Mapping of striae trends, macro-scale erosion forms, drumlins, morainic ridges, eskers, till fabric and boulder fans has facilitated reconstruction of glacial dynamics in terms of ice streams, marginal ice lobes and interlobate zones. Data were recorded in a computerised geographical information system (GIS).

Data on oriented glaciogenic elements are compared with the evolving patterns of glacial flow. The oldest flow occurred at a distance of several hundred kilometres inside the ice margin, while the later flows were dependent on the dynamics of the ice streams and fan-shaped ice lobes. A model is developed for the zonation of subglacial processes such as erosion, deposition and till deformation beneath the ice sheet. Most of the glacial forms, as well as lower till, were generated in a zone of basal melting and fast ice flow which existed some hundred kilometres from the receding margin and was associated with the formation of ice streams. These results are consistent with recent reconstructions of basal hydrology using mathematical models.

Ice streams were important for deglaciation dynamics. In the course of deglaciation, decreased shear stress on the water-saturated substratum resulted in ice-bed uncoupling which lowered the profile and accelerated flow in the ice streams. This did not happen in interstream areas as reflected by the glacial geomorphology typical of inactive ice.

The late Carboniferous quartz dolerite suite of Scotland consists mainly of quartz tholeiites, with subordinate olivine tholeiites and tholeiitic andesites. The low pressure evolution of the magmas was controlled by fractionation of olivine–plagioclase–pyroxene–oxides assemblages from more magnesian compositions and plagioclase–pyroxene–oxides–apatite removal from intermediate compositions. A higher pressure stage dominated by olivine fractionation is suggested by the presence of olivine nodules in a magnesian basalt dyke from Fife.

The suite is of high-Fe-Ti type, closely comparable to certain basalts erupted in areas of active lithospheric spreading or “hot spots”, such as Iceland and Hawaii. The ppO2 can be inferred to have been rather higher in the Scottish rocks than in comparative suites, promoting earlier separation of Fe-Ti oxides, with the consequent effects on trace element distribution.

Apart from varying degrees of fractionation, chemical variations in the dykes are of three types: rather minor variations along individual dykes, variations across certain thicker dykes, and minor and trace element variations reflecting chemical heterogeneities in the mantle sources. The dykes and sills are inferred to have been fed from a plexus of small, partly independent, magma reservoirs.

New trace element data on tholeiitic lavas from the Oslo Rift confirm recently revived suggestions that the Scottish and northern English quartz dolerites are part of a larger province extending into Scandinavia.

The paper provides the first detailed geological description of a portion of the Grampian Highlands between Glen Roy in the west and the Monadhliath Mountains in the east. Moinian metasediments comprising thick granulites (Eilde Flags = Central Highland Psammitic Group) followed by a variable series of pelites and impersistent quartzites (Monadhliath Schists = Transition Group) are succeeded by Dalradian Limestone (Kinlochlaggan or Ballachulish Limestone = Basal Calcareous Group). The Monadhliath Schists are shown to be stratigraphically equivalent to those of Lochaber below the Ballachulish Limestone.

Structurally the area consists of north-easterly anticlines and synclines which are generally isoclinal and often overturned. Many formational junctions are clearly stratigraphical, but the point is discussed whether tectonic contacts (slides) may also be present. Most of the metasediments are of garnet grade, but in the east there is a poorly-developed kyanite zone, and a well-developed sillimanite zone. The high-grade zones are related to a major migmatite and pegmatite belt (the Strathspey Complex); another pegmatite belt occurs farther west around Loch Laggan. Post-tectonic granite, quartz-diorite, diorite and appinite intrusions are also present. The district is traversed by several important north-easterly faults which are later than both the metasediments and the intrusions.

