The lower Palaeozoic rocks of the Southern Uplands of Scotland have been interpreted as an accretionary prism of slivers of oceanic basalt and associated deep sea sediments situated on the northern margin of the lape tus Ocean. Electron microprobe analyses confirm the presence of albite, prehnite, pumpellyite, chlorite, phengite, calcite, hematite and quartz-bearing metamorphic assemblages in basalts and basic-clast greywackes in the prism. The metamorphism is prehnite-pumpellyite facies and inferred to be related to tectonic burial of the various slices of the prism as they were accreted during the closure of the lape tus Ocean.

The paper presents the results of an investigation of the distribution and biology of flies of the family Drosophilidæ in Scotland. Methods of sampling the population are described and notes are given on the breeding of many species in the laboratory. All earlier records of Drosophilidæ in Scotland are brought together for the first time, and the new species, Drosophila silvestris, is described.

Earth history is punctuated by events during which large volumes of predominantly mafic magmas were generated and emplaced by processes that are generally accepted as being, unrelated to ‘normal’ sea-floor spreading and subduction processes. These events form large igneous provinces (LIPs) which are best preserved in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic where they occur as continental and ocean basin flood basalts, giant radiating dyke swarms, volcanic rifted margins, oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges, and seamount chains. The Mesozoic history of Antarctica is no exception in that a number of different igneous provinces were emplaced during the initial break-up and continued disintegration of Gondwana, leading to the isolation of Antarctica in a polar position. The link between the emplacement of the igneous rocks and continental break-up processes remains controversial. The environmental impact of large igneous province formation on the Earth System is equally debated. Large igneous province eruptions are coeval with, and may drive environmental and climatic effects including global warming, oceanic anoxia and/or increased oceanic fertilisation, calcification crises, mass extinction and release of gas hydrates.

This review explores the links between the emplacement of large igneous provinces in Antarctica, the isolation of Antarctica from other Gondwana continents, and possibly related environmental and climatic changes during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic.

Since the Organ of Jacobson was first described in 1811, a large amount of study has been given to its structure, development, and morphology; and as a result of these investigations, we have now a very good idea of the distribution of the organ in the animal kingdom, of its relations in many typical forms, and of its minute anatomy in a few representative types. With the exception, however, of Seydel's work among the Amphibia, very little has been done to the study of the comparative anatomy of the organ, and it is hoped that the present contribution will assist towards a clearer understanding of its comparative anatomy in the Mammalia.

The existence in the Island of Arran of petrified Lepidodendroid trees of Lower Carboniferous Age has been known for nearly seventy years, and yet only very brief and incomplete accounts of these interesting fossils have been published. It is the aim of this paper to provide some additional facts which have a bearing on the past history of these trees, and to furnish an illustrated account of their detailed structure. It is possible from the additional knowledge that this research has placed at our disposal to get a clearer insight into some aspects of the developmental history of these Palæozoic trees.

The potential of igneous quartz for providing a better understanding of magmatic processes is demonstrated by studying late-Hercynian rhyolites and granites from central and western Europe. Cathodoluminescence (CL) reveals growth patterns and alteration structures within igneous quartz reflecting the magma crystallisation history. The relatively stable and blue-dominant CL of zoned phenocrysts is principally related to variations in the Ti concentration, which is a function of the crystallisation temperature. The Al/Ti ratio of igneous quartz increases with progressive magma differentiation, as Ti is more compatible, compared to Al, Li, K, Ge, B, Fe, P during magma evolution. The red-dominant CL of the anhedral groundmass quartz in granite is unstable during electron bombardment and associated with OH- and H2O-bearing lattice defects. Thus, CL properties of quartz are different for rocks formed from H2O-poor and H2O-rich melts. Both groundmass and phenocrysts in granites are rich in alteration structures as a result of interaction with deuteric fluids during cooling, whereas phenocrysts in extrusive rocks do not usually contain such structures. The combined study of trace elements along with the analysis of quartz textures and melt inclusion inventories may reveal detailed PTX-paths of granite magmas. This study shows that quartz is a sensitive indicator for physico-chemical changes during the evolution of silicarich magmas. Common growth textures show a wide variety in quartz phenocrysts in rhyolites and some granites. This paper presents a classification of textures, which formed as a result of heterogeneous intra-granular lattice defects and impurities. The alternation of growth and resorption microtextures reflects stepwise adiabatic and non-adiabatic magma ascent, temporary storage of magma in reservoirs and mixing with more mafic, hotter magma. The anhedral groundmass quartz overgrowing early-magmatic phenocrysts in granites is free of growth zoning.

