New geochemical, isotopic and age data from igneous rocks complement earlier models of a long-lived and complex accretionary history for East African Orogen lithologies north of the Blue Nile in western Ethiopia, but throw doubt on the paradigm that ultramafic complexes of the region represent ophiolites and suture zones. Early magmatism is represented by a metavolcanic sequence dominated by pyroclastic deposits of predominantly basaltic andesite composition, which give a Rb–Sr whole-rock errorchron of 873±82 Ma. Steep REE patterns and strong enrichments of highly incompatible trace elements are similar to Andean-type, high-K to medium-K calc-alkaline rocks; εNd values between 4.0 and 6.8 reflect a young, thin continental edge. Interlayered basaltic flows are transitional to MORB and compare with mafic rocks formed in extensional, back-arc or inter-arc regimes. The data point to the significance of continental margin magmatism already at the earliest stages of plate convergence, in contrast with previous models for the East African Orogen. The metavolcanites overlap compositionally with the Kilaj intrusive complex dated at 866±20 Ma (U–Pb zircon) and a related suite of dykes that intrude thick carbonate-psammite sequences of supposedly pre-arc, continental shelf origin. Ultramafic complexes are akin to the Kilaj intrusion and the sediment-hosted dykes, and probably represent solitary intrusions formed in response to arc extension. Synkinematic composite plutons give crystallization ages of 699±2 Ma (Duksi, U–Pb zircon) and 651±5 Ma (Dogi, U–Pb titanite) and testify to a prolonged period of major (D1) contractional deformation during continental collision and closure of the ‘Mozambique Ocean’. The plutons are characterized by moderately peraluminous granodiorites and granites with εNd values of 1.0–2.0. They were coeval with shoshonitic, latitic, trachytic and rare trachybasaltic intrusions with very strong enrichments of highly incompatible trace elements and εNd of 0.4–8.0. The mafic end-member is ascribed to partial melting of enriched sub-continental mantle that carried a subduction component inherited from pre-collision subduction. Contemporaneous granodiorite and granite formation was related to crustal underplating of the mafic magmas and consequent melting of lower crustal material derived from the previously accreted, juvenile arc terranes of the East African Orogen.

Mesoproterozoic marine successions worldwide record a shift in average δ13C values from 0 to +3.5‰, with the latter value evident in successions younger than 1250 Ma. New carbon isotope data from the ∼1300 to 1270 Ma Dismal Lakes Group, Arctic Canada, provide further insight into this fundamental transition. Data reveal that the shift to higher δ13C values was gradual and marked by occasional excursions to values less than 0‰. When compared to records from older and younger marine successions, it is evident that the difference between isotopic minima and maxima increased with time, indicating that the marine system evolved to become isotopically more variable. We interpret these patterns to record an increase in the crustal inventory of organic carbon, reflecting eukaryotic diversification and a change in the locus of organic carbon burial to include anoxic deep marine sites where preservation potential was high. We speculate that the release of O2 to Earth's surface environments associated with increased organic carbon storage induced irreversible changes in the Mesoproterozoic biosphere, presaging the more extreme environmental and evolutionary developments of the Neoproterozoic.

Thermochronological data reveal that the Late Cretaceous–Tertiary nappe pile of the Anatolide belt of western Turkey displays a two-stage cooling history. Three crustal segments differing in structure and cooling history have been identified. The Central Menderes metamorphic core complex represents an ‘inner’ axial segment of the Anatolide belt and exposes the lowest structural levels of the nappe pile, whereas the two ‘outer’ submassifs, the Gördes submassif to the north and the Çine submassif to the south, represent higher levels of the nappe pile. A regionally significant phase of cooling in the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene affected the outer two submassifs and the upper structural levels of the Central Menderes metamorphic core complex. In the northern part of the Gördes submassif, cooling was related to top-to-the-NNE movement on the Simav detachment, as the apatite fission-track ages show a northward-younging trend in the direction of movement on this detachment. In the Çine submassif, relatively rapid cooling in Late Oligocene and Early Miocene times may have been related to top-to-the-S extensional reactivation of the basal thrust of the overlying Lycian nappes. The second phase of cooling in the Anatolide belt is related to Pliocene to Recent extension resulting in the formation of the Central Menderes metamorphic core complex in the inner part of the Anatolide belt. Core-complex development caused the formation of supra-detachment graben, which document the ongoing separation of the Central Menderes metamorphic core complex from the outer submassifs.

Palaeomagnetic data from the 337 Ma Magerøy dykes (northern Norway) are of exceptionally high quality, and a positive contact test along with an existing regional result from the Silurian Honningsvåg Igneous Suite attests to a primary Early Carboniferous magnetic signature. The palaeomagnetic pole (S14.8°, E320.1°, dp/dm=4.4/8.6°) is the first Early Carboniferous pole from Baltica, and implies that northernmost Norway–Greenland, the Barents Sea and Svalbard were located at tropical to low northerly latitudes at this time. Northward drift during Carboniferous times (5–6 cm/yr) as demonstrated from palaeomagnetic data is also reflected in the sedimentary facies in the Barents Sea realm, that is, a change from tropical (Early Carboniferous) to subtropical (20–30° N) carbonates and evaporites in the Late Carboniferous. The Magerøy dykes are continental tholeiites which intruded into a set of NW–SE-trending normal faults parallel to the Trollfjorden–Komagelva Fault Zone and the Magerøysundet Fault immediately to the north and south of Magerøya, respectively. These, and many other NW–SE-trending faults (onshore and offshore), were active during Late Palaeozoic extension, and the dykes were probably contemporaneous with the earliest syn-rift sedimentation in the Barents Sea (for example, the Nordkapp Basin).

Maps showing depth to the Moho, the 6 km/s and 7 km/s isovelocity surfaces and the thickness of the crust with a velocity greater than 7.0 km/s for the UK and surrounding continental crust have been generated from a compilation of wide-angle/refraction data. The data show that the crust beneath northwestern Scotland is thinner and of higher velocity than that beneath southern Britain. The lower crust beneath the East Irish Sea and parts of the southern North Sea is formed from thick layers of high velocity rock. The lateral extent of these layers cross-cuts the downward projection of major structures mapped at the surface. This suggests that the major structures do not bound regions of lower crust with contrasting properties at depth. Instead these structures may be overprinted by modification of the lower crust, for example, by magmatic underplating, which is not observed directly at the surface. Mapped variations in crustal thickness do not mirror the variations in surface topography, which appears to contradict the view that the crust is in Airy isostatic equilibrium.

Investigations of mass movements of the Messel oil shale in Germany presumed that swell- and especially shrink-deformations of the organic-rich clay were among the factors triggering initial displacements. Within the scope of the present studies, delicate clay/organic microstructures had to be deciphered. Reactions of clay minerals and microstructures upon dehydration were observed by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and the distribution of organic matter was studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) in fluorescence mode. ESEM and CLSM have been demonstrated to be valuable tools for the microstructural characterization of laminated organic-rich sediments. The application of these analytical and imaging techniques will be of great interest to a wide range of geological disciplines such as palaeontology, organic petrology, engineering geology and global change studies.

A newly recognized left exoccipital-opisthotic of a Callovian pliosaur, derived from the Peterborough or lower Stewarby Members of the Oxford Clay Formation of Peterborough, is described and figured. This isolated bone is tentatively identified as belonging to an ‘adult’ individual of Liopleurodon ferox that is inferred to have had a skull length of 1.26 metres and an overall body length of 6.39 metres.