Apart from a single study of the early Katian δ13C chemostratigraphy in two regions in China, no investigations of the Sandbian and Katian chemostratigraphy have been published from anywhere in Asia. A recent study of the conodont biostratigraphy of the classical Ordovician succession on Langkawi Islands, peninsular Malaysia, showed the presence there of strata coeval with those having the Guttenberg Carbon Excursion (GICE) on the Yangtze Platform. In an effort to establish for the first time the presence of this widespread δ13C excursion in southern Asia, a series of samples from the upper part of the Kaki Bukit Formation was isotopically analysed. This resulted in the discovery of a conspicuous δ13C excursion with peak values of ~ 2 ‰ above the baseline values. The excursion is located just above the Baltoniodus alobatus Subzone and near the level of the first appearance of Hamarodus europaeus, hence the same stratigraphic position as the GICE on the Yangtze Platform. Using the GICE, the Malaysian study interval is closely correlated with the GICE intervals at three localities representing an approximately 23 000 km long transect from Malaysia across Baltoscandia to central North America. This shows the usefulness of δ13C chemostratigraphy to clarify previously obscure stratigraphic relationships between geographically very widely separated localities.

Field, microstructural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data from the Palaeozoic Mandi-Karsog pluton in the Lesser Himalayan region reveal a concordant relationship between fabric of the Proterozoic host rock and the granite. The pluton displays a prominent arcuate shape on the geological map. The margin-parallel mesoscopic and magnetic fabrics of the granite and warping of the host rock fabric around the pluton indicate that this regional curvature is either synchronous or pre-dates the emplacement of the granite body. Mesoscopic fabric, magnetic fabric and microstructures indicate that the northern part of the pluton preserves its pre-Himalayan magmatic fabric while the central and southern part shows tectonic fabric related to the Tertiary Himalayan orogeny. The presence of NW–SE-trending aplitic veins within the granite indicates a post-emplacement stretching in the NE–SW direction. Shear-sense indicators in the mylonites along the margin of the pluton suggest top-to-the-SW shearing related to the Himalayan orogeny. Based on these observations, it is envisaged that the extension that gave rise to this rift-related magmatism had a NE–SW trend, that is, normal to the trend of the aplite veins. Subsequently, during the Himalayan orogeny, compression occurred along this same NE–SW orientation. These findings imply that the regional curvature present in the Himachal Lesser Himalaya is in fact a pre-Himalayan feature and the pluton has formed by filling a major pre-Himalayan arcuate extension fracture.

Postcranial remains of Sirenia from the early Middle Eocene (late Lutetian) Urbasa-Andia Formation of Navarre (Western Pyrenees) are described. The material consists of two partial atlas vertebrae, one humerus and several dorsal ribs (from Arrasate, Urbasa plateau), and partial dorsal ribs (from Lezaun, Andia plateau). The morphology of the fossils is consistent with referral to Dugongidae, the only sirenian clade known so far in the Middle Eocene of Europe. Moreover, the histological study of the ribs shows that the pachyosteosclerosis of extant Sirenia was definitively present by the early Middle Eocene. The oldest sirenian remains reported to date in the Pyrenean Realm were assigned to the Biarritzian, a regional stage that is currently ascribed either to the middle or to the lower–middle Bartonian. Therefore, the sirenian remains of Lezaun, reliably dated as late Lutetian (SBZ16 zone) in age, are definitively the earliest sirenian fossils known in Western Europe and are among the oldest sea cow records of Europe.

