivi complex, East Central Sweden. Plagioclase, ortho- and clinopyroxenes, and olivine dominate the gabbro. Perthitic orthoclase and quartz are interstitial in relation to the major minerals. The present work is based on 232 major-element and a large number of trace element analyses together with 15 whole rock Sm–Nd isotope analyses of the Nordingrå gabbroic rocks. εNd(T) values are negative, −1.1 to −3.2; the most negative values come from the gabbro. Most rocks are enriched in iron, some extremely enriched; none represent primitive mantle melts. The range of Mg-numbers is the same in the gabbro and the leucogabbro. Plots of the Ni-content vs. the Mg-number are scattered, but there is a positive correlation between these two parameters. The primary mantle-normalized ratios between similar trace elements are normally strongly different from one. Values larger as well as smaller than one are found for the same ratio in different rocks. The rare earth elements are only weakly fractionated with small Eu anomalies, negative for the gabbros and positive for the leucogabbros. The primary magma of the Nordingrå gabbro-anorthosite is thought to have been derived from a mildly depleted mantle source. Variations in the degree of partial melting of a reasonably homogeneous enriched mantle do not explain the observed chemical evolution. Crystal differentiation can account for some geochemical features, especially the Fe-enrichment. Crustal contamination is required by other characteristics as, for example, the negative εNd(T) values and the irregular and sometimes high primary-mantle normalized incompatible trace-element ratios. Al-rich relic material from the formation of the rapakivi granite melt is another source of assimilation. Most probably contaminants are heterogeneous, including undepleted crust (represented, for example, by early Svecofennian and Archaean granitoids), depleted crust (restitic after rapakivi magma extraction), and to some degree the associated rapakivi magma itself. Significant parts of this crust should be Archaean in age.

For the purposes of a high-resolution multi-disciplinary study of the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation, two boreholes were drilled at Swanworth Quarry and one at Metherhills, south Dorset, UK. Together, the cores represent the first complete section through the entire formation close to the type section. We present graphic logs that record the stratigraphy of the cores, and outline the complementary geophysical and analytical data sets (gamma ray, magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon, carbonate, δ13Corg). Of particular note are the new borehole data from the lowermost part of the formation which does not crop out in the type area. Detailed logs are available for download from the Kimmeridge Drilling Project web-site at http://kimmeridge.earth.ox.ac.uk/. Of further interest is a mid-eudoxus Zone positive shift in the δ13Corg record, a feature that is also registered in Tethyan carbonate successions, suggesting that it is a regional event and may therefore be useful for correlation. The lithostratigraphy of the cores has been precisely correlated with the nearby cliff section, which has also been examined and re-described. Magnetic-susceptibility and spectral gamma-ray measurements were made at a regular spacing through the succession, and facilitate core-to-exposure correlation. The strata of the exposure and core have been subdivided into four main mudrock lithological types: (a) medium-dark–dark-grey marl; (b) medium-dark–dark grey–greenish black shale; (c) dark-grey–olive-black laminated shale; (d) greyish-black–brownish-black mudstone. The sections also contain subordinate amounts of siltstone, limestone and dolostone. Comparison of the type section with the cores reveals slight lithological variation and notable thickness differences between the coeval strata. The proximity of the boreholes and different parts of the type section to the Purbeck–Isle of Wight Disturbance is proposed as a likely control on the thickness changes.

New deep seismic profiles in the southern Baltic region have failed to image the Trans-European Fault. Evidence for this structure, of suggested pre-Cadomian age, is critically re-examined. Localized geophysical anomalies are present, but these cannot be correlated with known structural features of the region. Based on the inconclusive evidence for this structure, we would therefore propose that the term ‘Trans-European Fault’ should not be used in the future, and that, to avoid confusion, authors use local names for local structures.

