The only published δ13C data from the Ordovician of China are from the Lower and Upper Ordovician, and only the latter records include a significant excursion, namely the Hirnantian excursion (HICE). Our recent chemostratigraphic work on the Upper Ordovician (Sandbian–Katian) Pagoda and Yanwashan formations at several localities on the Yangtze Platform and Chiangnan (Jiangnan) slope belt has resulted in the recognition of a positive δ13C excursion that has values of ~+1.5‰ above baseline values. This excursion starts a few metres above a stratigraphic interval with B. alobatus Subzone conodonts as well as graptolites of the N. gracilis Zone. The distinctive conodonts Amorphognathus aff. Am. ventilatus and Hamarodus europaeus first occur at, or very near, the excursion interval. Because these conodonts appear in the stratigraphic interval of the Guttenberg δ13C excursion (GICE) in Estonia, we identify the Chinese excursion as the GICE. This is the first record of the GICE in the entire Asian continent. It confirms that GICE is a global excursion and provides an illustration of how δ13C chemostratigraphy, combined with new biostratigraphic data, solves the problem of the previously controversial age of the Pagoda Formation and how this classical stratigraphic unit correlates with the Baltoscandian and North American successions.

The Quaternary Bandas del Sur Formation in the south of Tenerife comprises a complex sequence of pyroclastic rocks and lavas. In contrast to the NW- and NE-Rift zone on Tenerife, the S-Rift zone comprises a number of characteristics with respect to the morphological features, eruption cyclicity and the geochemistry of the volcanic deposits. Various flank eruptions of the Las Cañadas volcano associated with basaltic lavas and the formation of cinder cones within the Bandas del Sur are important volcanic units for understanding the explosive volcanic cycles during the Pleistocene on Tenerife. A number of palaeomagnetic studies, as well as major and trace element geochemistry and two radio-isotope dates (K–Ar), have been carried out on prominent cinder cones, in order to discover their stratigraphic position. Combining our results with previous K–Ar data, the cones and lavas can be subdivided into three stratigraphic units. The first unit contains cinder cones with reverse magnetization and Y/Nb ratios between 0.37 and 0.41. Cinder cones which belong to the second unit show normal magnetization and Y/Nb ratios of < 0.35. The third unit comprises cinder cones with normal magnetization and Y/Nb ratios of about 0.47. The first two units were constructed between c. 0.948–0.779 Ma and 0.323–0.300 Ma. These units define volcanic cycles ending in violent Plinian eruptions. The third and youngest unit possibly marks the beginning of a further volcanic cycle that started c. 0.095 Ma ago.

697 taxa of planktonic graptolites are recorded, and their stratigraphical ranges are given, through 60 biozones and subzones in the Ordovician and Silurian strata of England, Wales and Scotland, in the first such stratigraphical compilation for Great Britain since the synthesis of Elles & Wood (1901–1918).

Deciding which of two bioevents is the less diachronous is a common problem in biostratigraphy. The most accurate correlation uses the finest timescale available. Chemostratigraphy or cyclostratigraphy offer a potential precision of about 10 ka. Graphic correlation can then be used to test the precision of bioevents and to quantify any mismatch. It can also be used to determine in which section any event occurs earlier. Application of these ideas to correlation of the Cenomanian–Turonian and Coniacian–Santonian boundaries demonstrates that some bioevents are as precise as chemo- and cyclostratigraphy, but that most are not. Two problems occur with bioevents. First they may not be recognizable in all sections. Second, where they are recognizable, they may be diachronous. In the former case, calculating confidence intervals on known ranges in sections where the relevant fossil has been recorded is an alternative test. Large confidence intervals suggest that both first and last occurrences of a fossil may be diachronous bioevents. At the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary the following bioevents (in stratigraphic order) appear to be reliable time planes for international correlation. The last occurrences of (1) Corolithion kennedyi, (2) Rotalipora greenhornensis, (3) Axopodorhabdus albianus, (4) Rotalipora cushmani, (5) Lithraphidites acutus, (6) Microstaurus chiastius and (7) the first occurrence of Quadrum gartneri. At the Coniacian–Santonian boundary only the first and last occurrences of Platyceramus undulatoplicatus, and the first occurrences of Platyceramus cycloides and Lucianorhabdus cayeuxii have been identified as potentially reliable bioevents.

