The distribution and crystal-chemical characteristics of chlorite, corrensite, and mica in samples from a stratigraphic profile in the Cameros basin are controlled by changes in the sedimentary facies. The lacustrine marls and limestones from the base and the top of the profile contain quartz + calcite + illite ± dolomite ± chlorite ± albite ± paragonite ± Na, K-rich mica. Chlorite is rich in Mg, with Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios ranging between 0.18–0.37. A formation mechanism involving reaction between Mg-rich carbonate and dioctahedral phyllosilicates is proposed for these Mg-rich chlorites, on the basis of the mutually exclusive relationship found between Mg-rich chlorite and dolomite, together with the relative increase in the proportion of calcite in samples containing chlorite.

The mudrocks from the middle part of the profile are composed of quartz + albite + illite + corrensite (with a mean coefficient of variability of 0.60%) ± chlorite. Corrensite and chlorite are richer in Fe2+ than those from the base or top of the profile, with mean Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios of 0.51 and 0.56, respectively. Textural and compositional features suggest a formation mechanism for the corrensite, chlorite, and chlorite-mica crystals through replacement of detrital igneous biotite. Whether or not corrensite occurs with chlorite appears to be related to redox conditions. The presence of corrensite alone is apparently favored by oxidizing conditions, whereas the occurrence of corrensite + chlorite is related to more reducing conditions. Corrensite shows higher Si and Na + K + Ca contents, and slightly lower Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios than chlorite. The presence of corrensite and the lack of random chlorite-smectite interlayering is discussed in terms of the fluid/rock ratio; the occurrence is related to the hydrothermal character of metamorphism in the Cameros basin.

Discussions on the age and the depositional environments of the Veldhoven Formation and its members are persistent in Belgium and the Netherlands. Uncertainties on stratigraphy and the constructive process of sediment accumulation continue today as a result of lack of data on this succession within the Roer Valley Rift System. The present study provides new information on the bio- and lithostratigraphy and facies from two boreholes based on dinoflagellate cyst taxa. The results were correlated by gamma-ray logs towards other key boreholes in the region and show a good consistency for stratigraphy and depositional environments for the members of the Veldhoven Formation.

After marginal to restricted marine conditions in the latest Rupelian (early Oligocene), the start of deposition of the Veldhoven Formation marked the transition towards a higher sea level, expressed by increased glauconite contents and gamma-ray values. The Voort Member in the lower part of the Veldhoven Formation has an early to late Chattian (Late Oligocene) age and comprises predominantly shallow marine (fluctuating restricted to open marine) conditions. The lithology in the lower part of this unit is often very clayey but is coarsening upward into sands. The superjacent Wintelre Member has a latest Chattian to early Aquitanian (early Miocene) age. This member is distinct by its clayey nature which is expressed by relatively high gamma-ray values. Earlier studies suggest a deeper marine facies for the Wintelre Member compared to the Someren and Voort members. However, the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages in this unit are mostly dominated by a single genus indicating a restricted marine setting, including salinities that deviate from normal marine conditions, most probably due to minor ventilation by narrow or lack of connection to the Atlantic Ocean. A glacio-eustatic sea-level fall around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary limited the sea coverage to the strongest subsiding areas, where deposition of the Wintelre Member is recorded, while non-deposition or erosion occurred in the surrounding highs, hence creating an isolated (sub)basin. The superjacent Someren Member was deposited during the late Aquitanian to middle Burdigalian and consists of shallow to open marine clayey fine sands. Increasing clay contents indicate a gradual development towards a higher sea level, which coincide with upward increasing gamma-ray values.

The biostratigraphic results of this study suggest that no major hiatuses are present in the differentially subsiding blocks of the Roer Valley Rift System during the late Oligocene to early Miocene.

The reconstruction of submerged palaeolandscapes and detection of settling surfaces along coastal zones became a major research topic within the last two decades. In this context, the WASA project made use of a multidisciplinary approach for defining the extension and describing the characteristics of the Late Pleistocene to Holocene deposits in the central Wadden Sea region. In addition to sub-bottom transects, more than 140 sediment cores were taken in such an area for stratigraphic reconstruction, making use of multi-proxy analysis. To harmonize these data with the existing regional core database (LBEG archive) a new core catalogue was developed, that allows the identification of the local Late Quaternary sedimentary sequences and their characteristic facies. The WASA core catalogue has been successfully applied for reviewing the published data about the stratigraphic sequence of the Wadden Sea, for a better definition in terms of stratigraphic sequences and spatial extent of the Quaternary geological evolution of the region, and for a detailed reconstruction of the coastal palaeoenvironments.