Late Cretaceous–Early Eocene Tethyan evolution of western Turkey is characterized by ophiolite obduction, high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphism, subduction, arc magmatism and continent–continent collision. The imprints of these events in the Upper Cretaceous–Lower Eocene sedimentary record of western Anatolia are studied in thirty-eight well-described stratigraphic sections. During the Late Cretaceous period, western Turkey consisted of two continents, the Pontides in the north and the Anatolide-Taurides in the south. These continental masses were separated by the İzmir-Ankara Neo-Tethyan ocean. During the convergence the Pontides formed the upper plate, the Anatolide-Taurides the lower plate. The arc magmatism in the Pontides along the Black Sea coast is biostratigraphically tightly constrained in time between the late Turonian and latest Campanian. Ophiolite obduction over the passive margin of the Anatolide-Tauride Block started in the Santonian soon after the inception of subduction in the Turonian. As a result, large areas of the Anatolide-Tauride Block subsided and became a region of pelagic carbonate sedimentation during the Campanian. The leading margin of the Anatolide-Tauride Block was buried deeply and was deformed and metamorphosed to blueschist facies during Campanian times. The Campanian arc volcanic rocks in the Pontides are conformably overlain by shaley limestone of Maastrichtian–Palaeocene age. However, Maastrichtian sedimentary sequences north of the Tethyan suture are of fore-arc type suggesting that although arc magmatism ceased by the end of the Campanian age, continent–continent collision was delayed until Palaeocene time, when there was a change from marine to continental sedimentation in the fore-arc basins. The interval between the end of the arc magmatism and continent–continent collision may have been related to a northward jump of the subduction zone at the end of Campanian time, or to continued obduction during the Maastrichtian.

Two paradoxical geological features of the Himalaya are the syn-convergence extension and the inverted metamorphic isograds observed in the crystalline core zone of this orogen. This High Himalayan Crystalline Sequence corresponds to an up to 40 km thick sequence of amphibolite to granulite facies gneiss, bounded by the Main Central Thrust at the base, and by the extensional faults of the South Tibetan Detachment System at the top. Geochronological and structural data demonstrate that coeval movements along both the Main Central Thrust and South Tibetan Detachment System during Early to Middle Miocene times were related to a tectonically controlled exhumation of these high-grade metamorphic rocks. The High Himalayan Crystalline Sequence systematically shows an inverted metamorphic zonation, generally characterized by a gradual superposition of garnet, staurolite, kyanite, sillimanite + muscovite and sillimanite + K-feldspar isograds, from the base to the top of the unit. Recent kinematic flow analyses of these metamorphic rocks demonstrate the coexistence of both simple shear and pure shear during the ductile deformation. The simple shear component of such a general non-coaxial flow could explain a rotation of isograds, eventually resulting in an inversion. The pure shear component of the flow implies a thinning of the metamorphic sequence that must be balanced by a perpendicular stretching of the unit parallel to its boundaries. Inasmuch as seismic data show that both the Main Central Thrust and South Tibetan Detachment System converge at depth, a thinning of the wedge-shaped High Himalayan Crystalline Sequence should induce a ductile extrusion of these high-grade rocks toward the surface. Rapid extension at the top of the sequence could thus be the consequence of a general shear extrusion of this unit relative to its hanging wall. Moreover, this extensional movement should decrease with depth to become zero where the boundaries of the unit meet, accounting for the paradoxical convergence of the South Tibetan Detachment System toward the Main Central Thrust. Furthermore, a general flow combining simple shear and pure shear can reconcile inverted isograds with the lack of inverted pressure field gradient across the High Himalayan Crystalline Sequence, despite an intense non-coaxial deformation. In good agreement with the seismic, kinematic and P–T–t constraints on the Himalayan tectono-thermal evolution, general shear extrusion provides a consistent model accounting for both inverted isograds and rapid extension in a compressional orogenic setting.

