We investigated the Quaternary lithological succession and faunas in a borehole near Moriaanshoofd (Province of Zeeland, SW Netherlands), in order to improve our understanding of the depositional context of classical Gelasian mammal faunas from the region. The fossils mostly derive from the base of a fossil-rich interval between 31 m and 36.5 m below the surface, that was initially interpreted as a Middle or Late Pleistocene interglacial marine unit, but turned out to be a Late Quaternary fluvial unit with large amounts of reworked fossils and sediments. Eocene mollusc taxa pinpoint Flanders (Belgium) as the source region for this river. Within the base of this paleo-Schelde River fossil material of various stratigraphic provenance became incorporated.

We describe pathologies and post-mortem damage observed in specimens of the late Maastrichtian marine cheloniid turtle Allopleuron hofmanni. Shallow circular lesions on carapace bones are common and possibly illustrate barnacle attachment/embedment. Deep, pit-like marks are confined to the neural rim and the inner surface of peripheral elements; these may have been caused either by barnacle attachment or disease. A number of linear marks found on outer carapace surfaces are identified as tooth marks of scavengers, others as possible domichnia of boring bivalves. A fragmentary scapula and prescapular process displays radular traces of molluscs (gastropods and/or polyplacophorans; ichnogenus Radulichnus). These diverse types of bone damage suggest both live and dead marine turtles to have been commonly utilised by predators, scavengers and encrusters in the type Maastrichtian marine ecosystem.

Three specimens of the large-sized Eocene campanilid gastropod genus Campanile have been dredged from the modern sea floor in the Bruine Bank area (North Sea, Dutch sector). The material is identified here as Campanile parisiense rarinodosum, a subspecies hitherto unknown from the North Sea Basin. All three shells are strongly abraded, reflecting their secondary derivation. The new finds suggest that fossiliferous strata of probably late Lutetian (middle Eocene) age are represented in the southern North Sea Basin, situated most likely in the southeastern part of the UK sector. The present material of Campanile must have been reworked into the Dutch sector via Quaternary rivers. The occurrence of Campanile parisiense rarinodosum would indicate close biogeographic ties between the North Sea and the western French Atlantic basins during the late Lutetian. These new records thus shed light on the palaeogeography of the area during two widely separated geological time slices.

The carbon isotope composition of tooth enamel from all five mosasaur taxa known to date from the type Maastrichtian (southeast Netherlands, northeast Belgium) has been analysed. Differences in enamel δ13C values between taxa suggest resource partitioning. Body size and δ13C value correlate surprisingly well, with larger taxa having δ13C values more depleted in the heavier 13C isotope.

A sea-floor assemblage from hardened sandstone boulders in which lingulid brachiopods predominate is recorded from the Oosterhout Formation near Balgoy (province of Gelderland, the Netherlands). Dinoflagellate cysts indicate a late Early-Late Pliocene (late Zanclean-Piacenzian) age of these boulders; the entire assemblage is indicative of clear marine waters near storm wave base along the southeastern margin of the North Sea Basin at the time. A possible commensal relationship between the lingulid brachiopods and the gastropod Calyptraea chinensis is implied.

In the conservation of fragile fossil bone material, impregnation by solvent-borne consolidant is often required. Understanding the mode of penetration of consolidants into fossil bone is of crucial importance. It is governed by a variety of factors; neutron imaging is a powerful tool to monitor and visualise this penetration (non-destructively). The consolidation of a vertebrate fossil from the Maastrichtian of the southeast Netherlands was imaged at the High Flux Reactor facility at Petten, the Netherlands. The analysis shows current conservation practice to result in a sufficiently deep and isotropic penetration.

A bifacially worked flint tool has recently been found on the North Sea beach of Ameland, one of the Wadden Islands in the northern Netherlands. It probably dates from the Middle Palaeolithic because its surface modifications include windgloss which in this area originated especially during the Weichselian Late Pleniglacial. The tool was probably first worked by a skilled knapper and subsequently, after a break occurred, by an apprentice. It is suggested that the tool was transported to Ameland from the North Sea bottom in the course of sand replenishment activities. Other artefacts from the Wadden Islands allegedly left by Neanderthals are also briefly discussed.

Two notions, Ocean Space and the Anthropocene, are discussed. The first is occasionally used in legal and governance literature, and in the media. The Anthropocene, however, is widely applied in the global change research community and the media. The notion of ocean space stands for a holistic, system science approach combined with 4D thinking from the ocean, and the processes within it, towards the land. Ocean space is in fact a social-ecological concept that deals with sustainability challenges which are the consequence of the complex interactions between humans and the marine environment on all scales. Ocean space is, on a human scale, impressively large. On a planetary scale, however, it is insignificant, although it has been an ancient feature of the Earth for the last four billion years or so. Yet, ocean space is a critical player in the Earth System; it is central to climate regulation, the hydrological and carbon cycles and nutrient flows, it balances levels of atmospheric gases, it is a source of raw materials vital for medical and other uses, and a sink for anthropogenic pollutants. The notion also encompasses issues such as exploration, adventure, science, resources, conservation, sustainability, etc., and should be an innovative and attractive outreach instrument for the media. Finally, it marks the fundamental change in ocean exploration in the twenty-first century in which ocean-observing systems, and fleets of robots, are routinely and continuously providing quality controlled data and information on the present and future states of ocean space. Advocates of the notion of the Anthropocene argue that this new epoch in geological time, commenced with the British industrial revolution. To date, the Anthropocene has already been subdivided into three stages. The first of these coincides with the beginning of the British industrial revolution around 1800. This transition quickly transformed a society which used natural energy sources into one that uses fossil fuels. The present high-energy society of more than seven billion people mostly with highly improved living standards and birth rates, and a global economy, is the consequence. The downside of this development comprises intensive resource and land use as well as large-scale pollution of the (marine) environment. The first stage of the Anthropocene ended abruptly after the Second World War when a new technology push occurred, leading to the second stage: ‘the Great Acceleration’ (1945-2015) followed by the third: ‘Stewards of the Earth’. Here it is concluded that the notion of the Anthropocene reflects a hierarchical or individualistic perspective, often leading to a ‘business as usual’ management style, and ‘humanises’ the geological time scale. The use of this notion is not supported. However, it is already very popular in the media. This again might lead to overestimating the role of humans in nature, and might facilitate an even more destructive attitude towards it, through the application of geo-engineering. The latter could be opening another Pandora's box. Instead we should move to a more sustainable future in which human activities are better fine tuned to the environment that we are part of. In this respect, transition management is an interesting new paradigm.