The study of volcanic rocks and igneous centres has long been a classic part of geological research. Despite the lack of active volcanism, the British Isles have been a key centre for the study of igneous rocks ever since ancient lava flows and excavated igneous centres were recognized there in the 18th century (Hutton, 1788). This led to some of the earliest detailed studies of petrology. The starting point for many of these studies was the British Palaeogene Igneous Province (BPIP; formerly known as the ‘British Tertiary’ (Judd, 1889), and still recognized by this name by many geologists around the globe). This collection of lavas, volcanic centres and sill/dyke swarms covers much of the west of Scotland and the Antrim plateau of Northern Ireland, and together with similar rocks in the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland forms a world-class Large Igneous Province. This North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) began to form through continental rifting above a mantle plume at c. 60 Ma, and subsequently evolved as North America separated from Europe, creating the North Atlantic Ocean.

The Yangtze Platform preserves relatively thick carbonate successions and excellent fossil records across the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary interval. The intensely studied Meishucun section in East Yunnan was one of the Global Stratotype Section candidates for the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary. However, depositional breaks were suspected in the section and the first appearance of small shelly fossils could not be verified. The Laolin section located in NE Yunnan is more continuous and shows great potential for global correlation of carbon isotope features across the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary. However, the stratigraphic framework and correlations were controversial. We studied and systematically sampled the Laolin section and present here new carbon isotope data for this section. The Laolin section consists of, in ascending order, the Baiyanshao dolostone of the Dengying Formation, the Daibu siliceous dolostone, Zhongyicun dolomitic phosphorite, lower Dahai dolostone and upper Dahai limestone of the Zhujiaqing Formation, and the black siltstone of the Shiyantou Formation. Our data reveal a large negative δ13C excursion (−7.2‰, L1′) in the Daibu Member, which matches the previously published data for the Laolin section, and a large positive excursion (+3.5‰, L4) in the Dahai Member, which was not shown in the published data. The excursion L1′ correlates well with the similarly large negative excursion near the first appearance of small shelly fossils in Siberia and Mongolia. Similar magnitude excursions are also known from Morocco and Oman, for which there are no robust fossil constraints but from where volcanic ash beds have been dated precisely at 542 Ma, thus confirming a global biogeochemical event near the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. Our data also indicate that deposition was more continuous at the Laolin section compared with the Meishucun section, where there are no records of a comparable negative excursion near the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary, nor any comparable positive excursion in the Dahai Member. Therefore, the Laolin section has proven potential to be a supplementary Global Stratotype Section for the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary on the Yangtze Platform.

Detailed centimetre-scale sampling across two small dolerite dykes (7 and 21 cm wide) of Kestiö Island, SW Finland, has revealed a well-developed internal zonation, with surprisingly systematic compositional variations. From the margins inwards, the dykes exhibit a steady decrease in whole-rock MgO, Mg number (100Mg/(Mg+Fetotal)) and normative Opx (indicating a normal fractionation trend) with simultaneous increase in normative An (100An/(An+Ab)) and decrease in incompatible Zr, Y, TiO2 and P2O5 (indicating a reverse fractionation trend). In addition, marginal rocks of dykes contain normative corundum that is apparently associated with their significant depletion in whole-rock CaO. The extent of margin-to-centre differentiation of dykes in terms of most components is slight to modest, although in some petrochemical parameters it is quite high (e.g. 15 mol. % of normative An). The dykes are almost glassy and uncontaminated by host rocks, suggesting that their compositional profiles are primary and most likely reflect temporal changes in composition of magma filling the dykes. A mechanism responsible for the systematic changes in composition of inflowing magma remains elusive, however, since no known processes are able to force magma to evolve simultaneously along both normal and reverse fractionation trends. The study thus appears to indicate some not yet specified process of magma differentiation.

The Dabie orogenic belt is characterized by the presence of large volumes of intrusive and volcanic rocks that formed in Late Mesozoic times. Most of the intrusive bodies are I-type granites but it is still unclear whether there are contemporary A-type granites. Here, we report the first unambiguous discovery of A-type granite from Baiyashan in the North Dabie tectonic belt. The crystallization age of the body has been fixed as 120.4 ± 1.2 Ma using U–Pb analysis of zircons by LA-ICPMS. The Baiyashan granite is enriched in Si, K, Na, Rb and REE, has elevated FeOtot/(FeOtot + MgO) and Ga/Al ratios, and is depleted in Mg, Ca, Mn, Ba, Sr, P and Ti. The REE composition shows highly fractionated patterns with (La/Yb)N = 6.95–16.68 and Eu*/Eu = 0.33–0.59. Its crystallization age, field relationships, petrographic and geochemical data show beyond doubt that the Baiyashan granite is an Early Cretaceous A-type granite. Sr–Nd isotope systematics are characterized by a high ISr of 0.708–0.714 and a low ɛNd of −7.5 to −19.4, with TDM2 = 1.5–2.5 Ga, and these data indicate that the magmas were dominantly sourced from partial melting of middle to lower crustal intermediate-felsic igneous rocks and mingling with mafic to intermediate magmas, during rift-related magmatism associated with subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate beneath Eastern China in Early Cretaceous times.

