In the Late Triassic the landscape NE of present-day Bristol, SW England was dominated by Carboniferous Limestone ridges and cuestas that became progressively buried by continental Mercia Mudstones and finally inundated during the Rhaetian marine transgression. Mussini et al. (2020) adopt the assertions of earlier collaborators back to Whiteside and Marshall (2008) that terrestrial vertebrate assemblages

The sources of the Paleocene London Basin marine to fluviodeltaic sandstones are currently unclear. High analysis number detrital zircon U-Pb age investigation of an early-mid Thanetian marine sand from East Kent, reveals a large spread of zircon age peaks indicative of a range of primary sources. In particular, a strong Ediacaran age peak is associated with the Cadomian Orogeny, while secondary peaks

Despite recent advances in the procedures for logging rotary borehole core, the Lambeth Group Upper Shelly Beds are often inadequately characterised during ground investigations for underground construction. With no recognised industry guidance, there has been a lack of clarity and detail in many logging records, other than a generic description of “dark grey clay with many shells and (local) hard

The famous Rhaetian bone bed (Late Triassic, 205 Ma) is well known because it marks a major switch in depositional environment from terrestrial red beds to fully marine conditions throughout the UK and much of Europe. The bone bed is generally cemented and less than 10 cm thick. However, we report here an unusual case from Saltford, near Bath, S.W. England where the bone bed is unconsolidated and up

Complete fossils must be preferred to fragments for most palaeontological studies, but disarticulated specimens are nonetheless potential sources of noteworthy data. Two crinoid pluricolumnals are recorded from the lower Palaeozoic; informed discussion shows each is a basis for palaeobiological interpretation. Both are gracile and are probably belong to disparids. Floricrinus (col.) sp. is from the

The Upper Emsian to Frasnian Ia-Ib strata of the Marhouma area (or “km 30” outcrop), exposed in the Ougarta Range (SW Algeria) belong to the Chefar El Ahmar Formation. On the basis of distinct lithological and palaeontological features, this formation is subdivided into three members (Lower Marly Limestones Member, Middle Marly Limestones Member, and Upper Marly Limestones Member). The studied beds

A ‘filament’ event bed/level corresponds to the occurrence of thin elongate calcitic, shells, or plates of pelagic, bivalve or crinoidal, origin, within pelagic, laminated and organic-matter rich limestones. These organic-rich limestones had been generally deposited under hypoxic/anoxic conditions in an outer-ramp environment. These thin elongate, bivalve shells, or crinoidal plates, are found broken

A planthopper originally assigned to the genus Boreocixius in Surijokocixiidae (Surijokocixioidea, Fulgoromorpha) from the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) of Tongchuan in Shaanxi, northwestern China is described as Boreocixius tongchuanensis Zhang et al. sp. nov. As the third species ascribed to the genus, it differs from its congeners in having the much larger tegmen with postnodal veinlets and pigmented

Stump Cross Caverns house one of the important Pleistocene fossil bone beds of the UK. Yet, the dates of the Banwell Bone Cave Mammal Assemblage Zone (MAZ), to which these belong, have not yet been well constrained. Here we present new U-Th dates showing that Late-MIS 5 bison-reindeer-wolverine fauna was present in northern England at least as early as 91.9 ± 0.5 ka (the oldest date yet published);

The Early Cretaceous Wealden Group of Swanage Bay, Dorset, southern England, comprises two formations, a lower Wessex Formation and an overlying Vectis Formation. Presently only part of the former is exposed and here its stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeontology are redescribed. Recent work on the Wealden Group of the Wessex Sub-basin has focused either on the Barremian – earliest Aptian of the

Coprolites from the Rhaetian bone beds in south-west England can be assigned to crustaceans and fishes. Here, we report crustacean microcoprolites, including Canalispalliatum and Favreina, the first records from the British Rhaetian, from Hampstead Farm Quarry near Bristol, evidence for diverse lobsters and their relatives not otherwise represented by body fossils. Further, we identify five fish coprolite