Rb–Sr dating of clay subfractions from three sedimentary formations of Late Riphean to Vendian age from Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway, has helped to refine the geochronology of the Late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian time interval in this region. Eighteen subfractions in six narrow size-ranges from 1–2 μm to <0.1 μm were separated from shales of the Stangenes, Nyborg and Stappogiedde formations. The coarser subfractions include some 2M1 illite as well as the 1M polymorph. The finer subfractions contain only the 1Md illite. After leaching with ammonium acetate, Rb–Sr ‘leachochrons’ for the untreated subfraction, leachate and residue were derived for all subfractions. As the clay particle size decreases from 1–2 to 0.1–0.2 μm: (1) the proportion of chlorite, where present, is reduced; (2) the Crystallinity Index Standard (CIS) increases; (3) the 87Rb/86SR ratio in the residues increases; and (4) the apparent Rb–Sr age decreases. In addition, the data points of the residues are aligned linearly in both the 87Rb/86Sr–87Sr/86Sr and the 1/Sr–87Sr/86Sr diagrams. A similar pattern in the 87Rb/86Sr–87Sr/86Sr coordinates is observed for the data points of leachates. This suggests that mixtures of at least two, non-cogenetic, illite generations are present in all the shales, and that these illites crystallized in environments with dissimilar 87Sr/86Sr ratios. The minimum Rb–Sr ages of early burial diagenesis are c. 650 Ma for the Stangenes, and 560–530 Ma for the Nyborg and Stappogiedde formations. These results indicate that: (1) the age of the Riphean–Vendian boundary is <630 Ma; (2) the age of the Varangerian glaciation on the Varanger Peninsula is bracketed between 630 and 560 Ma; (3) a c. 560 Ma burial diagenesis age for the intra-tillite Nyborg Formation and post-tillite Stappogiedde Formation may result from subsidence and sedimentation associated with the Late Vendian Timanian (Baikalian) deformation in adjacent areas; and (4) the ages of the finer, authigenic illite subfractions range from 440 to 390 Ma and thus appear to reflect phases of Scandian deformation and uplift.

Nd isotopic composition has been determined for 16 igneous rocks, representing the wide geochemical, spatial and temporal range of post-collisional, late Cenozoic magmas in the Aegean area. Nd isotopes are used to further interpret previously published Pb and Sr isotope data. The overall pattern of late Cenozoic volcanism resulted from rapid extension, with thermal effects causing melting of hydrated, enriched, subcontinental lithosphere to produce widespread K-rich magmas. Slab break-off and intrusion of hot asthenosphere caused partial melting of rift-related continental margin basalts at the detachment point to generate adakitic magmas. Further outboard, mafic magma from enriched lithospheric mantle melted thickened lower crust to produce the granitoid plutons of the Cyclades. Nd isotopic variation in these varied rock types correlates with pre-Cenozoic palaeo-geography. Proterozoic subduction-related enrichment in Th and U, together with other large-ion lithophile elements, produced distinctive Pb isotope composition. This was later modified where Mesozoic subduction of terrigenous sediment was important, whereas subduction of oceanic carbonate sediments produced enrichment in radiogenic Sr and low Ce/Sr ratios. Late Cenozoic magmas sourced in eastern Pelagonian zone sub-continental lithospheric mantle have Nd model ages of about 1.0 Ga, and generally high 87Sr/86Sr and high 207Pb/204Pb (∼ 15.68) and 208Pb/204Pb (∼ 39.0) for low 206Pb/204Pb (∼ 18.6), but rocks to the west have more radiogenic Pb and higher Ce/Sr as a result of greater subduction of terrigenous sediment from the northern Pindos ocean. Magmas sourced from sub-continental lithosphere beneath the Apulian continental block were strongly influenced by subduction of oceanic crust and sediments north of the passive margin of north Africa. Subduction of Nile-derived terrigenous sediment in the east resulted in Nd model ages of 0.7 to 0.8 Ga and radiogenic Pb isotopes. Greater subduction of oceanic carbonate in the west resulted in magmas with higher 87Sr/86Sr and lower Ce/Sr. The strongly negative εNd for adakites in the central Aegean rules out a source from subducted oceanic basalt, and the adakite magma was probably derived from melting of hydrated Triassic sub-alkaline basalt of continental origin. Where trachytic rocks are succeeded by nepheline-normative basalts (e.g. Samos), Nd isotope data imply that early partial melting of the enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle involved hydrous amphibole and phlogopite, but once these minerals were consumed, younger magmas were produced by partial melting dominated by olivine and orthopyroxene.