In this paper we examine the role of multiple emplacement of sills into partly solidified rocks (an intrusive mechanism ‘liquid into solid’) as a possible explanation for some textural and compositional ‘anomalies’ of single-cyclic mafic intrusions. As a case study we used the Shiant Isles Main Sill that is widely regarded as a classical example of a multiple, picrite–picrodolerite–crinanite alkaline sill. This sill is currently interpreted as having been formed by several olivine phenocryst-rich pulses of magma, which were successively emplaced into their almost solidified predecessors. Such an intrusive mechanism is a random process in which many parameters vary independently and unpredictably. Among them are: the number, relative volume and bulk composition of magma pulses, and their place, sequence and timing of emplacement, as well as modal abundance, phase composition and distribution of intratelluric phenocrysts in magmas upon emplacement. In terms of these variables, one can envisage countless different profiles through alkaline sills produced from only three randomly intruded magma pulses of picritic, picrodoleritic and crinanitic composition. Such multiple sills can readily be distinguished from simple ones formed from a single pulse of magma by anomalous compositional profiles with several prominent breaks in crystallization and compositional sequences. The compositional profile of the Shiant Isles Main Sill is remarkably similar to an M-shaped profile expected from fractional crystallization of a single pulse of olivine-saturated magma along a crystallization path Ol+Sp+L (picrite), Ol+Pl±Sp+L (picrodolerite = troctolite), Ol+Pl+Cpx+L (crinanite). The probability of the accidental formation of such a compositional profile by multiple intrusion ‘liquid into solid’ is exceedingly small, even for the single case of the Shiant Isles Main Sill. The probability approaches zero when considering that exactly the same sequence of intrusive events must have been repeated in about 20 neighbouring alkaline sills with similar compositional profiles. This can only be achieved by some universally operating differentiation process. The best candidate for this is the classical fractional crystallization of magma constrained by liquidus phase equilibria. This suggests that the Shiant Isles Main Sill can be best interpreted and modelled as a simple sill that crystallized from one large pulse of magma, with possible involvement of minor refilling events. Further progress in our knowledge of intrachamber magma fractionation processes will probably enable us to interpret many ‘anomalous’ textural and compositional features of mafic–ultramafic intrusions in the frame of a single magma pulse model.

The processes that led to the onset and evolution of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) have been a theme of debate in the past decades. A popular theory has been that the impingement on the lower lithosphere of a hot mantle plume (the ‘Ancestral Iceland’ plume) initiated the first voluminous outbursts of lava and initiated rifting in the North Atlantic area in Early Palaeogene times. Here we review previous studies in order to set the NAIP magmatism in a time–space context. We suggest that global plate reorganizations and lithospheric extension across old orogenic fronts and/or suture zones, aided by other processes in the mantle (e.g. local or regional scale upwellings prior to and during the final Early Eocene rifting), played a role in the generation of the igneous products recorded in the NAIP for this period. These events gave rise to the extensive Paleocene and Eocene igneous rocks in W Greenland, NW Britain and at the conjugate E Greenland–NW European margins. Many of the relatively large magmatic centres of the NAIP were associated with transient and geographically confined doming in Early Paleocene times prior to the final break-up of the North Atlantic area.

The Amalaoulaou Neoproterozoic island-arc massif belongs to the Gourma belt in Mali. The metagabbros and pyroxenites forming the main body of this arc root show the pervasive development of garnet. In the pyroxenites, the latter has grown by reaction between pyroxene and spinel during isobaric cooling. By contrast, in the metagabbros, garnet textures and relations to felsic veins exclude an origin through solid-state reactions only. It is proposed that garnet has grown following dehydration and localized melting of amphibole-bearing gabbros at the base of the arc. The plagioclase-saturated melts represented by anorthositic veins in the metagabbros and by trondhjemites in the upper part of the massif provide evidence for melting in the deep arc crust, which locally generated high-density garnet–clinopyroxene–rutile residues. Garnet growth and melting began around 850 °C at 10 kbar and the tonalitic melts were most probably generated around 1050 °C at P ≥ 10 kbar. This HT granulitic imprint can be related to arc maturation, leading to a P–T increase in the deep arc root and dehydration and/or dehydration-melting of amphibole-bearing gabbros. Observation of such features in the root of this Neoproterozoic island arc has important consequences, as it provides a link to models concerning the early generation of continental crust.