This paper presents the results of a detailed study of a sequence of Late Devensian (Weichselian) sands, gravels and diamictons exposed within a recessional moraine near Loch Killin, near Fort Augustus, Monadhliath Mountains, NE Scotland. Macroscale sedimentological and structural field observations are combined with micromorphological and micro-structural analysis to investigate the ice-marginal processes

At Sutton Cross, eastern England, an undated River Nene 2nd Terrace was known to record a complex sequence of late Middle to Upper Pleistocene deposits. Amino acid geochronology was carried out for samples from four separate facies associations in order to provide a chronostratigraphic framework for this complex deposit. Each sample comprised three specimens of Bithynia tentaculata opercula. The intracrystalline

We describe here new Late Triassic haramiyidan mammaliaform and reptile fossils from near the classic ‘Microlestes’ Quarry’ at Holwell, Somerset, U.K., where Charles Moore discovered a huge collection of microvertebrates in the 1850s. Moore’s discoveries included the haramiyid Thomasia (formerly ‘Microlestes’ and Microcleptes) for which he achieved worldwide fame. Subsequently, despite much fossicking

The biodiversity changes of trilobites in the middle Yangtze region of South China in the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and the end-Ordovician mass extinction have been analysed. The Ordovician trilobites in this region originated in the early Tremadocian and radiated from the late Floian to the early Katian. Two peaks of diversity appeared in the late Dapingian to the early Darriwilian

The carbonate succession in the Lyalintsi section of the western Moesian Platform (western Bulgaria) displays a shallowing-upward trend. Growth of the Tithonian–Valanginian coral biostromes and low-relief bioherms was preceded by Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian sedimentation of fine-grained peloidal-bioclastic limestones and Saccocoma-bearing limestones on the homoclinal ramp and the carbonate platform slope

An extensive regional stratigraphic hiatus has been proposed in the Asturian to Stephanian foreland basin successions lying to the north of the main Variscan deformation belt, stretching from north west Europe to eastern North America. The hiatus is inferred on megafloral grounds and involves the absence of most if not all of Stephanian Substages B and C. If present it would have great significance

In the Netherlands, Late Palaeozoic pelmatozoans – that is, stalked echinoderms – are known from building stones and cobbles in rivers, but there are no in-situ carbonate rocks from which they might be collected. Unsurprisingly, most recognisable specimens are columnals and pluricolumnals. Two small thecae, collected in the mid-1970s from silexite cobbles in the bedload of the River Maas in the Venlo-Tegelen

Several specimens from the Lias Group (Lower Jurassic) of Northern Ireland have been suspected as dinosaurian in origin. Bone histology and morphology demonstrates that two of these, both from the same locality in Co. Antrim, demonstrably are from dinosaurs. We interpret one as the proximal end of the left femur of a basal thyreophoran ornithischian, and tentatively assign it to cf. Scelidosaurus.

Salthill Quarry, Clitheroe, Lancashire (Mississippian, Visean) is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), in part based on its diverse fauna of invertebrates, particularly echinoderms. A small collection of crinoid pluricolumnals are described herein, collected from muddy horizons in the Hodder Mudstone Formation to typify the diversity and frequency of their encrusting and boring fauna. These

The changes in macrofauna and microfauna, before, during and after the latest Cenomanian global Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE2), from the Eastern Desert of Egypt are documented, along with an inferred paleoenvironment. The age of the studied OAE2 interval is constrained by the last occurrence of the marker calcareous nannofossils species Axopodorhabdus albianus along with the previously identified positive

A revised age provided by conodonts from the Gilwern Oolite of the Clydach area of South Wales allows a clearer understanding of the palaeohydrology, palaeoclimatic history and diagenesis of previously correlated oolitic units. Earlier uncertainty over the apparent sub-regional differences in climate during the early Visean (Chadian—Arundian) lowstand is resolved. Previously a humid interval evidenced

The pteropods (sea butterflies) and heteropods (sea elephants) are two groups of holoplanktonic gastropods that are important components of the modern, open ocean, plankton. The geological record of the pteropods (Pteropoda) and heteropods (Pterotracheoidea) extends to at least the earliest Eocene (55 million years ago), although there are records of taxa in the earliest Jurassic and mid-Late Cretaceous