Carbon isotopic oscillations are useful to elucidate the stratigraphy and biogeochemical events around the Precambrian–Cambrian transition. New isotopic data from the Manykaj and Emyaksin formations of the eastern Anabar Uplift (Siberia) help to correlate the Lower Cambrian and Neoproterozoic–Cambrian transitional beds across the Siberian Platform. The similarity of trends and amplitudes of the carbon isotopic curves, together with biostratigraphic and sequence-stratigraphic markers from the Anabar Uplift, provide a precise correlation with the southern part of the Siberian Platform. Diagenesis of argillaceous limestones of the Emyaksin Formation has apparently not affected the primary isotopic variations. The resulting curve is nearly identical in sections about 100 km apart in the Tommotian–Atdabanian portion of the formation. Relatively frequent and pronounced isotopic oscillations in the lower beds of the Emyaksin Formation fit between features I and II of the southern Siberian isotopic reference scale but are undetected therein owing to the depositional hiatus at the base of the Tommotian Stage in its type section. This confirms the transgressive onlap from the north suggested by previous studies, and makes the appearance of the Cambrian skeletal fossils on the Siberian Platform less abrupt. The hiatus in the south appears to embrace at least two biostratigraphic zones as recognized in the north. The case is strengthened for a pre-Tommotian Cambrian Stage in Siberia, the biostratigraphic framework for which has been elaborated earlier.

The Variscides of southeast England are buried beneath post-Carboniferous cover. Interpretations of the basement are based mainly on deep boreholes. Geophysical signatures from the basement are contained within the regional gravity and magnetic data. A gravity stripping exercise has been undertaken to remove the gravitational effect of the post-Variscan cover to generate a residual gravity map. This map is interpreted along with integrated potential field modelling along four long interconnected profiles and compared with a revised pre-Permian subcrop map. The magnetic evidence suggests that Precambrian magnetic basement of the Midlands Microcraton has been buried southwards by north-vergent Variscan thusting over the foreland. North of the Variscan Front, short-wavelength anomalies superimposed upon this deep Precambrian source are due to shallower Silurian and Carboniferous volcanic rocks. Many residual gravity lows within the Rhenohercynian zone may be related to thick, low-density Devonian basins. In the English Channel a change in geophysical signature occurs north of the Portland–Wight Fault, coinciding with phyllites in the basement. Models are presented in which the English Channel magnetic anomalies originate within the pre-Permian basement. Comparisons with anomalies in the Southwestern Approaches suggest that the Portland–Wight Thrust is a terrane boundary, possibly a subduction-related suture, implying southerly directed Variscan subduction.

The botanical identity and facies distribution of fossil charcoal is described from Middle to Late Cenomanian (90–94 Ma) fluvial to estuarine units at Pecínov quarry, near Prague, Czech Republic. Braided alluvial facies associations contain charred conifer woods (family Pinaceae) possibly derived from upland forest fires, and abundant charred angiosperm woods, flowers and inflorescences (families Lauraceae and ?Platanaceae) derived from riparian gallery forest fires (Unit 2). Retrogradational coastal salt marsh facies associations contain abundant charred conifer wood (families Cheirolepidiaceae and Cupressaceae/Taxodiaceae) derived from fires in halophytic backswamp forest, and rare pinaceous charred cones and lauraceous angiosperm wood washed downstream from fires further inland (Units 3–4). Progradational coastal facies associations within an estuary mouth setting contain abundant charred conifer wood (family Cupressaceae/Taxodiaceae), common taxodiaceous conifer and angiosperm leaves, fern rachises, and lycopsid stems derived from fires in mesic backswamp taxodiaceous forests and supra-tidal fern-lycopsid thickets (Unit 5). Growth rings in angiosperm and conifer woods, leaf physiognomy and computer models indicate that climate was equable, warm and humid, but that there was a short annual dry season; most fires probably occurred during these annual drought periods. The abundance of charcoal and the diversity of taxa preserved in this state indicate that nearly all plant communities were fire-prone. Physiognomically, the Pecínov flora resembles present-day seasonally-dry subtropical forests where fires are a common occurrence.

