Humate-cemented sands (humicretes) are exposed at several locations along the foreshore and in gullies near Cape Flattery, North Queensland, Australia. Three broad types of humate accumulation are recognized: (a) pedogenetic; (b) groundwater; and (c) aquatic. Pedogenetic and groundwater humicretes usually have a grain-supported fabric in which quartz represents > 99% of the framework grains. Hand specimens of humicrete are brittle but disintegrate rapidly in 0.1 N-NaOH. Concentration of humate is considered to have occurred by vertically and laterally migrating groundwater, while induration has probably been caused by irreversible drying of the humic substances during periods of seasonal water-table lowering. Radiocarbon dating of an in situ root embedded in indurated humate near Cape Flattery has indicated a ‘background’ age of > 48000 C–14 years.

Weakly deformed, low grade, Lower Palaeozoic metasediments from central Wales contain abundant stack-like intergrowths of chlorite and white mica that closely resemble stacks described from the Devonian Hunsruckschiefer of West Germany; the Ordovician Martinsburg Slate, New Jersey, U.S.A.; and elsewhere. Several theories have been proposed to explain the origin of such stacks, including a detrital origin; strain-controlled growth of chlorite on a detrital mica nucleus; and strain-controlled intergrowth during metamorphism. None of these satisfactorily explains the central Wales stacks. A detrital origin is precluded by the presence of many stacks with shapes too delicate to have survived transportation, and a lack of hydrodynamic equivalence between the stacks and the clastic host grains. Features inconsistent with strain-controlled growth are constant alignment parallel to bedding but non-systematic orientation with respect to tectonic cleavage, their common occurrence in undeformed rocks, and petrographic evidence that they precede the tectonic cleavage. It is proposed that the stacks formed during diagenesis and low-grade metamorphism, and before the onset of deformation, through mimetic growth on a primary bedding fabric composed of clay minerals.

Fabiania Silvestri, a morphologically distinctive larger foraminifer, is circum-global in distribution and is reported to be almost equally abundant in the three marine Tertiary provinces, Tethyan, Indo-Pacific and Caribbean-American. The genus is reported to range from Upper Palaeocene to the top of the Eocene. During the mid-late Eocene Fabiania seems to have been represented by three species, F. cassis (Oppenheim), F. cubensis (Cole & Bermudez) and F. saipanensis Cole. In the Indian subcontinent it is known only from eastern India, where it is represented by F. cassis and F. saipanensis. F. indica Nagappa is here regarded as a junior synonym of F. saipanensis Cole. F. cassis is reported for the first time from India. In eastern India, Fabiania is found to be restricted to the middle to upper part of the Middle Eocene.

The Precambrian Murchisonfjorden Supergroup of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard, contains approximately 6000 m of folded, but essentially unmetamorphosed, shallow marine sedimentary rocks. The abundant microfossils found through much of the section allow confident biostratigraphic subdivision of the succession and correlation with contemporaneous sequences in East Greenland and Scandinavia.

Diamictite-bearing rocks of the Gotia Group (uppermost in the sequence) contain a depauperate assemblage of acritarchs dominated by Bavlinella Javeolata. A Vendian age of deposition is indicated. Carbonates of the immediately underlying Ryssö Formation contain a wide variety of microfossils including stromatolitic associations of several types, planktonic acritarchs, and, near the top of the formation, vase-shaped heterotrophic protists. The acritarchs, including Chuaria circularis, Kildinella hyperboreica, K. sinica, Trachysphaeridium spp., and others, and the protistan remains indicate a latest Riphean age. The underlying Hunnberg Formation is similarly fossiliferous. A typically Late Riphean acritarch suite is present, and in addition double-walled forms and large (500 μm), thick-walled spheroids bearing club-shaped 10 μm diameter spines are found. Thus, it appears that the entire carbonate sequence of the Roaldtoppen Group was deposited late in Late Riphean time.