A re-examination of fossil material from the Late Cretaceous Cambridge Greensand Member (CGM) of the West Melbury Marly Chalk Formation revealed a number of new specimens of edentulous pterosaur jaw fragments previously identified as shark fin spines and fish jaws and accessioned under the epithet ‘cestraciontid finray’ and ‘jaws of fish’. These are now recognised as pterosaurian jaw tips and referred

Locations at Funzie on the island of Fetlar, and at Norwick on the island of Unst contain excellent examples of structures relating to the Caledonian age disruption and emplacement of the Shetland Ophiolite Complex. The Caledonian age Shetland Ophiolite Complex contains exceptionally well developed and exposed sections of the lower parts of the characteristic ophiolite sequence, including layered gabbro

The Callander Moraine (also known locally as the Auchenlaich Moraine) is an exceptionally well-preserved glacial landform on the outskirts of the town of Callander, in the council district of Stirling. It is part of an assemblage of neighbouring glacial landforms and sedimentary sequences which include eskers, kame terraces and kettle holes. When viewed both individually and together these features

Terrestrial reptile remains are rare in Early Jurassic deposits from the UK but include important records of early dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Here we report an isolated limb bone from the Charmouth Mudstone Formation (upper Sinemurian) of Charmouth, Dorset that was previously misidentified as a referred specimen of the pterosaur Dimorphodon macronyx. Comparisons with other Early Jurassic tetrapods indicate

Terrestrial vertebrate trace fossils are relatively abundant in mid-to-late Triassic and early Jurassic deposits in the British Isles but to date none at all have been recorded from the Rhaetian, the final stage of the Triassic. This represents a persistent gap in the terrestrial ichnological record. We present the first Rhaetian track to be recognised in the British Isles, found at Aust Cliff on the

The field of citizen science is a rapidly evolving type of scientific research focussing on the collaboration of motivated volunteers (citizen scientists) with professional scientists to generate new knowledge and information. In recent years, there has been a steady growth of Earth Science related citizen science projects that aim to build knowledge, awareness and ultimately resilience to key local-

We test here an earlier hypothesis of ours that the Massif Central hotspot, combined with the Iceland mantle plume, exercised first-order control of the Paleogene sedimentary record in the Anglo-Paris Basin. The Anglo-Paris Basin formed a southwestern arm of the Paleogene North Sea. Correlation of Paleogene depositional sequences across the North Sea Basin suggests that control of the sedimentary record

Ancient cave deposits across South Wales and southwest England have yielded Late Triassic to Early Jurassic tetrapod faunas that occupied a sub-tropical island archipelago. Here we present a hitherto little studied fissure at Ruthin Quarry in South Wales. A tooth of the primitive neoselachian shark Rhomphaiodon minor indicates the age of the fissure as early Rhaetian, some 205 Ma, possibly equivalent

The small peralkaline microgranite intrusion that forms the island of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde represents the southern-most intrusion of the British Palaeogene Volcanic Province (BPVP) within Scotland. The granitic rocks of Ailsa Craig, famous for their use in making curling stones, are thought to be the result of fractionation from a mantle-derived basic magma with no crustal contamination

In any collection of Upper Palaeozoic crinoid columnals, dominated by the circular and the pentagonal, the elliptical articular facets of platycrinitid monobathrids stand out. One of the geologically youngest regions from which platycrinitids are known is the Permian (Artinskian to Roadian) of the Basleo area of West Timor, from which over a dozen species have already been described from thecae. Platycrinitid

The thickest section of Early Jurassic strata known from onshore Ireland (total Jurassic thickness 566 m) is reported from the Ballinlea-1 well (Rathlin Basin) situated on the north coast of Northern Ireland. A biostratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental assessment is presented for this section largely based on calcareous benthic microfossils (foraminifera and ostracods). The Early Jurassic Waterloo

Surface lithic scatters are relatively common in arid environments worldwide and attest to human occupation and use of desert environmental resources over long (104–106-year) time scales. A recent paper by Hardaker (2020) describes Early to Middle Stone Age lithic scatters in desert environments in Namibia, and deduces their spatial patterns and the relative age of individual lithic artifacts. Here

