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.

Palaeozoic scorpions are diverse in Europe and North America but are rarely found in Asia. Here we describe a fossil scorpion from the Lower Permian of Wuda, Inner Mongolia, China. It is very similar to Eoscorpius sparthensis from the Late Carboniferous, but differs from the latter in having posterior location of the ocellar node. The preabdomen of the new specimen is complete and its preanal is not

Glen Croe, located near the western edge of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, is a well-known landslide hazard site in Scotland. Debris flows have repeatedly closed the A83 Rest and be Thankful road that passes through the valley, and considerable investment has been directed towards hazard risk reduction. However, little research has focused on the former glaciation and paraglacial response

The foraminifera of the Gault Clay Formation (Middle and Upper Albian) are reviewed and their biostratigraphy compared to that of the standard ammonite-based zonation and the original bed numbers that are used by most workers on the formation. The change from an aragonitic assemblage in the Lower Gault to an assemblage dominated by agglutinated foraminifera in the Upper Gault is discussed in terms

A new ommatin beetle, Omma davidbatteni sp. nov. (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata) is described in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber from Kachin in northern Myanmar. This is the second species of this Triassic-Recent (and now relict) genus of archaic beetles to be described from amber inclusions. This uncommon species is readily distinguished from recent and fossil congeners by its elongate mandibles

A review of the publications resulting from the celebration meeting held in January 2016 in memory of Dr Chris King, stratigrapher, (micro)palaeontologist, traveller, raconteur, friend and punster. A full listing of Chris King’s publications is given in chronological order.

Late Cretaceous red chalk units of “deep” marine origin were recognised and published from the North Sea Basin almost thirty years ago (King et al., 1989), however it is only now that we are beginning to recognise their oceanographic, depositional and climatic significance. Their stratigraphic occurrence is redefined and an additional red unit is proposed. The palaeoceanographic implications of these

Fossils of trilobites and hyolithids were first identified in the Llanberis Slate of Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda, North Wales, in 1888, and were reviewed in 1950, leading to the assignment of an early Cambrian (Stage 3, series 2) age. Recent collections from the Upper Green Slate Member of the Llanberis Slate include organisms associated with Burgess-Shale-type Konservat Lagerstätten. Despite low - grade

Recent reorganisation of the trilobite collections in the Natural History Museum, London UK, led to the discovery of two drawers of specimens from ‘Arctic America’. These fragmentary specimens had remained unincorporated within the systematic trilobite collections. Original labels identified them as the H.W. Feilden Collection from the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6, led by Sir George Nares with HMS Alert

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

The Harwich Formation in central London is a collection of relatively thin, marginal to fully marine sediments comprising the Swanscombe, Oldhaven and Blackheath members. Their presence in London has long been of concern to engineers and particularly tunnellers, because they vary so much: from glauconitic silt to sandy gravels, and all members may be cemented in places. Where they occur, and which

The Chale Bay type section of the Lower Greensand Group (LGS) Atherfield Clay, Ferruginous Sands and Sandrock formations is characterised by members, bounded by hiatuses, formerly recognised (if not named as such) by Fitton as his ‘groups’ and Casey in defining ammonite zone and sub-zone boundaries. Subsequent work has shown that some of the formations of the LGS are recognised elsewhere on the Isle

The Early Cretaceous (probably Berriasian – Valanginian) Whitchurch Sands Formation of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, English South Midlands, was deposited as coastal-marine and alluvial sediment along the northern edge of the Wessex Basin. The type succession at Whitchurch in Buckinghamshire includes a marine horizon, probably of Berriasian age. Alluvial sediments dominate the formation elsewhere

The present account is a review of the successions in the Albian Gault and Upper Greensand formations, their lithology and their ammonite biostratigraphy, proved at outcrop between Dorset and Buckinghamshire, in the western Weald and that recorded in boreholes in the intervening area. It is concluded that the Wessex and Weald regions formed a single sedimentary basin during the Albian Stage. The lithostratigraphy

A shell bed in the upper part of the Anaipadi Formation of the Trichiopoly Group near the villages of Pilimisai and Koothur in the Cauvery Basin, Tamil Nadu, south India yielded an abundant ammonite fauna assigned to the lower part of the Kossmaticeras (Kossmaticeras) theobaldianum Zone and to the lower Coniacian. The ammonite association of this interval in the Cauvery Basin is dominated by Mesopuzosia

Asteroids from the lower Aptian Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight are described. Two articulated specimens are referred to the extant paxillosid family Pseudarchasteridae and transferred to a living genus, i.e., Paragonaster, P. wightensis (Breton, 1992). Isolated marginal plates are assigned to the widespread Cretaceous astropectinid genus Coulonia, and described as C. caseyi sp. nov. The Cretaceous

Late-magmatic granitic fluids are typically enriched in Si, K and rare lithophile elements, including Be, Li, Sn, W, Rb, Cs, Nb, Ta, REE and U, and are also characterised by volatile components such as OH, F and B. Consequently the resultant pegmatite bodies are very coarse-grained and contain accessory minerals with unusual mineral chemistries. Pegmatites, usually present as veins, can occur as emanations