Eurypterids of the Superfamily Stylonuroidea Diener 1924 sensu Størmer (1974, 373) from the Pentland Hills, Midlothian, are redescribed and the evidence which these forms may give concerning the life environment of the Gutterford Burn Eurypterid Bed (Upper Llandovery), from which most of them have been obtained, is considered. Five species are recognised. Parastylonurus ornatus (Laurie) is redescribed with special reference to the organs of locomotion and reproduction. A new form from the Gutterford Burn is described as Parastylonurus hendersoni sp. nov. Stylonurus macrophthalmus Laurie is designated the type species of the new genus Hardieopterus and Stylonurus knoxae Lamont as the type species of the new genus Lamontopterus. The unique holotype of Lamontopterus knoxae is of morphological interest in showing evidence of the gut.

Stylonuroids from other Scottish Silurian localities are also considered. Two new species, Brachyopterella ritchiei sp. nov. from Seggholm and Hardieopterus (?) lanarki sp. nov. from the Logan Water are described. Stylonurella spinipes (Page) is redescribed and this species is reported for the first time from Seggholm.

The new information provided by this study has raised a number of problems of classification and the criteria upon which eurypterids are classified, and particularly those applied to the stylonuroid eurypterids, are re-assessed and a new classification of the Stylonuroidea proposed. This has required the description of new taxa; a new family, the Parastylonuridae, is proposed to accommodate Parastylonurus, Hardieopterus and probably Lamontopterus which share a unique combination of characters of the prosomal appendages and metastoma. A new genus, Kiaeropterus, is described to accommodate certain species previously assigned to Stylonurella but displaced from that genus as now emended.

A reconstruction of Parastylonurus ornatus in the walking position is attempted and has resulted in the recognition of a new generation of problems related to the functional morphology of these animals. Criteria which may appropriately be used in deciding the manner in which they walked and the posture which they adopted when doing so, are discussed. It is suggested that, in response to certain anatomical and physiological constraints which otherwise would have rendered the animals unstable in the walking position, the post-abdomen and telson have been specialised as hydrodynamic structures for monitoring water movements and vectoring the animal for maximum walking efficiency. The significance of this hypothesis is discussed in relation to the functional morphology and evolution of other members of the Stylonuroidea.

The paper is concerned with one of the marginal parts of the Laxfordian complex of the Lewisian of north-western Scotland where the older Scourian complex (c. 2500 million years) was reactivated during the Laxfordian orogeny (c. 1600 million years). The effects of Laxfordian deformation are discussed with reference to the distortion of Scourian structures and post-Scourian dolerite dykes and to the orientation of newly-developed structures. The arrangement of structures N.E. of the Laxfordian metamorphic front is thought to result from rotation of pre-existing planar elements during compression on north-east-south-west lines, without the development of very large folds. The connection between the style and arrangement of Laxfordian structures and the metamorphic state of the rocks at the time of deformation is illustrated with reference to both local and regional variations, and some implications of the regional changes in the structural pattern are discussed.

The top 9 m of Lower Hartfell Shale has been collected in 10 cm samples through a continuous sequence on the North Cliff at Dob's Linn. The boundary between the Dicranograptus clingani and Pleurograptus linearis zones is denned for the first time in a measured section, 5.0 m below the top of the Lower Hartfell Shale, with the excavation of the North Cliff proposed as stratotype. The late D. clingani Zone is characterised by Dicranograptus ramosus?, Dicellograptus moffatensis, D. flexuosus [= D. forchhammeri], Climacograptus dorotheus, Glyptograptus daviesi sp. nov., Diplograptus? pilatus sp. nov., Neurograptus margaritatus and Corynoides calicularis. The P. linearis Zone is characterised by Pleurograptus linearis linearis, Amphigraptus divergens divergens, Leptograptus capillaris, Dicellograptus elegans elegans, D. pumilis, D. carruthersi and Climacograptus tubuliferus. A range chart is provided and an attempt is made at a revised correlation of the Scottish succession with coeval zonal sequences in North America and Australia. Twenty-one taxa are described including the two new species noted above.

One-dimensional modelling of the thermal history of a sialic crust thickened by multiple overstack thrusting of upper crustal material shows that anatexis is likely. Both the uplift rate and the length of the incubation period between end of tectonism and start of uplift are important controls on the amount and temperature of the melt. Heat of fusion does not significantly affect the long-term thermal structure of the crust if the melt is not extracted because only a small fraction of conductive heat is converted to latent heat, though short-term thermal effects of latent heat can be locally important.

