Upper Silurian–Lower Devonian ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone’ facies deposits cropping out in southwest Wales are poorly age-constrained and difficult to correlate. Spore assemblages have been recovered from sequences of these deposits belonging to the lower part of the Cosheston Group. The spore assemblages are equated with the breconensis–zavallatus and polygonalis–emsiensis Spore Assemblage Biozones and indicate an early Devonian age (late Gedinnian (late Lochkovian)–Siegenian (Pragian)). The new biostratigraphical data enable correlation of the lower part of the Cosheston Group with the Senni Beds from the main outcrop of the Lower Devonian in South Wales and the Welsh Borderland. In addition, the new age data and stratigraphical correlation place important plant megafossil assemblages from the Cosheston Group and Senni Beds in a more secure stratigraphical framework, thus facilitating comparisons with other Lower Devonian plant megafossil assemblages and enhancing palaeobotanical understanding. Evidence from palynofacies analysis supports sedimentological interpretations which suggest that the ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone’ facies deposits belonging to the Cosheston Group accumulated in a continental fluviatile environment.

The environmental setting and taphonomy of the insect fauna of the Insect Bed, Bembridge Marls (late Eocene; 36 Ma) of the Isle of Wight is described. Cluster analysis of taxonomic data on the insect fauna of a diversity of modern tropical environments, together with that of the Bembridge Marls, shows that the insects of the latter are characteristic of a primary sub-tropical/tropical forest subject to significant seasonal rainfall. A similar approach indicates that the sample of taxa preserved in the Insect Bed is biased toward insects from leaf litter and lower herbage microhabitats. External ornamentation of the cuticle is preserved on a micron scale, and the individual microfibrils of the procuticle can be distinguished. The insects of the Bembridge Marls are remarkable in preserving cuticle and mineralized internal tissues in a largely uncompacted state. Chemical analysis (py-GC/MS) reveals that the cuticle is composed of an aliphatic polymer, possibly due to polymerization of cuticular waxes during diagenesis. No chitin was detected. The soft tissues, which include sarcolemma and muscle fibres, are preserved through replacement in calcite.

The Paril Formation (South Pirin and Slavyanka Mountains, southwestern Bulgaria) and the Prodromos Formation (Orvilos and Menikion Mountains, northern Greece) consist of breccia and olistostrome built up predominantly of marble fragments from the Precambrian Dobrostan Marble Formation (Bulgaria) and its equivalent Bos-Dag Marble Formation (Greece). The breccia and olistostrome are interbedded with thin layers of calcarenites (with occasional marble pebbles), siltstones, sandstones and limestones. The Paril and Prodromos formations unconformably cover the Precambrian marbles, and are themselves covered unconformably by Miocene and Pliocene sediments (Nevrokop Formation). The rocks of the Paril Formation are intruded by the Palaeogene (Late Eocene–Early Oligocene) Teshovo granitoid pluton, and are deformed and preserved in the two limbs of a Palaeogene anticline cored by the Teshovo pluton (Teshovo anticline). The Palaeocene–Middle Eocene age of the formations is based on these contact relations, and on occasional finds of Tertiary pollen, as well as on correlations with similar formations of the Laki (Kroumovgrad) Group throughout the Rhodope region.

The presence of Palaeogene sediments within the pre-Palaeogene Pirin–Pangaion structural zone invalidates the concept of a ‘Rhodope metamorphic core complex’ that supposedly has undergone Palaeogene amphibolite-facies regional metamorphism, and afterwards has been exhumed by rapid crustal extension in Late Oligocene–Miocene times along a regional detachment surface. Other Palaeogene formations of pre-Priabonian (Middle Eocene and/or Bartonian) or earliest Priabonian age occur at the base of the Palaeogene sections in the Mesta graben complex (Dobrinishka Formation) and the Padesh basin (Souhostrel and Komatinitsa formations). The deposition of coarse continental sediments grading into marine formations (Laki or Kroumovgrad Group) in the Rhodope region at the beginning of the Palaeogene Period marks the first intense fragmentation of the mid- to late Cretaceous orogen, in particular, of the thickened body of the Morava-Rhodope structural zone situated to the south of the Srednogorie zone. The Srednogorie zone itself was folded and uplifted in Late Cretaceous time, thus dividing Palaeocene–Middle Eocene flysch of the Louda Kamchiya trough to the north, from the newly formed East Rhodope–West Thrace depression to the south.

