The Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping belt is located in the middle segment of the Trans-North China Orogen, a Palaeoproterozoic continental collisional belt along which the Eastern and Western blocks amalgamated to form the North China Craton. The belt consists of the medium- to high-grade Hengshan and Fuping gneiss complexes and the intervening low- to medium-grade Wutai granite–greenstone terrane, and most igneous rocks in the belt are calc-alkaline and have affinities to magmatic arcs. Previous tectonic models assumed that the Hengshan and Fuping gneiss assemblages were an older basement to the Wutai supracrustal rocks, but recent studies indicate that the three complexes constitute a single, long-lived Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic magmatic arc where the Wutai Complex represents an upper crustal domain, whereas the Hengshan and Fuping gneisses represent the lower crustal components forming the root of the arc. The earliest arc-related magmatism in the belt occurred at 2560–2520 Ma, marked by the emplacement of the Wutai granitoids, which was followed by arc volcanism at 2530–2515 Ma, forming the Wutai greenstones. Extension driven by widespread arc volcanism led to the development of a back-arc basin or a marginal sea, which divided the belt into the Hengshan–Wutai island arc (Japan-type) and the Fuping relict arc. At 2520–2480 Ma, subduction beneath the Hengshan–Wutai island arc caused partial melting of the lower crust to form the Hengshan tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic (TTG) suites, whereas eastward-directed subduction of the marginal sea led to the reactivation of the Fuping relict arc, where the Fuping tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic suite was emplaced. In the period 2360–2000 Ma, sporadic phases of isolated granitoid magmatism occurred in the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping region, forming 2360 Ma, c. 2250 Ma and 2000–2100 Ma granitoids in the Hengshan Complex, the c. 2100 Ma Wangjiahui and Dawaliang granites in the Wutai Complex, and the 2100–2000 Ma Nanying granitoids in the Fuping Complex. At c. 1920 Ma, the Hengshan–Wutai island arc underwent an extensional event, possibly due to the subduction of an oceanic ridge, leading to the emplacement of pre-tectonic gabbroic dykes that were subsequently metamorphosed, together with their host rocks, to form medium- to high-pressure granulites. At 1880–1820 Ma, the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping arc system was juxtaposed, intensely deformed and metamorphosed during a major and regionally extensive orogenic event, the Lüliang Orogeny, which generated the Trans-North China Orogen through collision of the Eastern and Western blocks. The Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping belt was finally stabilized after emplacement of a mafic dyke swarm at 1780–1750 Ma.

Biostratigraphical ranges and palaeogeographical distribution of mid-Givetian to end-Frasnian odontopleurids are investigated. The discovery of Leonaspis rhenohercynica sp. nov. in mid-Givetian strata extends this genus unexpectedly up to the late Middle Devonian. New material of Radiaspis radiata (Goldfuss, 1843) and the first koneprusiine in Britain, Koneprusia? sp., are described from the famous Lummaton shell-bed, Torquay, Devon. New taxa of Koneprusia, K. serrensis, K. aboussalamae, K. brevispina, and K. sp. A and K. sp. B are defined. Ceratocephala (Leonaspis) harborti Richter & Richter, 1926, is revised and reassigned to Gondwanaspis Feist, 2002. Two new species of Gondwanaspis, G. dracula and G. spinosa, plus three others left in open nomenclature, are described from the late Frasnian of Western Australia. A further species of Gondwanaspis, G. prisca, is described from the early Frasnian of Montagne Noire. Species of Gondwanaspis are shown to possess a number of paedomorphic features. A functional analysis suggests that, unlike other odontopleurids, Gondwanaspis actively fed and rested with the same cephalic orientation. The sole odontopleurid survivors of the severe terminal mid-Givetian biocrisis (‘Taghanic Event’) belong to the koneprusiine Koneprusia in the late Givetian and Frasnian, and, of cryptogenic origin, the acidaspidine Gondwanaspis in the Frasnian. Whereas the former became extinct in the late Frasnian at the Lower Kellwasser Event, the latter disappeared, and with it the entire Odontopleuroidea, at the terminal Frasnian Upper Kellwasser global biocrisis.

The Troodos ophiolite in Cyprus and Baer–Bassit ophiolite in Syria together form part of the Tethyan ophiolite belt. They were generated in a supra-subduction zone setting in Late Cretaceous times. As with many of the ophiolite occurrences in this belt, the sequences are closely associated with tectonic ‘coloured mélange’ zones, which contain, among a variety of lithologies, metre- to kilometre-size blocks of metamorphic rocks. Precise 40Ar–39Ar laser step-heating experiments performed on four amphibolites from SW Cyprus and six from NW Syria, yield plateau ages ranging from 75.7±0.3 Ma to 88.9±0.8 Ma in Cyprus and 71.7±0.5 to 88.4±0.4 Ma in Syria. The older limits of these time spans are coeval with the age of the formation of the associated ophiolites. Unlike other metamorphic sole rocks which seem to form in relatively short time spans, these metamorphic rocks found in Cyprus and Syria are interpreted to have formed in Late Cretaceous times by accretion below the overriding Troodos and Baer–Bassit crust for a period of 15–18 Ma. The metamorphic complexes were exhumed by extension and crustal thinning associated with subduction roll-back and the rotation of the overriding plate until the cessation of subduction in Maastrichtian times. In Cyprus, the exhumed metamorphic complex was incorporated into an accretionary prism constructed primarily of the collapsed Mamonia passive margin sequence intercalated with rocks of the Troodos ophiolite during plate collision in the Maastrichtian. Concomitantly, in Syria, the Baer–Bassit ophiolite and subcreted metamorphic complex were emplaced onto the Arabian passive margin and fragmented into blocks and knockers, forming the Baer–Bassit mélange.