Model results show that commonly <15% of mantle heat flux is converted to latent heat; even during peak melting in the most productive models, less than half of incremental mantle flux is converted. The results have obvious implications on the acceptability of proposed heat sources for crustal anatexis. Fusion could retard crustal temperature rise by nearly 100°C, but the system would recover except for situations of very rapid uplift. Understanding of the thermal evolution of a burial-uplift system requires knowledge not only of the timing of anatexis but of the pooling and movement of the magma, as well as the duration and nature of the incubation period; we are poorly equipped to measure these events. The model predicts that the characteristic time for anatexis in a thickened sialic crust is several tens of millions of years, comparable to the time lapse between orogenies; in making geological interpretations of magmatism, this time lag must be considered.

A new geological map of the Early Devonian Rhynie Basin has been produced by traditional methods supplemented by trenching to bedrock and a ground magnetic survey. This shows that the basin margins are mostly fault-controlled and three trends are recognised: NE–SW, NNE–SSW and N–S. Three sets of open folds are distinguished with axial traces trending NE–SW, E–W and roughly NW–SE. The faults defining the basin margin and the folding may be related to basin formation within a regional strike-slip system of Early Devonian age.

The stratigraphic succession comprises three mappable units: a lower mixed unit of sandstones, shales, conglomerates and andesitic lava (>700 m), a middle unit of laminated grey shale and siltstone (>300 m); and an upper unit of laminated sandstones and shales (>300 m). These correlate with the Tillybrachty Sandstone and Quarry Hill Sandstone Formations (lower unit), and the Dryden Flags Formation (middle and upper units).

Small areas containing abundant chert float found outside the Rhynie SSSI may represent the surface expression of chert pods within the middle unit of laminated grey shale and siltstone, which also hosts the Rhynie cherts. The Windyfield cherts occur within the upper unit. No further centres of hydrothermal activity have been found in the northern half of the basin

A new fossil elasmobranch from the Lower Carboniferous Oil Shale groups (Viséan) of the Edinburgh area shows a mosaic of characters typical of at least two groups of early sharks. Its most distinctive feature is the small bicuspid teeth of “Diplodus” type. This, together with the long dorsal fin and the structure of the single, shallowly inserted dorsal spine, form a suite of characters previously considered unique to late Palaeozoic xenacanth sharks. Other features, such as the large equilobate tail and the structure of the pectoral fins, may have been retained from an ancestor of a more typical Palaeozoic elasmobranch appearance found in anacanthous and ctenacanth sharks. It is suggested that the xenacanths evolved from an ancestor within the anacanth-ctenacanth assemblage early in Carboniferous times and became adapted to a freshwater environment. This ancestor probably possessed a complex dermal skeleton including growing scales with both thickened and thin concave bases.

The fauna of the fish-bearing nodules amongst which this shark has been found is interpretedas being lagoonal in origin. The shark was probably a medium sized (c. 0·75–2·0 m lng)predator inhabiting the surface waters of the lagoon.

Post-Variscan magmatism in SW England involved the synchronous emplacement of basaltic and potassic lavas, minette dykes and the Cornubian granite batholith at c. 290 Ma. The basaltic and potassic rocks have high contents of Ni and Cr, which suggest that both are not excessively fractionated. The basaltic lavas are moderately enriched in LREE and LIL elements relative to HREE, whereas the chemically-varied potassic lavas are more strongly enriched in LREE and LIL elements, with notable depletions in Nb, Ta and Ti relative to LREE. These features are consistent with the view that these rocks are subduction-related. Possibly the potassic rocks were derived from an ultimate source in lithosphere subducted or downthrust during the Variscan orogeny. The source of the basaltic rocks was probably in the asthenosphere. The minette dykes are chemically similar to the potassic lavas, suggesting that they are genetically related. Most dykes occur in a zone up to 25 km wide around the margin of the granite batholith, in a “shadow-zone” relationship. The granite batholith (c. 48,000 km3) is moderately enriched in Th and HFS elements, but is strongly enriched in Rb. Rb-Th relationships indicate an origin for the granite by fractionation from potassic magma in addition to melting of crust.