A small sample of selachian teeth is described from a glauconitic nodule from the Ladder Chine Member, Ferruginous Sands Formation, Lower Greensand Group, late Aptian, Early Cretaceous found near Walpen Chine on the Isle of Wight, UK. The selachian fauna contains the root of an unidentified lamniform shark, and some associated teeth of a synechodontiform shark, here identified as Synechodus tenuis

A remarkably large, derived, metamorphic clast of Palaeozoic aspect weighing approximately 20 kg was recently recovered from a plant debris bed occurring in the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian), fluvial, lacustrine and terrestrial Wessex Formation exposed on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, southern England. It is interpreted as a dropstone transported in tree roots from a source locality on

New belemnite finds from the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian – Hauterivian) of Arctic Canada and North-East Greenland provide insight into the spatial distribution patterns of belemnites at northern high latitudes. The belemnite faunas of both areas can be attributed to the Boreal-Arctic Province of the Boreal Realm. The stratigraphic patchyness of the recorded belemnites makes palaeobiogeographic interpretations

A partial distal left metacarpal IV of a pterodactyloid pterosaur is notable for its size. The specimen, from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Wessex Formation exposed on the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, southern England is identified as an ornithocheirid, perhaps close to the Ornithocheirus, Coloborhynchus, Caulkicephalus, Anhanguera complex. A morphometric analysis suggests an original wing

The first cirripedes from the Portland and Purbeck groups of southern England are described, and referred to two new species, Loriolepas whytei sp. nov and Etcheslepas portlandensis sp. nov. They constitute the first records of cirripedes from the upper Tithonian (uppermost Jurassic) and Berriasian (lowermost Cretaceous) of western Europe. A new family, the Archaeolepadidae, is introduced for the extinct

This study re-examines the type series of the Early Cretaceous freshwater bivalve Unio valdensis Mantell, 1844, in relation to the assignment of the species to the genus Paraheudeana Starobogatov (1970), and the subgenus Pseudunio by Mongin (1961). For the first time, we recognise the type specimens as incomplete lacking critical posterior portions of the shell. We observe that the lectotype, superficially

During the period from 1962 to 1973 Raymond Casey produced several ground-breaking papers on the Upper Jurassic of eastern England. These included the recognition that genera, previously thought to be of Early Cretaceous age, were in fact of latest Jurassic age. This led him to produce new correlations with the latest Jurassic of southern England, to identify the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary within

Planetary atmospheres depend fundamentally upon their geochemical inventory, temperature and the ability of their gravitational field to retain gases. In the case of Earth and other inner planets, early outgassing released mainly carbon dioxide and water vapour. The secondary veneer of comets and meteorites added further volatiles. Photodissociation caused secondary changes, including the production

The Lower Greensand Group on the Isle of Wight in southern England forms the basis for the Aptian ammonite biostratigraphy in western Europe mainly established by the work of Raymond Casey between 1960 and 1980. It thus became a world reference succession, due to many ammonite finds from excellent outcrops along the coastline of the Island exposing the fossiliferous Atherfield Clay and Ferruginous

Historically, engineers frequently viewed the London Clay Formation (LC) as uniform, homogeneous and rather uninteresting. Chris King's seminal work provided a much deeper insight into the characteristics of the LC and how it can be split into divisions, based on the depositional history of the formation and the microfauna present. LC water content profiles were compiled from continuous cores as part

Following the pioneering work of James Hutton in the 18th century, which was largely carried out on Scottish rocks and minerals, it became generally accepted that igneous rocks formed from liquid magmas. The selected 10 sites cover a wide range of magmatic events, rock types and mineral assemblages. In the case of basic and ultrabasic rocks, prolonged cooling and repeated injections of fresh magma

Selsey and Bracklesham Bay, on the Manhood Peninsula of the West Sussex coast, have been well known since the mid-19th Century for their foreshore exposures of Eocene and Quaternary geology, as well as being popular for fossil collecting. The coast has two Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified for their geological importance. Active coastal erosion led to the construction of sea defences in

The wetzelielloid dinocyst genera Wetzeliella and Apectodinium are crucial for dating and correlation of Lower Eocene Sparnacian facies in NW Europe. Previous ill-documented reports of Wetzeliella in one of these facies, the Epernay Formation, Paris Basin, are corroborated by a study of new samples. The findings support current age-interpretations of the Epernay Formation as early-mid Ypresian. Apectodinium

The Chalklands are conspicuous in the landscape of the south-central and south-eastern England GCR region, especially the prominent escarpments of the North and South Downs and the extensive upland of Salisbury Plain. One of the most obvious features of Chalk landscape is the dense distribution of dry valleys which characterise both its dip and scarp slopes. Two groups of dry-valley sites are considered

The first substantial mammal fauna from the UK Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum is described. It consists of 14 species and owes its collection to bulk-sampling and screen-washing techniques. The fauna belongs to European mammal zone PE II, which is recorded from only three other sites, all in northern France. The composition of the fauna is subtly different from that of slightly younger Abbey Wood

Scotland for its small size possesses a more complex geology than anywhere else in the world, consequently the country has a rich mineral legacy. There are around 650 mineral species now known to occur in Scotland; most of these are silicates, but the assemblage also includes oxides, sulphides and sulphates. Most formed by igneous or metamorphic processes. The igneous minerals produced depends on the