Two deformational events which developed prior to the Variscan structures can be characterized in the Palaeozoic rocks of the Pyrenees: a Middle (?) Ordovician folding event and a Late Ordovician fracture episode. The Middle (?) Ordovician folding event gives rise to NW–SE- to N–S-oriented, metric- to hectometric-sized folds, without cleavage formation or related metamorphism. These folds can account for the deformation and uplift of the pre-Upper Ordovician (Cambro-Ordovician) sequence and for the formation of the Upper Ordovician unconformity. Ordovician folds control the orientation of the Variscan main-folding-phase minor structures, fold axes and intersection lineation in the Cambro-Ordovician sediments. The Late Ordovician fracture episode gave rise to normal faults affecting the lower part of the Upper Ordovician series, the basal unconformity and the underlying Cambro-Ordovician metasediments. Displacement of some of these faults diminishes progressively upwards of the series and tapers off in the upper part of the Upper Ordovician rocks, indicating that the faults became inactive during Late Ordovician times before deposition of the Ashgillian metasediments. Normal faults can be linked to the Upper Ordovician volcanic activity, which has been extensively described in the Pyrenees. The aforementioned deformation episodes took place after the Early Ordovician magmatic event, which gave rise to a large volume of plutonic rocks in the Pyrenees as in other segments of the European Variscides. This Middle Ordovician contractional event separated two extensional events in the Pyrenees from Early Ordovician to Silurian times. This event prevents us from assuming the existence of a continuous extensional regime through Ordovician and Silurian times, and suggests a more complex evolution of this segment of the northern Gondwana margin during the Ordovician.

Trilobites from the upper unit of the Lower Cambrian Pusa Formation (south-central Spain) substantially antedate other Iberian trilobites, according to widely published correlation schemes, and arguably would be among the earliest trilobites globally. These trilobites, previously only briefly mentioned in texts, are here described and illustrated, and their biochronological context examined. The Pusa Formation trilobites are treated in open nomenclature but with suggested affinity to the genus Abadiella. They are associated with small shelly fossils, including Pelagiella sp., chancellorid spicules and Cupitheca sp., and unidentfied archaeocyathans. Trace fossils from the upper unit of the Pusa Formation, down-section of the trilobites, include Dactyloidites isp. and Rusophycus isp., the latter representing the lowest occurrence of this ichnogenus in the region. This biostratigraphical context demonstrates that the Pusa Formation trilobites are substantially younger than had traditionally been thought. In terms of Iberian regional stages they are Ovetian, not Corduban as previously thought. As a consequence of the data presented here, the definitions of Iberian Lower Cambrian regional stages are discussed and a substantially revised correlation between key Lower Cambrian strata of the Central Iberian and Ossa Morena zones is proposed.

In the abstract and caption to Figure 6a of the above publication (Jensen, Palacios & Martí Mus, 2010), ‘Rusophycus isp.’ should read ‘Rusophycus cf. avalonensis’.

Potassium–argon (K–Ar) ages on whole rock samples have been measured on lavas from the subaerial Samoa Islands, which form a broadly linear volcanic chain that extends from the ESE to the WNW for about 360 km. The Manu'a Islands near the southeast limit of the chain exhibit youthful ages, with most <0.4 Ma, in keeping with the geological observations. Tutuila consists of several volcanoes, and previous work yielded a mean K–Ar age of 1.26 ± 0.15 Ma for the shield-building volcanism. Upolu, to the WNW of Tutuila, gives a mean age of 2.15 ± 0.35 Ma for the shield-building phase, represented by the Fagaloa Volcanics, with much of the island covered by significantly younger volcanic rocks. Savai'i, further to the WNW, is dominated by youthful volcanism, extending into historic times. In a restricted area, adjacent to the NE coast of Savai'i, previously thought to have volcanic rocks correlating with the Fagaloa Volcanics of Upolu, the ages are much younger than those on Upolu, lying between 0.32 and 0.42 Ma. Considering only the subaerial volcanism from Ta'u to Upolu, but also including Vailulu'u, the volcanism has migrated in a systematic ESE direction at 130 ± 8 mm a−1 over 300 km in the last 2.2 Ma. This rate is nearly twice that obtained from GPS measurements of Pacific Plate motion of 72 mm a−1 at N64°W in this area. However, if the much older age of shield-building volcanism from the submarine foundations of Savai'i is included, the regression yields a volcanic migration rate of 72 ± 14 mm a−1, in keeping with the measured GPS rate and consistent with a hotspot origin for the island chain. This suggests that the volcanic migration rates determined from the age of subaerial volcanism can be considerably overestimated, and this is now evident in other Pacific Ocean island chains. Clearly, the ages of the main shield-building volcanism from subaerial volcanism are minima, and if the older submarine lavas can be measured, these may yield a migration rate more in keeping with current plate motions.