Following the discovery of well-preserved fossil plants at Weak Law, North Berwick (Gordon, 1935, p. 280), a search of all the volcanic ashes in the neighbourhood was undertaken and special attention was given to those localities from which plant-remains had been recorded in the past. Isolated specimens had been from time to time discovered, but were usually of an unsatisfactory character—mostly fragments of charred wood such as frequently occur in volcanic ashes. More satisfactory specimens were found by Mr James Whitecross of North Berwick, and were recorded by the late Mr T. Cuthbert Day (Day, 1928, p. 48), from a thin bed of limestone in the ashes of Gin Head, Tantallon, and elsewhere in the vicinity.

The wide range of organs of respiration (book-gills, book-lungs, sieve- and tube-tracheae), reproduction, sensory perception, etc., among the chelicerates indicates that the major groups made the transition to land life independently. The fossil record is patchy for most chelicerate groups, certain intervals (e.g. Westphalian) being particularly rich in chelicerate bearing Lagerstatten while in others (e.g. Mesozoic) they are sparse. Due, apparently, to their unusual hyaline exocuticle, scorpions are better preserved than other arthropods, and show a fairly continuous record from fully aquatic forms in the Silurian, to both aquatic and terrestrial faunas in the Carboniferous. In particular, new and well-preserved material of the earliest demonstrably terrestrial scorpions from the Lower Carboniferous of East Kirkton, West Lothian, suggests that book-lungs, at least in the scorpions, developed directly from book-gills by suturing of the covering plate (Blattfuss of the related eurypterids) to leave stigmata for diffusion of air. This evidence supports the ideas of early authors that the scorpion mesosomal ‘sternites’ are fused plates, contra Kjellesvig-Waering (1986) who envisaged the plates being lost to reveal true sternites beneath. The fossil evidence also indicates that by the Triassic at least two scorpion lineages had evolved intra-‘sternite’ stigmata.

The two new species of Osmundites described in this paper are based upon two fossils from the Jurassic rocks near Gore, Otago district, New Zealand. The one was discovered by Mr Robert Dunlop, and the other by Mr Robert Gibb. Both specimens eventually came into the possession of Mr Dunlop, who generously handed them over to the authors for investigation, with full permission to have them cut for microscopical examination, and to whom we take this opportunity of expressing our indebtedness.

The dinosaur record of the Santa Maria beds of Rio Grande do Sul (Mid–Late Triassic; south Brazil) includes the herrerasaur Staurikosaurus pricei, and two basal members of the sauropodomorph lineage: Saturnalia tupiniquim and Unaysaurus tolentinoi. The most enigmatic of the saurischian taxa is, however, Guaibasaurus candelariensis, previously regarded as either a basal theropod or a basal sauropodomorph. This study provides a detailed anatomical revision of all specimens originally referred to G. candelariensis by Bonaparte and co-authors, including its type-series and a more recently excavated partial postcranium. Although coming from different sites, these specimens share a unique combination of traits, and at least one possible autapomorphic feature of the pelvis, which support the inclusivity and uniqueness of the species. G. candelariensis was a medium-sized (nearly 2 m long) biped with an intriguing mix of plesiomorphic and derived (eusaurischian/theropod) features. Phylogenetic studies reveal weak support for the nesting of G. candelariensis within Theropoda, but this affinity is bolstered by various traits it shares with neotheropods. The Norian age of G. candelariensis corroborates previous studies that suggest the continuous radiation of more basal dinosauromorphs until the end of the Triassic, after the appearance of the three main dinosaur clades.

Twenty-eight specimens of the seed genus Dolichosperma have been examined. Fourteen are assigned to D. sexangulatum Long; these possess six or seven integumental lobes which extend apically as free tentacles equal in length to the seed body except when damaged or broken off. Fourteen other specimens are named D. pentagonum sp. nov. These are smaller and usually have five integumental lobes (less commonly six or seven). Long apical tentacles have not been seen in this species.