The propagation of a flood wave through a river system is influenced by a complex process of energy dissipation. This is especially the case when overbank flows are a feature of the flood movement, producing more defined lateral movement of flow and high rates of fluid shear at the main channel/floodplain interface. The present paper concentrates on the physical and numerical modelling of river flows during overbank flow. A general description of the flow behaviour is outlined, including an investigation into the nature of the shear interaction between channel and floodplain. The paper advances a method for determining energy losses for the case of meandering channels with overbank flow and a method of sub-dividing the floodway for stage-discharge prediction. A state-of-the-art study of numerical modelling of flood propagation is outlined, including selected case histories on how the overbank flow situation has been handled to date, as well as comment on the current means of representing energy dissipation relying on calibration of the numerical model against observed field data.

The Cretaceous granitic rocks and associated regional metamorphic rocks in SW Japan were formed by a Cordilleran-type orogeny. Southwest Japan is regarded as a hypothetical cross-section of the upper to middle crust of the Eurasian continental margin in the Cretaceous, comprising (1) high-level granitoids (called San-yo type) and weakly to unmetamorphosed accretionary complexes that are exposed on the back-arc side and (2) low-level (Ryoke type) granitoids with high-grade metamorphites up to migmatitic gneisses on the forearc side. All these granitoids are of the ilmenite series, and predominantly I-type, with a subordinate amount of garnet- or muscovite-bearing varieties in the Ryoke zone, but none of these contains cordierite. These mineralogical variations are likely to depend more on their slightly peraluminous chemistry rather than the pressure differences during crystallisation.

In the eastern part of SW Japan, the granitoids of both levels give K–Ar biotite ages of approximately 65 Ma, whereas the magmatic age of high-level granitoids is approximately 70 Ma, 15 Ma younger than the nearly 85 Ma old lower level granitoids. This implies that the formation of the middle crust started approximately 15 Ma before that of the upper crust. The middle crust material was kept over 500°C for 15–20 Ma after solidification, then it cooled together with the upper crust to 300°C, 6–7 Ma after the formation of the upper crust. The coincidence of cooling history below 500°C of the upper and middle crust may reflect the regional uplift of the crust.

The low-level granitoids have higher 87Sr/86Sr initial ratios than those of high-level granitoids in the middle-western part (Chugoku district), but the relationship appears to be opposite in the eastern part. This may imply that the two plutonic series formed by separate magmatic pulses at an interval of c. 15 Ma, even though they are not independent, but rather part of a larger episode of crustal growth.

Fragmentary remains of a vascular sporophyte from the Rhynie Chert are described as a new genus and species, Trichopherophyton teuchansii. The plant, which is characterised by the possession of unicellular spinous hairs, exarch xylem and laterally attached, marginally dehiscent sporangia, is assigned to the Zosterophyllophytina, but lack of information on the arrangement of sporangia prevents its more precise positioning within the subdivision. Unusual features include the combination of circinate tips to axes with almost terete xylem strands, and the lack of a thick-walled outer cortical zone. Associated axes, lacking spinous hairs, but having papillate or rhizoid-like epidermal emergences, are interpreted as likely rhizomes of Trichopherophyton. Features, such as unicellular spinous hairs, rhizoid-like emergences, circinate tipsand parenchymatous cortex are considered in relation to the functioning and growth of aplant inhabiting an early Devonian wetland.