The Honningsvåg Intrusive Suite consists of several layered mafic/ultramafic intrusions and a transgressive body of igneous breccia that appears to represent a magma conduit. It is emplaced into a Silurian, flysch-type sedimentary sequence that is thermally metamorphosed to spotted slate, cordierite–andalusite or pyroxene hornfels and agmatitic migmatite. Folds and flattened reduction spots in the hornfelses suggest that emplacement took place after Caledonian deformation and development of a slaty cleavage. Tectonic rotation subsequent to emplacement has led to exposure of the Honningsvåg Intrusive Suite in a natural cross-section corresponding to ∼10 km of crustal depth. Basaltic magma was initially emplaced as a several-kilometre-tall pipe that crystallized to form Intrusion 1. A second magma chamber was initiated alongside this pipe and subsequently expanded laterally into a sill-like magma body as batches of olivine-saturated basalt were added. A later magma chamber, represented by Intrusion 4, developed largely within the cumulates forming the upper part of Intrusion 2 and appears to have been accompanied by opening of a broad inclined feeder into which blocks and slabs of older cumulates collapsed. The resulting igneous breccias of Intrusion 3 are chaotic and largely clast-dominated in the lower part of the conduit, but enclosed slabs are matrix supported and orientated parallel to an originally subhorizontal banding in the feldspathic peridotite matrix in the upper part. The core of the breccia body has a troctolite matrix and contains blocks of older breccia, suggesting re-opening of the conduit, either during the crystallization of Intrusion 4 or possibly during the development of chambers represented by the younger layered intrusions. The cumulates in Intrusion 4 subsided sufficiently to invert marginal parts of the Layered Series before a further magma chamber was initiated in its roof rocks. The last major magma chamber opened alongside Intrusion 5 and extended upwards as a pipe or broad dyke to the highest structural levels exposed. Cross-cutting relationships show that the Honningsvåg magma chambers were not active simultaneously but were emplaced sequentially, generally at successively higher structural levels. Olivine tholeiite magma initially pooled in a crustal zone where it had neutral buoyancy. Subsequent chambers are suggested to have been initiated by emplacement of magma along the density discontinuities that existed above and around crystallized intrusions and their associated hornfelses. Chambers evolved by fractional crystallization, assimilation of country rocks and periodic replenishment. The abandonment of magma chambers may have resulted from the expulsion of low-density residual melts.

A pterosaur specimen, consisting of the associated anterior portions of upper and lower jaws, is reported from the upper Kimmeridgian Argiles d'Octeville, in the cliffs of the Cap de la Hève, near Le Havre (France). It is described as a new taxon, Normannognathus wellnhoferi, and referred to the Germanodactylidae. Normannognathus wellnhoferi is distinguished by the association of jaws which bear teeth up to their anterior tip and a tall sagittal crest, formed by the premaxillae, which begins anterior to the nasopreorbital fenestra, has a concave anterior edge, and is much higher than the maxilla at that level. The Dsungaripterus-like crest and the slightly upturned upper jaw support the idea of a close relationship between the Germanodactylidae and Dsungaripteridae.

Lowermost Ordovician (basal Tremadoc) cherts from the Little Port Complex, western Newfoundland, contain a distinctive, moderately well-preserved, radiolarian assemblage. The fauna differs from those reported from the Arenig, suggesting that some of the earliest radiolarian forms may have biostratigraphic potential. The abundance of radiolarians in chert and the ease with which they can be extracted suggest that they are a potentially valuable tool for use in investigations of the timing and development of early Palaeozoic orogenic systems. A previously undescribed radiolarian Beothuka terranova sp. nov., belonging to a new genus Beothuka gen. nov. and of uncertain higher-level affinity is formalized herein.