The provenance and tectonic setting of the Lower–Middle Triassic clastic sediments from the Napo basin, South China, have been examined here using detrital modes, whole-rock geochemistry and detrital zircon U–Pb ages. Field investigations indicate that these sediments consist of fan delta, slope and turbidity fan facies with dominantly southward palaeocurrent directions. Detrital modes and geochemical characteristics of the clastic rocks indicate that they were derived from mixed magmatic arc and Palaeozoic successions in a continental island arc setting, with no significant sediment recycling. The U–Pb age spectra of sandstone detrital zircons from different stratigraphic positions are similar, with one major group (300–230 Ma), two subordinate groups (400–320 Ma and 480–420 Ma, respectively) and two scattered groups (1200–800 Ma and 2000–1700 Ma, respectively). Thus, we consider that the north late Permian – Middle Triassic volcanic rocks and the uplifted Palaeozoic sedimentary/volcanic sequences constituted the predominant sources. The detritus derived from the late Permian Emeishan mafic rocks is subordinate and limited. The pre-Devonian zircons are likely sedimentary-recycled or magmatic-captured instead of directly derived from the early Palaeozoic orogen (e.g. Yunkai massif) and Neoproterozoic Jiangnan orogen because of the topographic barrier of a magmatic arc and carbonate platform. Considering the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of the volcanic arc and ophiolite, we suggest that the Triassic Napo basin was a fore-arc basin within a continental island arc setting, which developed in response to the northward subduction of the Babu–Cao Bang branch ocean beneath the South China Block.

Pleistocene strata of the Wadden Sea region are mostly covered by an up to 10m thick sediment wedge deposited during the Holocene transgression. However, tidal inlets cut deep into the Holocene succession, causing Middle Pleistocene to early Holocene glacial and interglacial deposits to outcrop at the channel bottom. To investigate how the lithological properties and/or morphologies of these deposits affect the development of Holocene tidal inlets (e.g. limiting erosional processes), we analysed a series of eight cores to verify three high-resolution sub-bottom transects – and thus – to extend point-based data over a broader area. Furthermore, eight additional new cores (16 WASA cores in total), and 14 reinterpreted cores from the LBEG (Geological Survey of Lower Saxony) log database, were correlated to generate three short cross-sections at the transition from the tidal inlet (Riffgat channel) to the island of Norderney, revealing a number of new aspects for the reconstruction of the Pleistocene palaeoenvironments, i.e. the last two glacials (Saalian and Weichselian) and interglacials (Holsteinian? and Eemian). A succession of Middle Pleistocene lacustrine delta deposits, belonging either to the Holsteinian or the Dömnitz temperate stage, suggests the presence of Elsterian tunnel valleys located below the island. Furthermore, we verified the presence of an Eemian mixed tidal-flat system overlain by an Eemian sand tidal flat below the western head of Norderney which is, in contrast to suggestions from previous studies, not fully eroded in this area. Finally, we demonstrate that the Saalian moraine (Drenthe Main Till) functions as a limiting constraint in the vertical development of the Holocene/modern Riffgat channel. Our results provide a better understanding of the Quaternary stratigraphy of the central Wadden Sea as well as the influence of the subsurface geology on the architecture and evolution of tidal channels.

To identify chronological changes in the marine reservoir effect in southwest Japan, the radiocarbon ages of eight pairs of marine shells and terrestrial plants were measured from the same horizons of one core of Holocene sediments. This core was obtained from the northern part of the Sukumo Plain in southwestern Shikoku Island, which faces the warm Kuroshio Current. The drilling site is located in an area of subsidence associated with the convergence of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. On analyses of lithology, molluscan assemblages, and radiocarbon dating, we interpreted, from oldest to youngest, nine units: basement rock, a braided river channel, a meandering river channel, an estuary, a transgressive inner bay, Kikai-Akahoya volcanic ash, a deltaic inner bay, a tidal flat, and artificial soil. Changes in the depositional environment were mainly associated with sea-level rise after the end of the last glaciation. The reservoir ages of the eight pairs, 330 ± 70 yr, were obtained from a transgressive inner bay to deltaic inner bay sediments, formed during 4100–9200 cal BP. The chronological change in the reservoir effect allows us to correlate the Sukumo Core sediments with previous results from southwestern Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan Island.