The zircon age spectrum in a sample from the Canonbie Bridge Sandstone Formation (Asturian) of southern Scotland contains two main peaks. One is Early Carboniferous in age (348–318 Ma), and corresponds to the age of igneous activity during the Variscan Orogeny. The other is of late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian age (693–523 Ma), corresponding to the Cadomian. Together, these two groups comprise 70 % of the zircon population. The presence of these two peaks shows unequivocally that a significant proportion of the sediment was derived from the Variscides of western or central Europe. The zircon population also contains a range of older Proterozoic zircons and a small Devonian component. These could have been derived from the Variscides, but it is possible that some were locally derived through recycling of northerly derived sandstones of Devonian–Carboniferous age. The zircon age data confirm previous suggestions of Variscide sourcing to the Canonbie area, made on the basis of petrographical, heavy mineral and palaeocurrent evidence, and extend the known northward distribution of Variscan-derived Westphalian sediment in the UK.

Eleven samples of seafloor sediment were taken from water depths of 78–90 m within the Savonette Field, off SE Trinidad, western Atlantic Ocean. This surface sediment is relict, having been deposited during an early Holocene transgression. The samples yielded much iron-stained quartz and a rich assemblage of dead foraminifera, of which 75% of planktonic foraminifera were stained with iron, as was 66.5% of the calcareous benthonic foraminiferal assemblage. The fauna, both iron-stained and unstained, was dominated by Cibicidoides ex. gr. pseudoungerianus, and is concluded, despite the proximity of the Orinoco Delta, to be equivalent to a relict Cibicidoides biofacies in carbonate-rich areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Staining was by limonite and hematite. Differing percentages of calcareous benthonic species had been stained with iron, ANOVA revealing three groups of species within which the mean percentage of iron-stained specimens per sample did not differ: (a) Globocassidulina subglobosa and Hanzawaia concentrica; (b) Amphistegina gibbosa, Cassidulina norcrossi australis Cibicioides ex. gr. pseudoungerianus, C. io, Elphidium translucens and Quinqueloculina lamarckiana; and (c) Eponides antillarum and E. repandus. It is concluded that species differ in their susceptibility to iron staining, and that planktonic foraminifera are more susceptible than most benthonic species. Although waters off northern South America are turbid and the photic zone only ~25 m deep, the relict assemblage contained 8.4% algal symbiont-bearing foraminifera (especially A. gibbosa and E. translucens) that would be limited to the photic zone. These are thought to have lived at a time early in the Holocene transgression when sequestration of sediment within the Orinoco delta rendered the water sufficiently clear for viable populations of symbiont-bearing foraminifera. Should iron-stained foraminifera prove to be restricted to transgressive systems tracts, this would make them a useful sequence stratigraphic tool.

The Khanka Massif is a crustal block located along the eastern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) and bordered to the east by Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous circum-Pacific accretionary complexes of the Eastern Asian continental margin. It consists of graphite-, sillimanite- and cordierite-bearing gneisses, carbonates and felsic paragneisses, in association with various orthogneisses. Metamorphic zircons from a sillimanite gneiss from the Hutou complex yield a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 490 ± 4 Ma, whereas detrital zircons from the same sample give ages from 934–610 Ma. Magmatic zircon cores in two garnet-bearing granite gneiss samples, also collected from the Hutou complex, yield weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of 522 ± 5 Ma and 515 ± 8 Ma, whereas their metamorphic rims record 206Pb/238U ages of 510–500 Ma. These data indicate that the Hutou complex in the Khanka Massif records early Palaeozoic magmatic and metamorphic events, identical in age to those in the Mashan Complex of the Jiamusi Massif to the west. The older zircon populations in the sillimanite gneiss indicate derivation from Neoproterozoic sources, as do similar rocks in the Jiamusi Massif. These data confirm that the Khanka Massif has a close affinity with other major components of the CAOB to the west of the Dun-Mi Fault. Based on these results and previously published data, the Khanka Massif is therefore confirmed as having formed a single crustal entity with the Jiamusi (and possibly the Bureya) massif since Neoproterozoic time.