Participatory Action Research (PAR) involving local communities and geological heritage were examined in the framework of the ‘Litoral del Biobío’ Mining Geopark project (Chile). A broad spectrum of the population was involved in testing the suitability of PAR methods to determine the sociological perception of geology, geo-tourism and geoconservation, and thus to contribute to define future local

The latest Triassic to earliest Jurassic transition has been widely studied due the occurrence of a major global extinction associated with a global hyperthermal event in this interval. Furthermore, a number of distinct geochemical events in the global carbon cycle can be recognised in the stable-isotope record across this boundary interval at many localities. Two fully-cored boreholes from East Antrim

Richard Bromley was an exceptional geologist, naturalist and trace fossil expert who revolutionised our understanding of the interactions of animals and sediments, and described and illustrated in exquisite detail the fabrics formed in the process. He also made major contributions to the study of chalk, particularly the formation and modification of hardgrounds and the fabrics produced by burrowing

Some fossils, such as crinoid stems, are not widely appreciated by collectors and researchers, yet can provide unique data regarding taphonomy and palaeoecology. A long crinoid pluricolumnal showing a distinctive pattern of preservation was collected from the Clare Shale Formation (Upper Carboniferous) at Fisherstreet Bay, Doolin, County Clare, western Ireland. The specimen is partly disarticulated

Upware, about 15 km north of Cambridge, eastern England, was heavily involved in the ‘Coprolite’ Industry during the 19th century. Rich phosphate deposits especially at the base of the Lower Greensand (Early Cretaceous) were dug by hand and after processing supplied the Victorian agricultural industry with fertiliser. They were also a source of abundant reworked and indigenous fossils which feature

Zagora Province in south eastern Morocco is characterised by its desert environment as well as its culture, people, biodiversity and geology inherited from the Anti-Atlas chain. But the value of this geodiversity is not widely recognised. Ordovician and Quaternary deposits are the most dominant outcrops in the province. Within the former, the Fezouata Shales constitute an information source for palaeontologists

The uppermost Triassic to Lower Jurassic interval has not been extensively studied across the island of Ireland. This paper seeks to redress that situation and presents a synthesis of records of the uppermost Triassic and Lower Jurassic from both onshore and offshore basins as well as describing the sedimentological characteristics of the main lithostratigraphical units encountered. Existing data have

Charcoal records are now widely used to reconstruct past burning activity as there is an increasing global interest in understanding the complex interactions between fire, climate, vegetation and human activity. However, this topic has been relatively overlooked in the British Isles, as the region is generally thought to not support natural burning regimes. Here, for the first time, we present a synthesis

Dartmoor’s landscape has been studied for ∼200 years but is still imperfectly understood. Here we explore Dartmoor as a geoscientific incubator, focusing on why such a small portion of the Earth’s surface has generated such a galaxy of diverse landscape evolution scenarios. A carousel of controversies over rock weathering, drainage evolution, the chronology and intensity of base-level changes and palaeoclimates

A study of heteromorph ammonoids from the Hauterivian – Barremian succession of the south-western Crimea, has prompted revision the genus Paraspiticeras Kilian. The results suggest that Paraspiticeras was probably descended from the early Hauterivian heteromorph Crioceratites by recoiling of the spiral. Its taxonomic position as representative of Subfamily Paraspiticeratinae Vermeulen, 2009 of Family

One of the most dramatic environmental changes in the Mesozoic history of Europe was the switch from terrestrial to marine deposition marked by the Rhaetian Transgression, 205 Ma. Beginning with this event, the Mendip Hills, composed primarily of uplifted and folded Lower Carboniferous limestones, were flooded in a stepwise manner from the Late Triassic to mid Cretaceous. The basal Rhaetian beds at

The Jurassic succession of the Wessex Basin, especially that cropping out along the Dorset Coast, contains important Lagerstätten for coleoid cephalopods. The Blue Lias and Charmouth Mudstone formations have, since the nineteenth century, provided large numbers of important body fossils that inform our knowledge of coleoid palaeontology. In many of these mudstones specimens of palaeobiological significance

Soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) including slumped beds and dewatering and diapiric structures are relatively common in the youngest part of the Triassic succession exposed on the English south coast between Seaton, Devon and Lyme Regis, Dorset. They have been attributed to fluidisation as a result of slope failure or shockwaves caused by earthquakes, storm waves or bolide impact. Few of

Ammonites hitherto included in the species Aulacostephanus autissiodorensis in fact belong to two quite separate forms that as well as being readily distinguishable morphologically have different stratigraphical ranges. A new species, Aulacostephanus camericensis, is proposed for forms which are equicostate throughout and the name A. autissiodorensis restricted to later forms that lose their ornamentation

A new species of galatheoid from the upper Albian (Gault Clay Formation) of Folkestone, Kent (England) described herein, represents the first squat lobster on record from the highly fossiliferous Gault strata in the Anglo-Paris Basin. Normally, squat lobsters are commoner in reef settings of this age. The new species is assigned to the genus Hispanigalathea Klompmaker et al., 2012, which was so far

This paper presents the first comprehensive Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating programme from a sequence of Pleistocene river terraces in the Avon valley (Wiltshire-Hampshire-Dorset), southern Britain. These results offer the most complete chronometric framework for Pleistocene landscape evolution and Palaeolithic occupation in the Avon valley, allowing for the first time: (1) an assessment of

The central sector of the British-Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation was characterised by complex ice-flow reflecting interacting ice streams and changing dominance of different ice dispersal centres. At Tunstall, east Yorkshire, two subglacial till units have been traditionally identified as the Late Devensian Skipsea and Withernsea tills, and thought to record two separate ice advances onto

A new fossil plant specimen, identified as a probable leaf of Welwitschiophyllum Dilcher et al. (2005) is reported from the Gara Sbaa Member of the? Lower Cenomanian to Turonian Akrabou Formation of south east Morocco. Previously Welwitschiophyllum was only known from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, and this discovery considerably extends its temporal and geographical ranges. It is identified on account

Since 2002 extensive studies have been carried out on the surface scatters of Early and Middle Stone Age (ESA and MSA) artefacts in western Namibia, with additional studies in north-central and southern Namibia. The distribution of intense artefact scatters coincides with geological formations that contain quartzitic sandstones that were the preferred lithic resource for tool manufacture. Away from

Ranging from the Jurassic to the Pleistocene, the fossil record of decapod crustaceans in the British Isles is extensive, comprised of 159 species (including those in open nomenclature) assigned to 101 genera. Preservation is variable, but most taxa are based upon carapace material; the study of disarticulated limb elements has added surprisingly little to the known diversity. No new taxa are erected

The Wessex Basin (United Kingdom) includes hundreds of meters of Lower Cretaceous clays, silts, and sands deposited in a wide range of depositional environments. Studies have investigated these depositional systems from the organic matter (OM) perspective. However, questions remain concerning the composition, source, and the overall depositional constraints on the distribution of sedimentary OM in

Bivalve moulds and putative resting traces are recorded from a mudstone unit of lacustrine origin close to the top of the mainly alluvial Otter Sandstone Formation (Anisian, Middle Triassic) near Sidmouth, south-east Devon, southern UK. The bivalves resemble members of the Triassic – Recent Order Unionoida, to which they are tentatively attributed. Previous records of Early and Middle Triassic freshwater

A new extinct genus and species of Anostraca (Crustacea, Branchiopoda), Daohugounaias cheni gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a well-preserved specimen from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. The new genus differs from other Anostraca by the short, forward-pointing spines at the joint of the abdomen and brood pouch. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that eggs are preserved

The Late Triassic and Early Jurassic fissures around Bristol and South Wales are famous as sources of excellent fossils of early mammals, dinosaurs, sphenodontians, and other tetrapods. However, the ways in which these fissures filled with sediment have not often been documented. Moreover, systematic faunal sampling up a working face exposure has rarely been attempted for the UK Triassic fissures.

This, the fourth paper on Scottish Mineral GCR sites, deals with minerals produced during the late stages of granitic rocks creation. Five sites are described and interpreted, encompassing both minerals within intrusive rocks and those which formed in the adjacent country rocks. The former range from previously-mined, porphyry-style copper-molybdnum sulphide concentrations to one of the few Scottish