The thick detrital succession comprising the lowermost part of the unmetamorphosed Nordaustlandet sequence, the Celsiusberget and Franklinsundet groups, contains fossils at various levels. Although microfossils are often somewhat coalified, identifiable Late Riphean taxa such as Chuaria circularis and Kildinella spp. are present in rocks as low as the middle Westmanbukta Formation. The presence of the distinctive carbonaceous macrofossil Tawuia dalensis in the Kapp Lord Formation permits an age estimate of 850–900 Ma for this formation.

All told, the entire Murchisonfjorden Supergroup of Nordaustlandet appears to have been deposited during the Late Riphean and Vendian intervals. The long-recognized lithostratigraphic parallels between this sequence and the Eleonore Bay and Tillite Groups of East Greenland are complemented by strong biostratigraphic similarities.

Pre-Anglian terrace stages of the proto-Thames system are traced from the present middle Thames area into Essex and south East Anglia. Gravel composition indicates that each of the main terrace stages is associated with an influx of far-travelled material, probably signifying at least three phases of pre-Anglian glaciation in the south Midlands. Gravel composition also indicates the occurrence of major changes during Early and Middle Pleistocene times in the extent of the Thames catchment, and in the disposition of the main drainage lines. The important role of the Goring Gap in the development of the drainage system is noted, and the nature and distribution of Anglian fluvioglacial gravels are described.

Leaf compression fossils are abundant within the lower Cretaceous part of the Fossil Bluff Formation in southern Alexander Island, Antarctica. They occur in lacustrine laminated siltstones with a high volcaniclastic component. During zeolite facies metamorphism of the rocks, breakdown of clay minerals, volcanic glass and calcic plagioclase generated new mineral phases. The growth of these minerals was concentrated within and around leaves: finely disseminated oxide of titanium crystallized within the organic material, a thin film of chlorite was precipitated around leaves and silica, calcite and laumontite grew disruptively between leaf cuticles. Despite relatively low levels of organic maturation the structure of the leaf cuticles was destroyed and the only details which survived were those preserved as impressions in the chorite film.

The interrelationships of dolomite, anhydrite, gypsum and cargneule (a yellow-brown dedolomitised breccia), are discussed with specific reference to the Gran Paradiso region, Western Alps. The dolomite is a highly deformed rock which occurs along the soles of both early and late-Alpine thrusts. Evidence suggests that cargneule formed late in the geological history of the region. It is suggested that dolomite + anhydrite + water acted as an important decollement horizon. Recent exposure to the surface, hydration of anhydrite to gypsum and dedolomitisation resulted in cargneule formation.

The rarity of calcareous green algae (Order Dasycladales, and family Udoteaceae) in apparently suitable Middle Jurassic facies of southern England is summarized. They are well known from Tethyan areas to the south and opportunities for migration and establishment existed then. It is concluded that tolerance for warm but extra-tropical conditions, which exists in some but not all modern representatives of these algae, has developed gradually since Triassic time and was not well established until Cenozoic time. In Middle Jurassic time few species showed this tolerance, hence the very limited occurrences north of the Tethys.

Palaeochannels developed in a terrace of the River Wey are described. Their morphology, relationship with the underlying Folkestone Sands, and the character of associated superficial deposits all suggest that the channels are examples of thermokarst phenomena, probably of Devensian age.

Stream sediment surveys were carried out on an area of about 200 km2 in the Hamash area. Results indicated that Cu anomalies are concentrated near the intersection of deep-seated tectonic zones and a block fault in the northeastern and southwestern parts of the district. Geophysical techniques, drilling and bedrock sampling show that the Cu mineralization is at the surface, and encrustations of secondary Cu minerals correspond mainly to sulphide-bearing quartz veins and hydrothermally altered granitic and volcanic rocks. No deposits of commercial interest have been found. Under arid conditions reconusissance survey along secondary dispersion trains proved to be a successful method of delineating small zones of Cu mineralization.