The Guadix Basin became established as an intramontane basin in the central sector of the Betic Cordillera at the beginning of Late Miocene time. Its geodynamic evolution starts with a unit of Tortonian marine sediments and is completed by a unit of Late Turolian–Pleistocene continental sediments. In the two units, six depositional sequences have been differentiated whose boundaries, in most cases, coincide with tectonic events. Geohistorical diagrams show the results of quantitative analyses of subsidence in the northern sector of the basin and permit correlation of the main events with significant changes in the history of subsidence and uplift. A period of strong subsidence occurred at the beginning of Tortonian time causing the formation of a marine basin 800 m deep. The mid- and end-Tortonian tectonic events involved periods of uplift leading to shallowing in the basin. After continentalization at the end of the Tortonian, the basin was uplifted continuously from Late Turolian to Late Pleistocene times, finally accumulating sediments at a height of 1000 m.

In the Brunflo area of Jämtland, central Sweden, a Cambrian to Ordovician sedimentary sequence rests on a Proterozoic crystalline basement. The area lies just outside the site of the middle Ordovician Lockne impact, and it later experienced Caledonian overthrusting. The degree of Caledonian tectonization of the Palaeozoic varies, but an autochthonous Cambrian and Ordovician sequence apparently occurs in the greater part of the area, particularly in the north. The pre-impact sedimentary succession is 81 m thick in the autochthon, with the Middle Ordovician Furudal Limestone as uppermost member. Brunflo village is located just outside the crater, 8–9 km north of its centre, but the area was affected by the impact. The impact-generated ejecta and resurge deposits rest on a surface which cuts the sedimentary strata at a low angle. This surface cuts at progressively higher stratigraphic levels at increasing distance from the crater. According to observations in the autochthon the impact generated an erosion surface dipping 1–2° towards the crater centre. The sequence of events that shaped this surface began with bombardment with high-speed ejecta closely followed by resurging water. The resurge mixed ejecta clasts with the products of resurge erosion to form the resurge deposits. No rim wall can be traced at the Lockne impact structure, probably because a rim wall, if it formed, collapsed in the modification stage owing to local lithological conditions and because the remains of it were completely eroded in the resurge phase. It is suggested the rim wall formed in sedimentary strata with unlithified clays at their base, and that this clay was unable to support it.

Gabbroic rocks crop out commonly in different localities of the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex and are interpreted by many researchers as the remnants of a Neotethyan ophiolitic suite now observed as roof-pendants in the granitoids of the complex. In this study, the structural position of the gabbroic rocks within one of the granitoids of the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex, namely the Ağaçören Granitoid, is determined by geological and aeromagnetic data from the central part of the pluton. The gabbroic rocks have sinuous contacts with the Ağaçören Granitoid and they display a gradual change in composition and texture from gabbro at the top of the hills to diorite at the foot of the hills towards the contact with granitoid. Power spectra, high- and low-pass filtered aeromagnetic and pseudogravimetric anomalies were produced using geophysical methods. A two-dimensional model constructed from the high pass-filtered anomalies, with the control of the in situ susceptibility data and the low-pass filtered anomaly, suggests existence of a shallow conical-shaped and deeply buried gabbroic body. The deep body extends down to deeper levels of the upper crust and, given the textural and compositional features which suggest magma mixing, is interpreted as an intrusion coeval with the Ağaçören Granitoid.