Evidence is adduced that Anasperma burnense Long is the mature prothallial seed developed from the ovule Eurystoma trigona Long.

Eurystoma angulare Long sometimes possesses five integumental lobes and the free apical lobes vary in length.

Compressed megaspores macerated from cupules of Stamnostoma huttonense Long sometimes have three abortive spores in a compact group at the apex.

Ovules of Eccroustosperma langtonense Long were borne in small bunches (probably pendent) on short pedicels; one specimen of this seed shows three well-developed separate abortive spores around the apex of the functional megaspore.

The cupule of Calathospermum fimbriatum Barnard shows a structure suggesting that it may have evolved from a pair of cupules. Twelve to fourteen ovules were sometimes formed in the entire cupule though most of these were probably abortive.

Some possible seed embryos are described and discussed, and an outline classification of seeds in the order Lagenostomales is proposed.

Granites of the Batholith of Central Patagonia were emplaced into late Precambrian metamorphic basement rocks and Palaeozoic orthogneisses (here dated by Rb–Sr whole-rock errorchrons at 346 ±35 Ma and 267 ±27 Ma), and are in fault-contact with younger volcanic rocks, mostly andesites. Two main suites of granites are recognised: both are much younger than their previously-supposed Late Palaeozoic age. The Gastre Suite is composed predominantly of hornblende-biotite granodiorite and monzogranite, often slightly foliated, and has yielded a Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron age of 220 ±3 Ma. The Lipetrén Suite includes biotite monzogranite and leucogranite, grading into quartz-feldspar porphyries and felsites, and has been dated at 208 ±1 Ma. A minor granodioritic unit yields an apparently Middle Jurassic age of 172 ±15 Ma. Textural evidence and hornblende geobarometry confirm that these are high-level sub-volcanic intrusions. Metaluminous compositions are common in the Gastre Suite, but are subordinate to highly siliceous (>70% SiO2) and peraluminous varieties in the Lipetrén Suite. Despite this compositional bias, the granites are almost entirely calcalkaline and I-type, and have volcanic-arc rather than intraplate or collisional trace element characteristics. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0·706 and –2·5 are also relatively primitive and are thought to indicate a juvenile crustal contribution (Nd “depleted mantle” model ages are less than 1,000 Ma).

The Triassic “Gondwana” magmatic episode is thus not an expression of Permo-Triassic collision of an allochthonous Patagonian terrane with the rest of southern S America, but may be related to the initial stages of supercontinent rifting.

The stratigraphy, classification and correlation of the marine strata in the Dinantian (Lower Carboniferous) succession of central Scotland are discussed. Correlations of eight principal marine bands in the upper part of the sequence are proposed and four Hosie limestones are recognised in Fife. The marine macrofossils are listed and their vertical and lateral distribution discussed. Biofacies maps of the main marine faunas are presented, which indicate an eastern origin for the marine transgressions and suggest the existence of a river entering the region to the N of Glasgow. Observations are made on the range of host-sediments in which the most commonly occurring genera are found and palaeoecological interpretations are made concerning the main components of the faunas. Some evidence is given to suggest that some elements of the faunas migrated into the region from the E. The palaeogeography is discussed and a correlation is outlined between epifaunal forms at some horizons and areas of less subsidence in the general regional pattern of differential subsidence.

Field, petrographic and geochemical evidence from the K-feldspar megacrystic Kameruka pluton, Lachlan Fold Belt, southeastern Australia, suggests that complex, multicomponent, mafic microgranular enclaves (MME) are produced by two-stage hybridisation processes. Stage 1 mixing occurs in composite dykes below the pluton, as mafic and silicic melts ascend through shared conduits. Pillows formed in these conduits are homogeneous, fine-to medium-grained stage 1 MME, which typically range from basaltic to granitic compositions that plot as a sublinear array on Harker diagrams. Stage 2 hybridisation occurs in the magma chamber when the composite dykes mix with the resident magma as synplutonic dykes. The stage 2 hybrids also form linear chemical arrays and range from basaltic to granodioritic compositions, the latter resembling the more mafic phases of the pluton. Stage 2 MME are distinguished from stage 1 types by the presence of K-feldspar xenocrysts and a more heterogeneous nature: they commonly contain stage 1 enclaves. Subsequent disaggregation and dispersal of stage 2 hybrid synplutonic dykes within the magma chamber produces a diverse array of multi-component MME.