Fossil vertebrates from the Cabao Formation discovered in the area of Nalut in northwestern Libya include the hybodont shark Priohybodus, the crocodilian Sarcosuchus, an abelisaurid, a baryonichine spinosaurid and a large sauropod with spatulate teeth. The Cabao Formation may be Hauterivian to Barremian in age, although an earlier Berriasian to Valanginian age cannot be excluded. Its dinosaur assemblage is reminiscent of that of the El Rhaz and Tiouraren formations of Niger and strongly differs from both the Cenomanian assemblages of Morocco and Egypt and the Late Aptian to Albian fauna of Tunisia. Fossil vertebrates may be an important tool to establish the stratigraphical framework of the poorly dated Early Cretaceous continental deposits of Africa.

A palynological analysis with marine palynomorphs (dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, green algae) and terrestrial palynomorphs (pollen and spores) of the Kasterlee and Poederlee formations provides new insights in the depositional history at the southern border of the North Sea basin (northern Belgium) around the Miocene–Pliocene transition. Dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy constrains the age of the Kasterlee Formation in the Oud-Turnhout borehole between 7.5 and 5.32 Ma. The upper boundary of the formation can be correlated with sequence boundary Me2 at 5.73 Ma of Hardenbol and co-workers, which further constrains its age to the time interval 7.5–5.73 Ma. The palynomorph assemblages reflect a near-coast depositional environment. Where present, the Kasterlee Formation thus terminates the Miocene series in northern Belgium. The overall shallow nature of the latest Miocene deposits is related to a sea-level lowering caused by the onset of globally cooling conditions. For the first time, palynology is applied to estimate the age of the Poederlee Formation, suggesting it was deposited during the Mid-Pliocene warm period. Dinoflagellate cysts and sequence stratigraphy together constrain the age of the unit between 3.21 and 2.76 Ma, and possibly even between 3.21 and 3.15 Ma. The Poederlee Formation was deposited in neritic environments, which shoaled in the upper part of the unit as a consequence of the decreasing availability of accommodation space. We demonstrate that the magnitude of the hiatus between the Miocene and Pliocene series varies strongly at the southern boundary of the North Sea Basin, and lasts in the Antwerp area c. 3.2 million years and c. 2.52 million years in the Campine area.

We report the occurrence and characteristics of diopsidite dykes and veins from the Palghat-Cauvery Suture Zone (PCSZ) marking the boundary between the Archaean Dharwar craton to the north and the Proterozoic Madurai Block to the south, which is considered as a trace of the Cambrian Gondwana suture zone in southern India. The diopsidites are composed predominantly of coarse crystals of diopside [Mg no. (100 Mg/(Mg+Fetot)) up to 89] surrounded by retrograde calcic amphibole, plagioclase and phlogopite with accessory titanite and calcite. The major, trace and rare earth element characteristics of the diopside crystals suggest their formation in a subduction zone setting. We correlate the petrogenesis of the diopsidites with the tectonics associated with the subduction and closure of the Neoproterozoic Mozambique Ocean prior to the final collisional assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent in Cambrian.

Pseudagnostus rugosus Ergaliev, 1980 is described from the Furongian Ctenopyge tumida Zone at Gislövshammar, Scania, southern Sweden. This is the first record of this distinctive agnostoid in Scandinavia. The species is known previously from Malyi Karatau, Kazakhstan, and northwestern Hunan and western Zhejiang, South China, and provides a newly recognized link between middle–upper Furongian successions in Baltica, Kazakhstan and South China. The occurrences of P. rugosus allow a correlation between the C. tumida Zone of Baltica, the lower Eolotagnostus scrobicularis–Jegorovaia Zone of Kazakhstan and the lower Lotagnostus americanus Zone of South China.