The plutons of Cairnsmoor of Fleet (392±2 Ma) and Criffel-Dalbeattie (397±2 Ma, both mineral isochron ages) comprise two of four major post-tectonic granitic complexes emplaced into the Southern Uplands, an Ordovician–Silurian back-arc and foreland basin complex formed at the northern margin of the Iapetus Suture. To expand the palaeomagnetic record of the Southern Uplands we have studied palaeomagnetism and magnetic fabrics in traverses spanning contacts of these intrusions with host mudrocks. A uniform anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) fabric across the Cairnsmoor of Fleet contact has been enhanced by recrystallization into hornfels near the contact and records a late Acadian regional stress operative during, or soon after, emplacement of the pluton in Middle Devonian times. Magnetization during slow cooling recorded a dual polarity (‘A’) remanence in granite and hornfels with mean direction D/I = 92/−2° (α95 = 6.5°) yielding a palaeopole (Q = 6) at 2°N, 265°E linked to cooling at c. 392 Ma. Subsidiary magnetizations are overprints imparted during Variscan tectonism (‘B’, D/I = 194/6°) and Jurassic rifting within the adjoining Irish Sea Basin (‘C’, c. 160–140 Ma, D/I = 172/−52°). The Criffel-Dalbeattie pluton has more complex AMS fabrics recording both deformation and emplacement effects. Hematite of secondary hydrothermal origin is a significant feature of the rock magnetic record in the aureole, which is otherwise dominated by paramagnetism. The granodiorite is more strongly magnetized than the country rocks, accounting for a positive aeromagnetic anomaly. A fairly dispersed dual polarity remanence (mean D/I = 115/55°, α95 = 18°) in granodiorite and late tectonic porphyrite dykes is probably the oldest magnetization preserved in this pluton because it correlates with an excursion of Britain into southerly palaeolatitudes at c. 410 Ma and indicates an Early Devonian emplacement age. The palaeofield at c. 397 Ma, the currently accepted isotopic age, is recorded by a minority overprinted remanence (mean D/I = 272/2°, α95 = 12°) similar to the record in the Cairnsmoor of Fleet pluton and granites from the adjoining Lake District terrane. Granite complexes of the Southern Uplands Block collectively record regional rotation and excursion of Britain into southerly latitudes between c. 410 and 390 Ma. Comparable Silurian–Devonian palaeomagnetic poles identify common apparent polar wander (APW) in paratectonic and orthotectonic terranes from the Variscan Front in the south to the Laurentian foreland in the north following climactic Acadian deformation. APW between 430 and 390 Ma embracing the (post-closure) history of the Caledonian orogen is a loop executed at rates much higher than typical rates of plate motion and appears to record a component of true polar wander. The ∼110° arc length is identical to polar shift identified between mid-Silurian and Lower–Middle Devonian poles from Gondwana. The two paths superimpose to show that the western margin of Gondwana was in proximity to the SE margin of Laurentia during Acadian deformation in Early–Middle Devonian times and remote from the Caledonides; the residual Rheic Ocean subsequently closed by a combination of pivotal and left lateral strike-slip motions.

The Qinling–Dabie orogen in central China is one of the major orogenic belts in East Asia. In the eastern Dabie–Sulu region, mafic lamprophyres show the enriched signatures of old sub-continental lithospheric mantle. However, little is known about the mafic igneous rocks and their lithospheric mantle sources in the western Qinling Range. New 40Ar–39Ar age dating, major- and trace-element data, and isotopic analyses of Qinling lamprophyres reveal their differences from the Dabie Sulu lamprophyres. Biotite 40Ar–39Ar dating yielded a plateau age of 219±2 Ma, identical to the ages of rapakivi-textured granitoids in the area. The association of lamprophyre dykes and rapakivi-textured granitoids indicates that the Qinling region was a post-collisional setting at c. 220 Ma. The Qinling lamprophyres are calc-alkaline, and rich in large ion lithophile elements (e.g. Ba, K), but depleted in Nb, Ta and Ti. They show highly fractionated REE patterns with LaN>100 and HREE <10 times chondrite abundances. εNd (219 Ma) values range from −0.5 to −3.3 and initial Sr isotope values from 0.7036 to 0.7058. These features suggest generation of the lamprophyre by partial melting of a metasomatized, garnet peridotite mantle source. The Qinling lamprophyres are distinct from the Dabie–Sulu lamprophyres in emplacement age (c. 135 Ma for Dabie–Sulu) and isotopic composition, suggesting that the nature of the lithospheric mantle and geodynamic evolution of the Qinling region contrasts with that of the Dabie–Sulu region.