Field evidence for conduit mixing is consistent with published analogue experimental studies, which show that hybrid thermo-mechanical boundary layers (TMBL) develop between mafic and silicic liquids in conduits. A mechanical mixing model is developed, suggesting that the TMBL expands and interacts with the adjacent contrasting melts during flow, producing an increasing compositional range of hybrids with time that are mafic in the axial zone, grading to felsic in the peripheral zones in the conduit. Declining flow rates in the dyke and cooling of the TMBL zones produce a pillowing sequence progressing from mafic to felsic, which explains the general observation of more MME in more silicic hosts.

The property of granitic magmas to undergo transient brittle failure in seismic regimes allows analogies with fractured solids to be drawn. The fracture network in granitic magmas consists of through-going ‘backbone’ mafic and silicic ± composite dykes, and smaller ‘dangling’ granitic dykes locally generated in the magma chamber. Stage 1 hybrids form in composite backbone dykes and stage 2 hybrids form where they intersect dangling dykes in the magma chamber. With subsequent shear stress recovery, the host magma chamber reverts to a visco-plastic material capable of flow, resulting in disaggregation and dispersal of these complex, hybrid synplutonic dykes, and a vast array of double and multicomponent enclaves potentially develop in the pluton.

The stratigraphy of the Old Red Sandstone between Latheron and Brough in north-eastern Caithness has been revised. Stratigraphical subdivision in this area is primarily based on variations in lithology but is supported by the recognition of distinct faunal assemblages. The terms Wick Flagstone and Thurso Flagstone are discarded both as Group and Formation names and in their place type sequences different from those given by the Survey are proposed on the basis of the more continuous exposure seen between Ellens Goe and Latheron in eastern Caithness and in the Ham/Scarfskerry area of northern Caithness. The revision has been facilitated by an analysis of the structure of the area which suggests that a variable c. east-west compression has been the dominant controlling factor in the development of the structure of Caithness.

As a result of the revision the position of the Achanarras Fish Bed is now clear. The Passage Beds Group is no longer considered a meaningful subdivision as it is partly overlain by and partly overlies this Fish Bed. The John o' Groats Sandstone Group is thought to probably overlie the Caithness Flagstones conformably.

The following major stratigraphical subdivisions are recognised:

D. John o' Groats Sandstone Group.

C. Upper Caithness Flagstone Group

(c) Mey Subgroup

(b) Ham-Scarfskerry Subgroup

(a) Latheron Subgroup.

B. Lower Caithness Flagstone Group (position of Achanarras Fish Bed)

(d) Robbery Head Subgroup

(c) Lybster Subgroup

(b) Hillhead Red Bed Subgroup

(a) Clyth Subgroup.

A. Sarclet Group.

A typographical device is used for formal description of formations and groups whose boundaries are truncated by faults.

It is well known that there are two distinct horizons in the Caledonian Lower Old Red Sandstone which contain abundant plant-remains (Evans, 1929). At the lower horizon of the Carmyllie and Cairnconnan Beds the flora consists, so far as is clearly known, of Pachytheca, Nematophyton, Parka, and one vascular plant, Zosterophyllum myretonianum (Lang, 1927). In certain greenish-grey flags and sandstones of the Strathmore Beds near the summit of the stratigraphical succession fragmentary plant-remains are abundant along a line stretching from Rosemount, south of Blairgowrie, through Murthly, Glenalmond, Callander, and Balloch, to near Brodick in Arran. From these beds a small but quite distinct assemblage of fossil plants is known. Pachytheca is clearly recorded. The well-defined remains of vascular plants have so far all been referred to Arthrostigma gracile, Dawson, and Psilophyton princeps, Dawson. References to Psilophyton robustius occur, but there is no evidence that the type of plant distinguished from Gaspé under that name has been found in the Strathmore Beds.