A diverse fauna of phacopid trilobites is described from the Late Devonian (middle Frasnian to early Famennian) of the northern Canning Basin, Western Australia. One new genus and four species in two genera are described from zones 11, 13a and 13b of the middle and late Frasnian: Trimerocephaloides sinevisus gen. nov. and sp. nov., T. ? linguiformis sp. nov., Acuticryphops acuticeps (Kayser, 1889) and A. klapperi sp. nov. Late Frasnian phacopines are either blind, as shown for the first time in Trimerocephaloides sinevisus, or show trends to decreasing eye size up to the Frasnian–Famennian ‘Kellwasser’ mass extinction event. This evolutionary trend in Acuticryphops is demonstrated to have been global at this time. One new genus and six species of early Famennian phacopids are described, from the Upper triangularis, crepida and rhomboidea zones: Houseops gen. nov. with the new taxa H. canningensis sp. nov., H. beckeri sp. nov. and H. sp. A, Babinops planiventer Feist & Becker, 1997, B. minor sp. nov., Trimerocephalus tardispinosus Feist & Becker, 1997 and T. mimbi sp. nov. In contrast to European sections where exclusively blind phacopids are known in earliest Famennian sites, initial recovery following the mass extinction event in Canning peri-reefal environments is characterized by oculated forms. These trilobites must have evolved from conservative ancestors with normal eyes that had succeeded in surviving the Kellwasser biocrises in reef-related shallow water niches. Thus the origin of post-event phacopids from shallow water environments is demonstrated for the first time. Descendant lineages show increasing eye size, increased cephalic vaulting and effacement during the early Famennian.

The northern Kenya Rift is bounded on the west by uplands of Turkana which comprise horst-like blocks that include metamorphic basement rocks, locally overlain unconformably by the Cretaceous Lubur Sandstone, in turn overlain by predominantly volcanic sequences in which relatively thin sedimentary packages occur. Amphibolite facies crystalline rocks of the basement yield Early Palaeozoic K–Ar cooling ages reflecting the Pan-African Orogeny. Volcanism in Turkana was initiated through voluminous eruptions of transitional tholeiitic basalts commencing about 36 Ma ago in the Late Eocene, with some evidence for concomitant rhyolitic volcanism. Volcanism became dominantly rhyolitic in the interval from about 27 to 23 Ma ago, but remained bimodal as basaltic lavas are also known from this period. From about 19 to 15 Ma or younger, basaltic volcanism again dominated, often alkaline in nature, with thin but significant sedimentary sequences interleaved that have yielded important vertebrate faunal assemblages. Parallels exist between the volcanic history recorded in Turkana and that found in the Nabwal Hills east of Lake Turkana. In the southern Turkana region, oil exploration by seismic methods and deep drill holes has shown the existence of northerly-trending half-graben with up to 7 km of fill, and that these developed from at least Oligocene and possibly Late Eocene times. This suggests that the widespread basaltic volcanism at about 36 Ma ago (Late Eocene) heralds an earlier initiation of the Kenya Rift in northern Kenya than most workers have previously suggested.

Research on the British Paleocene Igneous Province (BPIP) has historically focused on the emplacement, chemistry and chronology of its elaborate central intrusive complexes and lava fields. However, the BPIP has also been dramatically shaped by numerous erosion, sedimentation and volcano-tectonic events, the significance of which becomes ever clearer as localities in the BPIP are re-investigated and our understanding of volcano-sedimentary processes advances. The resultant deposits provide important palaeo-environmental, palaeo-geographical and stratigraphical information, and highlight the wide range of processes and events that occur in ancient volcanic settings such as the BPIP. In this paper we review the sedimentary and volcano-tectonic processes that can be distinguished in the BPIP, and conceptualize them within a generalized framework model. We identify, and describe, the sedimentary responses to four broadly chronological stages in the history of the BPIP volcanoes: (1) the development of the lava fields, (2) early intrusion-induced uplift, (3) caldera collapse and (4) post-volcano denudation and exhumation of central complexes. We highlight and illustrate the range of sedimentary processes that were active in the BPIP. These operated on and helped shape a dynamic landscape of uplands and lowlands, of alluvial fans, braided rivers, lakes and swamps, and of volcanoes torn apart by catastrophic mass wasting events and/or caldera collapse.