This is a study of the structure and biology of the lamellibranch Venerupis pullastra (Montagu) from the early larva to the spat stage. The larva is identified, and the functional significance of the changes that occur during metamorphosis from the larva to the spat is considered. Organ development in the spat up to a length of one millimetre is described. The free swimming larva is studied from the point of view of seasonal abundance, length of pelagic period, vertical distribution and diurnal migration. Spatfalls both on artificial and natural bottom are studied, and the results indicate a possible cause for the high mortality in the early stages of marine invertebrates with this type of reproduction.

New collections of Zosterophyllum myretonianum Penhallow have been made at a number of localities in the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Scotland. For the first time, details of the fructification are recorded and incorporated into an emended diagnosis of the species. A comparison with the remaining species of Zosterophyllum indicates that sporangial and stalk characteristics are most important in delimiting Z. myretonianum. Tentative explanations for the wide variation in the overall morphology of the fructifications are put forward.

A new aglaspidid arthropod, Chlupacaris dubia gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Pusgillian (lower Ashgill, Upper Ordovician) Upper Tiouririne Formation near Erfoud, southeastern Morocco. Although disarticulated, careful documenting of the tergites allows a reconstruction of the exoskeleton to be made. Although somewhat trilobite-like in appearance, the lack of facial sutures, a well-defined axis with articulating half-rings and a pygidium clearly prove Chlupacaris gen. nov. is not a trilobite. An interesting feature is the presence of a hypostome in this non-trilobite arthropod. In contrast to other aglaspidids usually considered to be carnivorous, a filter-feeding mode of life is proposed for Chlupacaris gen. nov., based on the strongly vaulted cephalon, subvertical orientation of the hypostome and less strongly vaulted trunk. Chlupacaris gen. nov. is probably most closely related to the atypical aglaspidid Tremaglaspis unite from the Tremadoc (Lower Ordovician) of the U.K., but it can also be tentatively linked to the problematic Lower Cambrian arthropods Kodymirus vagans and Kockurus grandis from the Czech Republic. The relevance and validity of previous definitions and of possibly significant characters used for identifying aglaspidids are evaluated, and as a result, a new combination of characters diagnosing Aglaspidida is proposed. Contrary to previous reports, it is suggested that aglaspidids are probably more closely related to trilobites than they are to chelicerates. This notion may be supported by the shared possession of a mineralised cuticle, a possibly similar number of cephalic appendages, and the presence of a hypostome in some forms, although this last character may alternatively be homoplastic.

The Doularg Formation is defined within the Albany Group (Tappins Complex); the formation consists of the unfossiliferous Fence Member at the base, succeeded by the Gorse Member (formerly the “Albany mudstones with nodular limestones”), the Separation Sandstone and the Jubilation Member, a bedded, calcareous, silty mudstone. The last named has yielded the rich assemblage of trilobites described, representing thirty genera and including one new genus and seven new species—Bronteopsis matutina, Bumastoides? rivulus, Agerina laurentica, Tretaspis eximia, Ampyxina medici, Stiktocybele (gen. nov.) bathytera, Platycalymene metoeca: Nileus is the most common trilobite. The trilobite fauna indicates that the Doularg Formation should be correlated with some part of the Benan Conglomerate, the uppermost formation of the Barr Group to the north of the Stinchar Valley, and is probably of Llandeilo age. The trilobite association is most closely allied to that of the slightly older basal Superstes Mudstone, reflecting the strong ecological control affecting deeper water faunas. The affinity of the Jubilation Member trilobites with those of the middle Table Head Formation (Llanvirn) of western Newfoundland, is evidenced by the presence in both of Nileus, Cybelurus, Peraspis, and Bronteopsis. These are the four most common genera in the Jubilation Member, comprising over half the total trilobite specimens, and provide striking evidence of the longevity of deeper water genera.

There are few of the applications of optical science so universally interesting as that which has for its object the explanation of the colours of natural bodies. Sir Isaac Newton was the first person who ventured to refer to one general principle all the variety of colours which are found in nature; and he has maintained his opinions on this subject with a confidence in their accuracy which seems to have confounded his adversaries: For while his analysis of light, the most perfect of all his labours, exposed him to the most harassing controversies, his theory of natural colours, the least perfect of his speculations, was allowed to pass without examination or censure.