The terrigenous materials of the flysch deposits of the External Hellenides of mainland Greece have been characterized by their heavy mineral assemblages, based on 194 samples. Three major source types were distinguished. (1) A metamorphic source is shown by abundant garnet accompanied by traces of staurolite and chloritoid. In the source of the Pindos and Ionian zones, blueschist complexes were incorporated within the metamorphic terrains, demonstrated by the frequent occurrence of blue amphiboles. (2) The existence of ophiolitic sources is indicated by the occurrence chrome spinel. Pyroxenes, green amphiboles and partly epidote are related to volcanic/metavolcanic complexes. High ophiolitic detritus was especially found in Mid-Cretaceous turbiditic layers supplied from internal terrains. (3) Granitoid and gneiss source terrains are indicated, predominantly represented by zircon, tourmaline and apatite. This type of source is characteristic for Mid-Cretaceous turbidites sampled in western parts of the Pindos zone. In the terminal flysch deposits, granitoid detritus played only a subordinate role. An extensive recycling of Pindos Flysch material into the younger Western Hellenic Flysch can be excluded. Stratigraphic trends in the heavy mineral distribution of the terminal Pindos Flysch give insights into the changing tectonic situation of the source terrains. A regional east–west trend with changing ophiolitic detritus, observed in the Parnassos-Ghiona Flysch, points to a complex feeder system.

As a contribution to the current debate on the age of the Grampian Orogeny in the Scottish Dalradian, we comment on the valuable paper by Tanner (1995) that establishes stratigraphical continuity between the ‘Dalradian’ Ben Ledi Formation and the ‘Highland Border’ Keltie Water Formation that contains the Lower Cambrian Leny Limestone (Cowie, Rushton & Stubblefield, 1972, p. 17). Tanner's interpretation of the stratigraphy differs in detail from that of Harris & Fettes (1972). We unreservedly accept Tanner's mapping and the stratigraphical changes that follow from it: there are two units of black slate and limestone; that containing the fossiliferous limestone of Leny Old Quarry is the younger.

The Vendian–Silurian succession from a series of boreholes in northeast Germany has been petrographically and geochemically investigated. Evidence suggests that the more northerly Vendian and Cambrian succession was deposited on a craton which became increasingly unstable in Ordovician times. Similarly, the Ordovician-age succession deposited in the Rügen area indicates a strongly active continental margin tectonic setting for the same period. By Silurian times the region was once more relatively tectonically quiescent. Although complete closure of the Tornquist Sea was not complete until latest Silurian times, the major changes in tectonic regime in the Eastern Avalonia/Baltica area recorded from the Ordovician suggest that a significant degree of closure occurred during this time.

The Almazán Basin (northern Spain) is a Tertiary basin, 90×45 km wide, located in the western part of the Iberian Chain. It is filled with folded Palaeogene (2500–3000 m thick) and horizontal Neogene (500 m) beds. From the study of a satellite image, more than 2300 lineaments have been identified in the Neogene horizontal rocks. Their absolute orientation maximum is 060–070, and relative maxima are 100–110 and 120–140. Some spatial variations in the regional trends can be observed: (1) Throughout the central part of the basin, the east–northeast trending lines are the most representative. (2) Near the eastern border of the Basin the northwest–southeast set (parallel to the trend of thrust and folds in the older rocks) is dominant. (3) In the northwestern part of the basin the northwest–southeast and WNW–ESE sets coexist with the main east–northeast set. The maximum density of lineaments is found along a WNW–ESE line that corresponds with the axis of maximum thickness for the Tertiary units. A detailed field study of fracturing at the outcrop scale (more than 2300 fractures measured) was carried out. The orientation distribution of lineaments coincides with the orientation of left-lateral faults at the outcrop scale, and differences are greater when considering all kinds of fractures in different sectors. The origin of fracturing at different scales in the Almazán Basin can be related to the Neogene stress field and the influence of previous structures: (1) The northwest–southeast set of fractures formed as a result of reactivation of older faults, inherited from the late Variscan fracturing. (2) The main ENE–WSW set of fractures corresponds to neoformed left-lateral joints and faults under the northeast–southwest Neogene compression, the dextral conjugate set of joints within this system (NNE–SSW) being much less developed.