A graptolite biostratigraphy is erected for the upper Telychian (upper crenulata Biozone) to lower Sheinwoodian (riccartonensis or dubius Biozone) strata of the Jabalón River section, Spain. Two unconformities are recognized in the section: one between the lapworthi and murchisoni biozones; the other between the murchisoni and riccartonensis biozones. These unconformities coincide with intervals of lowered eustatic sea-level. Graptolite assemblages include both cosmopolitan taxa and some which have been recorded previously from Morocco and/or other Spanish sections. At some stratigraphical levels Pristiograptus or Euroclimacis species are abundant; Monoclimacis, Streptograptus and Mediograptus species are generally uncommon. Conodonts were examined from the upper spiralis through to lower murchisoni Biozone; the occurrences of Pterospathodus amorphognathoides are consistent with the species' known range elsewhere. Four new graptolite species are described: Euroclimacis jabalonensis, E. hamata, Monoclimacis flexa and Stimulograptus pradoi.

Fluid inclusions trapped in coesite-bearing rocks provide important information on the fluid phases present during ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. The subduction-related coesite-bearing eclogites of the Tso Morari Complex, Himalaya, contain five major types of fluids identified by microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy. These are: (1) high-salinity brine, (2) N2, (3) CH4, (4) CO2 and (5) low-salinity aqueous fluids. These fluids were trapped during both deep subduction and exhumation processes. The coesite-bearing rocks are inferred to have been buried to a depth of >120 km, where they experienced ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. The fluid–rock interaction provides direct evidence for fluid derivation during a deep subduction process as demonstrated by silica–carbonate assemblages in eclogite. High salinity brine, N2 and CH4 inclusions are remnants of prograde and peak metamorphic fluids, whereas CO2 and low-salinity aqueous fluids appear to have been trapped late, during uplift. The high-salinity brine was possibly derived from subducted ancient metasedimentary rocks, whereas the N2 and CH4 fluids were likely generated through chemical breakdown of NH3-bearing K minerals and graphite. Alternatively, CH4 might have been formed by a mixed fluid that was released from calcareous sediments during subduction or supplied through subducted oceanic metabasic rocks. High density CO2 is associated with matrix minerals formed during granulite-facies overprinting of the ultrahigh-pressure eclogite. During retrogression to amphibolite-facies conditions, low-salinity fluids were introduced from external sources, probably the enclosing gneisses. This source enhances salinity differences as compared to primary saline inclusions. The subducting Indian lithosphere produced brines prior to achieving maximal depths of >120 km, where fluids were instead dominated by gaseous phases. Subsequently, the Indian lithosphere released CO2-rich fluids during fast exhumation and was then infiltrated by the low-salinity aqueous fluids near the surface through external sources. Elemental modelling may improve quantitative understanding of the complexity of fluids and their reactions.

Oblique and normal fault systems exposed in the Büyük Menderes Graben (BMG) region record two successive and independent complex tectonic events. The first group tectonic event is defined by an E–W extension related to N–S contraction and transpression. This group is responsible for the development of NW- and NE-trending conjugate pairs of oblique faults which controlled Early–Middle Miocene basin formation. Between the Early–Middle Miocene and Plio-Quaternary strata exists an unconformity, indicating a period of folding, uplift and severe erosion associated with N–S shortening. The second group of events was the change in tectonic regime from E–W extension to N–S extension which controlled the formation of the Büyük Menderes Graben by three progressive pulses of deformation. The first pulse of extensional deformation was initially recorded in the region by the exhumation of the deep part of the Menderes Massif (MM) with the development of the E-trending Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault (BMDF). The minimum age of this pulse is constrained by the older Plio-Quaternary fluviatile deposits of the Büyük Menderes Graben that range in age from the Plio-Pleistocene boundary interval to Late Pleistocene. The second pulse, which is marked by the rapid deposition of alluvial deposits, initiated the formation of approximately E–W-trending high-angle normal faults synthetic and antithetic to the Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault, on the northern margin during Holocene times. These faults are interpreted as secondary steeper listric faults that merge with the main Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault at depth. The third pulse was the migration of the Büyük Menderes Graben depocentre to the present day position by diachronous activity of secondary steeper listric faults. These steeper faults are the most seismically active tectonic elements in western Turkey. According to the stratigraphic and structural data, the N–S extension in the Büyük Menderes Graben region produced a progressive deformation phase with different pulses during its Plio-Quaternary evolution, with migration of deformation from the master fault to the hangingwall. The formation of diachronous secondary synthetic and antithetic steeper faults on the upper plate of the Büyük Menderes Detachment Fault, hence the southward migration of the deformation and of the Büyük Menderes Graben depocentre, should be related to the evolution of detachment in the region. The presence of the seismically active splays of secondary faults implies an active detachment system in the region. This young Plio-Quaternary N–S extension in the Büyük Menderes Graben may be attributed to the combined effects of the two continuing processes in Aegean region. The first process is back-arc spreading or probably the roll-back of African slab below the south Aegean Arc, which seems to be responsible for the change in the stress tensor from E–W extension to N–S extension. The second and later event is the southwestward escape of the Anatolian block along its boundary fault, that is, the North Anatolian fault (NAF).