In the southwestern Sulaiman geological province (Balochistan, Pakistan), terrestrial detrital facies from the Bugti Hills region have yielded the richest Tertiary vertebrate faunas to be found in Asia thus far. New fossils from five successive and distinct ‘bone beds’ bridge the supposed Oligocene sedimentary hiatus within the Sulaiman geological province; the lowermost continental levels of the previously described Miocene Chitarwata Formation, known as the Bugti Member, are Oligocene in age in the Bugti area. Neither a mixture of heterochronic faunal elements nor endemism of any fauna is evident in this area. Additional microfaunal material from the Bugti Member constrains an Oligocene age for the lower Chitarwata Formation in Zinda Pir (northeast of the Bugti Hills). This Oligocene transition between the marine Kirthar (Eocene) and continental Siwalik (Miocene) deposits consists of a regressive fluvio-deltaic system occupying a vast floodplain. It represents an early-stage molasse in the palaeo-Indus Basin which drained western orogenic highlands resulting from the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

Throughout the 1300 km long East Greenland Caledonides, the western exposed marginal thrusts overlie foreland rocks of latest Neoproterozoic–Early Palaeozoic age, mainly exposed in tectonic windows. In the western, 100–130 km wide, marginal thrust belt, the thrust planes outlining the windows appear to follow long flats developed in Lower Palaeozoic carbonates. East of the marginal thrust belt, thrust inclinations steepen, and by implication the remaining part of the Caledonian orogen extending eastwards to the present Atlantic Ocean coast is allochthonous and thick-skinned. The contrast between the restricted Neoproterozoic–Lower Palaeozoic foreland succession and the very thick and almost continuous sedimentation of the allochthonous Neoproterozoic Eleonore Bay Supergroup–Tillite Group–Cambro-Ordovician sequence of the fjord zone of East Greenland confirms the presence of distinct N–S trending facies belts on the northwestern passive margin of Iapetus. Comparisons with the Caledonides of Northwest Scotland, which may originally have lain as little as 500 km south of the East Greenland Caledonides, provide further clues to the understanding of Neoproterozoic–Early Palaeozoic basin geometry on this sector of the developing Iapetus margin. The areas of the Laurentian margin represented in the foreland windows of East Greenland were inboard of Neoproterozoic rifting but, with respect to the Torridonian basins of Northwest Scotland, the Eleonore Bay Supergroup succession must have been laid down further outboard. Similarly the Lower Palaeozoic developments of the foreland of Northwest Scotland are thicker than the equivalent foreland sequences of East Greenland, but much thinner than the allochthonous East Greenland Cambro-Ordovician succession.

The conflict between independently published ages for the Mushandike Granite, Zimbabwe (2.92 ± 0.17 Ga and 3.45 ± 0.13 Ga) has been resolved in favour of the older age by SHRIMP U–Pb analyses of zircon. Two samples yield indistinguishable estimates of 3374 ± 7 and 3368 ± 11 Ma for the crystallization age of the magma. Together with published data from elsewhere in southern Zimbabwe, the results imply a widespread magmatic event at about 3.35 Ga. A single zircon core giving 3.46 Ga, together with the granite's previously measured Nd model age, suggests that the Mushandike magma could have incorporated remobilized basement similar to the c. 3.5 Ga Tokwe gneisses which crop out 30 km to the west. The published Rb–Sr and Pb–Pb datasets show evidence of late Archaean disturbance of Sr and Pb isotope systematics. In the absence of exposed contacts between the Mushandike granite and the neighbouring Mushandike stromatolitic limestone, the new U–Pb emplacement age suggests that the limestone is unconformable on the granite.

Microfossil distribution patterns and high-resolution δ13C and δ18O curves, calibrated against planktonic foraminiferal and calcareous nannofossil data, are provided for the Aptian pelagic Coppitella section of the Gargano Promontory (southern Italy). The succession consists of cyclically arranged couplets of bioturbated grey marlstones and off-white marly limestones, referable to the Marne a Fucoidi. In the lower portion of the section, two thin black shales were recognized. The high-resolution δ13C curve presented here correlates with those of other Alpine–Tethyan sections, albeit with lower absolute values. The onset of deposition of organic-rich sediments falls at the top of the interval of unchanging carbon-isotope values, whereas the upper black shale is documented from the interval of the main Aptian positive δ13C excursion. According to our biostratigraphic data, the deposition of organic matter in the Gargano Promontory persisted through Early/Late Aptian boundary time. Using a chemostratigraphic definition, only the lower black shale is referred to the Selli Level. As far as the biotic response is concerned, the onset of the ‘nannoconid crisis’ is recorded considerably below the lower black shale, whereas the ‘Globigerinelloides eclipse’ is recorded below and within the upper black shale. The distribution of meso-eutrophic indices (Zygodiscus spp., radiolaria) vs. moderate-fertility indices (Rhagodiscus asper and Lithraphidites carniolensis) testifies to a modest increase of surface-water fertility only throughout the stratigraphically higher black shale. The occurrence of a benthic foraminiferal fauna, albeit impoverished, in both the basal and upper black horizons clearly documents dysaerobic rather than completely anoxic conditions on the sea floor. Relative sea-level rise at the time of the Selli Event in the Gargano Promontory is documented by drowning and foundering of the Apulia platform margin, situated adjacent to the basin in which the Marne a Fucoidi accumulated.