To investigate the relationship between paleoenvironmental changes and marine reservoir effects, the radiocarbon ages of marine bioclasts and terrestrial plants from the same horizons of a sediment core in the Holocene Epoch were measured. This core, with a length of approximately 9 m, was obtained from the southern part of the Miyazaki Plain southeast of Kyushu Island, which faces the Kuroshio warm current. This drilling site is located in an uplift area associated with the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate. Based on analyses of lithology, molluscan and foraminifera assemblages, and radiocarbon dating, we interpreted four sedimentary units in order of age: tidal flat, inner bay, Kikai-Akahoya volcanic ash, and delta plain. These paleoenvironmental changes were mainly associated with the sea-level rise during the deglacial period. The reservoir ages of nine pairs from the tidal flat to inner bay facies were found to be from the time span of 7300–8200 cal BP. The chronological changes in the reservoir effect are correlated with those seen in Holocene sediments of the other coastal area in East Asia.

Beppu Bay is located on east-central Kyushu, southwest Japan, and is characterized by hydrothermal activity, tectonic deformation, and recent volcanism under the influence of convergence of the Philippine Sea plate. This area, occupying the western portion of an arc-bisecting dextral fault system, is a tectonic depression that has existed since ca. 5 Ma. Sedimentary facies, mollusk assemblages, and radiocarbon (14C) ages of 25 terrestrial plant fragments and 16 marine carbonate shells from a 70-m drill core were determined to estimate the activity of the Funai Fault, which consists of normal faults along the southern margin of the tectonic basin. Based on the analysis, six sedimentary facies, namely braided river channel, estuary, prodelta, delta front, delta plain, and artificial soil, were identified. The vertical slip rate was calculated as 2.6–2.7 mm/yr based on displacements of the braided river channel sediments of the last glacial period and the base of Kikai-Akayoya tephra in the Holocene highstand sediments of this area. Reservoir ages during 6180–10,410 cal BP were determined from marine shell and terrestrial plant pairs from the sediments of the estuary, prodelta and delta front facies, and were correlated with values from a northern coast of Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula.

Multivariate analyses applied to Pleistocene bivalve assemblages from the Oga Peninsula (northern Japan) discriminate three distinct assemblages. The assemblages and their taphonomy were used to recognize environmental settings and changes. The Astarte–Cyclocardia–Glycymeris assemblage indicates shelf environment (below the storm wave base) where gravels and shells are transported from shallower settings. Supply of the exotic coarse sediment probably enabled epifaunal bivalves to inhabit the sea floor. The Glycymeris assemblage is characterized by dominance of G. yessoensis and represents current-swept shoreface environment (above the storm wave base). The Moerella assemblage is characterized by bivalves inhabiting bay to open-marine conditions and diverse deposit-feeders, indicating a moderately land-locked environment, such as an open bay or a bay mouth. Fine-grained substrata rich in organic matters in the bay were probably suitable for the deposit-feeders. Ordination also shows the assemblages along two environmental gradients, a bathymetrical one and the other related to open-marine and bay conditions. The environmental changes are explained mainly by glacio-eustatic sea-level changes and alternation of coastal geomorphology caused by local crustal movements. This study also suggests that fossil assemblages can be a powerful tool to reconstruct environments and depositional dynamics even in intensely bioturbated sedimentary facies.

Based on recent studies, the impact of global sea-level and climate change on the paleogeographic and sedimentary evolution of the Tertiary of the Lower Rhine Basin is analysed. It is shown that major changes in global climate and sea-level, such as the high-stand during the Middle Miocene climate optimum, the extreme low-stands near the base of the Tortonian and within the Messinian, are clearly reflected in the sedimentary succession. Continental climate curves, as reconstructed from Tertiary macrofloras of the Lower Rhine Basin, can be correlated with the marine, long-term isotope record. As shown by the analyses, a warm and humid climate with mean annual temperatures above 13°C and mean annual precipitation not below 1000 mm, persisted throughout the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene. Continental, high-resolution, climate data show that Late Miocene alternations of lignites and elastics are rather caused by tectonic and sedimentary processes (such as the repeated migration of the river system) than by major climate changes.