Thirty samples from 22 sections collected by the SWEDARCTIC international expedition to Severnaya Zemlya in 1999 contained Ordovician and Silurian conodont faunas. Several taxa, including Apsidognathus cf. milleri, Aulacognathus cf. kuehni, Nudibelodina sensitiva, Ozarkodina broenlundi and Pterospathodus eopennatus, allow precise dating of the strata in this region for the first time. The occurrence of Aphelognathus pyramidalis and Rhipidognathus aff. R. symmetricus in samples from the Strojnaya Formation fits well with the earlier dating of these strata as latest Ordovician. However, Aphelognathus sp. in sample BG-99/14-a, collected from the upper Ushakov Formation, indicates that at least in the lower reaches of the Ushakov River the top of this formation is considerably younger than considered earlier: the sampled strata are Late, not Early Ordovician in age. In the Ordovician and Silurian the present-day Severnaya Zemlya region was dominated by extensive shallow-water, mainly semi-restricted basin environments with habitat specific faunas. The occurrence of Riphidognathus aff. R. symmetricus at some levels in the Upper Ordovician suggests extreme shallowing episodes in the basin. On Severnaya Zemlya, ‘normal-marine’ faunas (including Pt. eopennatus) invaded the distal peripheral regions of the wide shallow-water platform at times of maximum sea-level rise only. The occurrence of Oz. broenlundi and N. sensitiva indicates that in the early Silurian the Severnaya Zemlya basin was quite well connected to the basins over modern North Greenland as well as to the Baltic Palaeobasin. The lower Silurian conodont assemblages in the Vodopad to Samojlovich formations are most similar to those described from the eastern Timan–northern Ural region.

Zircon U–Pb age, whole-rock elemental and Sr–Nd isotopic data are presented for the Rushan intrusive complex from the northern Sulu orogen, China. The intrusion, emplaced at c. 111 Ma, consists mainly of biotite-bearing gabbro and pyroxene-bearing diorite. The rocks are high-K calc-alkaline in major elements, and enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and light rare earth elements (LREE), depleted in high field strength elements (HFSE), and possess narrow ranges of initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.70746–0.70827) and ɛNd(t) (−12.37 to −8.26). The complex is interpreted to originate from decompression melting of spinel-facies cratonic mantle that was metasomatized by the subducted Yangtze crustal materials and the melts experienced fractionation of olivine, clinopyroxene, apatite and Fe–Ti oxides. The Rushan complex is similar in composition to other Early Cretaceous mafic-intermediate complexes from the southern margin of the North China Craton, such as the Fangcheng basalts and Yinan gabbros, implying the mantle source of the Rushan intrusion is tectonically affiliated to the southern wedge of the Craton. We infer that the Rushan complex formed in an extensional regime corresponding to the asthenosphere upwelling during gradual erosion and replacement of the cratonic mantle by the fertile lithosphere beneath the eastern North China Craton.

The extent to which persistent, rather than transient, fissures (wide planar voids) can exist along upper crustal faults is important in assessing fault permeability to mineral and hydrocarbon-bearing fluids. Variscan (late Carboniferous) faults cutting Dinantian (Lower Carboniferous) limestones on the Gower peninsula, South Wales, host clear evidence for fissures up to several metres wide. Evidence includes dendritic hematite growth and elongate calcite growth into open voids, spar ball and cockade breccia formation, laminated sediment infill and void-collapse breccias. Detailed mapping reveals cross-cutting geometries and brecciation of earlier fissure fills, showing that fissures were formed during, rather than after, active faulting. Fissures therefore probably formed by geometric mismatch between displaced fault walls, rather than by solution widening along inactive faults.