Graptolite biostratigraphy affords a robust and relatively accurate means of correlating Ordovician and Silurian hemipelagite and turbidite sequences and has been used to establish the structural development of the regional thrust belt in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The overall structural pattern has long been recognised: greywackes within individual thrust slices, deposited within a relatively short time-interval, become sequentially younger southwards; each overlies the basal Moffat Shale Group which was deposited over a longer time. However, recent refinement of the graptolite biozonal scheme has allowed the better assessment of along-strike variations within the thrust belt which are here illustrated by two transects; one, based on work in the Rhins of Galloway and the Kirkcudbright areas (SW Southern Uplands), and the other in the Peebles-Hawick area (NE Southern Uplands). The SW transect most closely approximates to the regular pattern wherein a southward-propagating thrust-front incorporated sequentially younger greywacke units. The uniform geometry is interrupted only locally, towards the southern margin of the thrust belt, by a system of back-thrusts producing structural pop-ups. The NE transect departs from this regular model: a northern sector shows the orderly initiation of the thrust belt, but towards the SE a more irregular distribution of the thrust-slice agescan be best explained by outof- sequence movement. This transect also shows more repetitive imbrication of the same biostratigraphic interval than is apparent farther SW. In both transects the fundamental changes in thrustbelt geometry took place from mid-Llandovery times onwards, with a reversion to forward-breaking, in-sequence thrusting at the beginning of the Wenlock. The cause is a matter for speculation, but may be linked withthe accommodation of an obstacle to forward-thrust propagation. However it is recognised that such variationsin thrust geometry are a fundamental feature of most thrust belts and do not require a single regionally significant cause.

With the renewal of activities in Fishery Research, which took place in the lands bordering the North Sea after the War, fresh lines of investigation were introduced. Amongst others, quantitative surveys of the bottom fauna similar to those carried out by Petersen were undertaken by several countries. The southern part of the North Sea was examined by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the results were published by Davis (2, 3). Other work undertaken in the German Bight was published by Hagmeier (6). A small survey was carried out by Petersen (8) in the North Sea off the north-west coast of Denmark. Areas to the north and west of Scotland, as well as the northern half of the North Sea, were surveyed by the Fishery Board for Scotland and a preliminary account published (11). The present paper is, in part, a summary of the results of the survey work carried out by the Fishery Board for Scotland in the northern part of the North Sea during the years 1922-25, supplemented by a subsequent survey of the intertidal areas undertaken privately; in part an analysis of the faunistic divisions of the North Sea based on the distribution of the molluscs, especially lamellibranchs, as recorded in the above papers. So far as the North Sea is concerned, the area covered by the Scottish investigations is bounded on the south approximately by latitude 56° N., and on the east and north by the 200 m. (100 fm.) contour.

The Layos Granite forms elongated massifs within the Toledo Complex of central Spain. It is late-tectonic with respect to the F2 regional phase and simultaneous with the metamorphic peak of the region, which reached a maximum temperature of 800–850°C and pressures of 400–600 MPa. Field studies indicate that this intrusion belongs to the “regional migmatite terrane granite” type. This granite is typically interlayered with sill-like veins and elongated bodies of cordierite/garnet-bearing leucogranites. Enclaves are widespread and comprise restitic types (quartz lumps, biotite, cordierite and sillimanite-rich enclaves) and refractory metamorphic country-rocks including orthogneisses, amphibolites, quartzites, conglomerates and calc-silicate rocks.

These granites vary from quartz-rich tonalites to melamonzogranites and define a S-type trend on a QAP plot. Cordierite and biotite are the mafic phases of the rocks. The particularly high percentage of cordierite (10%–30%) varies inversely with the silica content. Sillimanite is a common accessory mineral, always included in cordierite, suggesting a restitic origin. The mineral chemistry of the Layos Granite is similar to that of the leucogranites and country-rock peraluminous granulites (kinzigites), indicating a close approach to equilibrium. The uniform composition of plagioclase (An25), the high albitic content of the K-feldspar, the continuous variation in the Fe/Mg ratios of the mafic minerals, and the high Ti content of the biotites (2.5–6.5%) suggest a genetic relationship.