The metamorphic sole rocks observed between the Pozantı–Karsantı ophiolite and the melange unit are located on the eastern part of the Tauride carbonate platform. They consist of ortho-amphibolites at the top and metasedimentary lithologies at the base. Amphibolites from the metamorphic sole rocks are represented by OIB, MORB and IAT based on their major, trace and REE compositions. The isolated dolerite dykes intrude both the metamorphic sole rocks and the ophiolitic unit at different structural levels. The dolerite dykes cutting the metamorphic sole rocks are enriched in LILE and depleted in HFSE. Enrichment in LILE such as Th, relative to HFSE, is indicative of the presence of a subduction component. Flat-lying REE patterns of the dolerite dykes also confirm an IAT source. Pyroxenite and albitite dykes also cut the metamorphic sole rocks. REE patterns of pyroxenite dykes show prominent LREE enrichment, similar to that observed in within-plate alkaline basalts. The alkaline isolated pyroxenite dykes were probably the result of late-stage magmatism fed by melts that originated from an OIB source, shortly before the emplacement of the Pozantı–Karsantı ophiolite onto the Tauride carbonate platform. A hydrothermal alteration stage is characterized by albitite formation in the joints of the metamorphic sole rocks and by secondary mineralization along the contact zones of dolerite dykes. Mineral parageneses in the metamorphic sole rocks exhibit amphibolite and greenschist-facies assemblages. Geothermobarometric studies based on a newly recognized mineral assemblage (e.g. kyanite) and chemical compositions of minerals in the metamorphic sole rocks indicate that the metamorphic temperature during the metamorphism was 570–580°C and the pressure was around 5–6 kbar.

Continental basalts ranging in age from 16.5 to 19.08 Ma crop out throughout the northern part of the Arabian plate. The basalts have distinctive petrographic characteristics such as rounded and skeletal olivine phenocrysts with abundant melt inclusions, implying the mixing of two distinct magmas. All of the analysed basalts are tholeiitic in composition. The presence of quartz xenocrysts with clinopyroxene rims in some samples indicates that crustal assimilation was probably an important process during magma ascent to the surface, and low Mg number and high SiO2 contents of the basalts clearly show that they have experienced fractional crystallization as well as crustal contamination. Variations of the major and trace elements versus MgO show that olivine+clinopyroxene+plagioclase were the main fractionating minerals. In terms of incompatible trace elements, the basalts have OIB-like signatures with a slight depletion at Nb–Ta on primitive-mantle-normalized diagrams. The basalts have slightly LREE enriched patterns with La/YbN = 5.5 to 6.7. La/Nb ratios are close to unity, suggesting the melts may have originated in the asthenospheric mantle. Partial melting modelling based on REE data imply that the melts were not produced from a single mantle source depth, which is either purely a spinel- or garnet-peridotite end member. The samples lie on a binary mixing line between low-degree melts (<5%) from garnet-peridotite and higher-degree melts (>10%) from spinel-peridotite sources on a plot of La/Yb v. Dy/Yb, requiring interaction of melts derived from both garnet- and spinel-peridotite fields. Melts originating from both sources were initially tapped by distinct magma chambers, which subsequently hybridized into a single flow. Hybridized magma ascended to the surface along Neogene strike-slip faults, which are linked to the Dead Sea Fault Zone.

In one of the higher nappes of the Caledonides of Troms, northern Norway, rare thin dykes of calcite marble lie subparallel to the axial surfaces of folds in multilayered marble beds. The dykes emanate from pure calcite marble layers mostly in or close to the hinge zones of these flat-lying, tight to sub-isoclinal, F3 folds. In many cases, they appear to penetrate along the axial surfaces of these same folds, and there is an up to 10° angular disparity between dyke orientation and axial surfaces. The dykes are considered to have originated, and been expelled, from parent calcite marble layers either at or shortly after the peak of amphibolite-facies metamorphism between the D2 and D3 deformation phases of the Scandian orogeny. The dykes display a dyke-parallel, dark grey to white, colour banding, the origin of which is uncertain at present. In thin-section, an equigranular texture is dominated by 2–3 mm, equant, unstrained, calcite grains with straight boundaries and low-T twin lamellae, denoting a late-stage recrystallization. A weak, oblique, calcite grain-shape orientation fabric curves into a dyke-parallel alignment along the finer-grained margins, reflecting the simple-shear deformation imposed on the host rock. Regarding the initiation of these marble dykes, it seems likely that a combination of P–T conditions and possibly partial melting processes was conducive to generating extreme ductility/superplasticity, at least locally, and that this led to the sudden expulsion of a partially molten carbonate aggregate which had momentarily attained a critical pressure and intruded preferentially along available, transient fractures prior to the imposition of the D3 simple-shear regime.