The leaf longevity and seasonal timing of leaf abscission within a plant community is closely related to climate, a phenomenon referred to as leaf phenology. In this paper the leaf phenology of some mid-Cretaceous (late Albian) forests which grew at latitude of 75° S on Alexander Island, Antarctica, is analysed. Five independent techniques for determining leaf longevity are applied to the fossil remains of each of the canopy-forming trees. These techniques utilize: (1) the anatomical character of growth rings in trunk woods, (2) leaf trace persistence in juvenile branch and stem woods, (3) leaf physiognomy, (4) comparison with nearest living relatives, and (5) leaf taphonomy. The application of techniques 1–5 suggests that the araucarian and podocarp conifers, which comprised more than 90% of the canopy-forming vegetation, were evergreen with leaf retention times in excess of 5–13 years. The application of techniques 3–5 to rare taxodioid conifers indicates the existence of both evergreen and deciduous habits in this group, whilst both ginkgos and taeniopterids, which are locally abundant, are interpreted as possessing a deciduous habit. The polar forests of Alexander Island were therefore dominantly evergreen. Preliminary analysis of five other mid-Cretaceous polar forests suggests the presence of dominantly evergreen vegetation in Australia and Antarctica, and mixed evergreen–deciduous vegetation in Alaska, northern Russia and New Zealand. Cold month mean temperature probably exerted the largest influence on the leaf phenology at each of these forest sites.

The Neoproterozoic metasediments of northwestern Scotland were deformed during the 470 Ma Grampian orogeny. Their pre-Ordovician history has proved difficult to elucidate, due to conflicting evidence. While the stratigraphic record indicates deposition in intracontinental rift basins associated with the break-up of Rodinia, isotopic dates in the range 870–780 Ma from granite gneiss, early pegmatites and metamorphic garnets have been attributed to a Neoproterozoic ‘Knoydartian’ orogeny. Stratigraphic evidence for this orogeny is lacking, and it is not represented elsewhere on the Laurentian margin. An alternative interpretation is that much of the Knoydartian history can be related to extensional, not collisional processes. Specifically, it has been proposed that the 870 Ma West Highland granite gneiss that is intruded into the Moine rocks of northwestern Scotland is not the product of synorogenic anatexis but represents a suite of granite sheets that were generated during extensional rifting and were subsequently deformed and gneissified during the Grampian orogeny. This contribution presents numerical models of extension-related anatexis to test this hypothesis.

We first develop a methodology to estimate stretch values and the duration of extension and thermal subsidence for the Moine rift basins. A thermal model is then constructed for these basins using transient finite element techniques. This model shows that lithospheric extension sufficient to produce major rift basins, even if they are filled with feldspathic sediment with Neoproterozoic heat production characteristics, will not lead to crustal anatexis. However, a regional suite of mafic dykes in the more easterly (Loch Eil) Moine suggests that stretching led to decompression melting of the mantle. We model the effect of advecting heat into the extending lithosphere by the introduction of a modest volume of basaltic magma, and show that substantial granitic melt can be generated in the basement beneath the basin. The amount of anatexis varies with the locus of basalt intrusion. Some 30% more granite is generated by dykes emplaced along basin-bounding faults than by either dykes emplaced beneath the centre of the basin, or by underplating sills. The spatial distributions of the West Highland gneiss and of the mafic suite are compatible with this finding. There is clear field evidence that the protolith of the West Highland gneiss consisted of a suite of pre-tectonic granite sheets, and our modelling demonstrates that they could have been generated during the later stages of extensional rifting and Moine sedimentation.