Geochemically, the Layos Granite is strongly peraluminous. Normative corundum lies between 4% and 10% and varies inversely with increase in SiO2. The CaO content is typically low (<1.25%) and shows little variation; similarly the LILE show a limited range. On many variation diagrams, linear trends from peraluminous granulites to the Layos Granite and associated leucogranite can be observed. The chemical characteristics argue against an igneous fractionation or fusion mechanism for the diversification of the Layos Granite. A restite unmixing model between a granulitic pole (represented by the granulites of the Toledo Complex) and a minimum melt (leucogranites) could explain the main chemical variation of the Layos Granite. Melting of a pelitic protolith under anhydrous conditions (biotite dehydration melting) could lead to minimum-temperature melt compositions and a strongly peraluminous residuum.

For the most mafic granites (61–63% SiO2), it is estimated that the trapped restite component must have been around 65%. This high proportion of restite is close to the estimated rheological critical melt fraction, but field evidence suggests that this critical value has been exceeded. This high restite component implies high viscosity of the melt which, together with the anhydrous assemblage of the Layos Granite and the associated leucogranites, indicates H2O-undersaturated melting conditions. Under such conditions, the high viscosity magma (crystal-liquid mush) had a restricted movement capacity, leading to the development of parautochthonous plutonic bodies.

With the exception of Pterygotus rhenaniœ Jaekel, for which the new genus Jœkelopterus is proposed, the published accounts of the median abdominal appendages of the Pterygotidæ are inadequate. An examination of the British material was undertaken with a view to improving our knowledge of the opercular anatomy of the family. An account is given of the genital appendages associated with both sexes of Erettopterus bilobus (Salter) and Pterygotus anglicus Agassiz, of the Baltic species Erettopterus osiliensis (Schmidt) and of British forms in which only one type of appendage is known. Attention has been given also to the cheliceræ of the British type species because of the importance which has been attached to this character in classification. The significance of the chelate and genital appendages in the classification and biology of the Pterygotidæ is discussed.

The sculpture of scales and plates of articulated anaspids from the order Birkeniida is described and used to clarify the position of scale taxa previously left in open nomenclature. The dermal skeleton of a well-preserved squamation of Birkenia elegans Traquair, 1898 from the Silurian of Scotland shows a characteristic finely tuberculated sculpture over the whole body. Rhyncholepis parvula Kiær, 1911, Pterygolepis nitida (Kiær, 1911) and Pharyngolepis oblonga Kiær, 1911, from the Silurian of Norway show three other sculpture types. Northern Hemisphere disarticulated scales and plates are described here, supporting a new anaspid taxonomy that includes both articulated and disarticulated material. The diversity, distribution, evolutionary trends and biostratigraphy of anaspids are described in the context of this new taxonomy, which includes six families (two are new) subdivided into 16 genera (10 are new) and 22 species (15 are new).

New taxa among Birkeniidae Traquair, 1898 are Birkenia robusta sp. nov. and Hoburgilepis papillata gen. et sp. nov.. Rhyncholepididae Kiær, 1924 includes Rhyncholepis butriangula sp. nov., Silmalepis erinacea gen. et sp. nov., Vesikulepis funiforma gen. et sp. nov., Maurylepis lacrimans gen. et sp. nov., and the previously described Schidiosteus mustelensis Pander, 1856 and Rytidolepis quenstedtii Pander, 1856. Tahulalepididae fam. nov. is represented by Tahulalepis elongituberculata gen. et sp. nov. and the revised T. kingi (Woodward, 1947). Septentrioniidae fam. nov. contains Septentrionia lancifera gen. et sp. nov., S. mucronata gen. et sp. nov., S. dissimilis gen. et sp. nov., S. seducta gen. et sp. nov., Liivilepis curvata gen. et sp. nov., Spokoinolepis alternans gen. et sp. nov. and Manbrookia asperella gen. et sp. nov. The family level position of Ruhnulepis longicostata gen. et sp. nov. is uncertain. Pterygolepididae Obruchev, 1964 and Pharyngolepididae Kiær, 1924 remain monogeneric.