Although micromorphological terminology has been evolving since 1960, there have been few attempts to create a systematic approach to the description of thin-sections which would serve as a guiding tool for inexperienced researchers, students, and all new to the field of micromorphology. In this paper we present a novel, decision tree based systematic approach for thin-section description. This new approach attempts to unify micromorphological descriptions of Quaternary deposits, regardless of the character of the deposit and the purpose of the analysis.

In this research project, named ‘Hidden Ice Worlds’, the micromorphology of an 8 m thick sequence of periglacially disturbed deposits from the Royal Oak Pit, Danbury hill, Essex, UK is described. This sequence is situated on the eastern side of Danbury hill, at c. 50 m OD. Based on micromorphological analyses, a new hypothesis for the evolution of this sequence is presented. Multiple phases of physical reworking associated with freezing and thawing of the deposit, subsequent to Elsterian (Anglian) glaciation (480-420 ka BP) is proposed as the main process responsible for the evolution of the sequence. As periglacially derived deposits are usually removed from such elevated locations on hill' slopes, inversion of the topography is proposed as a necessary factor for the formation and preservation of the sequence described in this atypical location.

All contributions in the current memorial volume are briefly commented upon, with the emphasis on how these issues touched upon, or were linked to, the long and productive professional careers of the late Felder brothers, in the fields of geology, palaeontology and human prehistory. Pertinent literature references are added, some of which are covered in the various papers, while others illustrate their wide range of interests and prolific publishing lives.

The Geological Survey of the Netherlands aims at building a 3D geological voxel model of the upper 30 m of the subsurface of the Netherlands in order to provide a sound basis for subsurface related questions on, amongst others, groundwater extraction and management, land subsidence studies, aggregate resources and infrastructural issues. The Province of Zeeland (SW Netherlands, covering an area of approximately 70 by 75 km) was chosen as the starting point for this model due to an excellent dataset of 23,000 stratigraphically interpreted borehole descriptions.

The modelling procedure involved a number of steps. The first step is a geological schematisation of the borehole descriptions into units that have uniform sediment characteristics, using lithostratigraphical, lithofacies and lithological criteria. During the second modelling step, 2D bounding surfaces are constructed. These surfaces represent the top and base of the lithostratigraphical units and are used to place each voxel (100 by 100 by 0.5 metres) in the model within the correct lithostratigraphical unit. The lithological units in the borehole descriptions are used to perform a final 3D stochastic interpolation of lithofacies, lithology (clay, sand, peat) and if applicable, sand grain-size class within each lithostratigraphical unit. After this step, a three-dimensional geological model is obtained. The use of stochastic techniques such as Sequential Gaussian Simulation and Sequential Indicator Simulation, allowed us to compute probabilities for lithostratigraphy, lithofacies and lithology for each voxel, providing a measure of model uncertainty.

The procedures described above resulted in the first fully 3D regional-scale lithofacies model of the shallow subsurface in the Netherlands. The model provides important new insights on spatial connectivity of sediment units of, for example, sandy Holocene tidal channel systems. Our results represent a major step forward towards a fully 3D voxel model of the Netherlands.

We highlight a watershed in the natural gas legacy of the Netherlands: after 50 years of successful gas development, production output of conventional fields will decline from 2010 onwards. The projected decline in Dutch gas output will lead to a loss of future income for the State. In the past, E&P companies were prepared to compete for access to Dutch assets and lead in research as well as in the exploration for the development of conventional gas resources. Today, this cannot be assumed for the development of unconventional resources. It is not clear from our current state of knowledge whether the riskier unconventional gas resources in the Netherlands will be attractive for E&P companies. For example, are the financial risks for maturing potential unconventional resources into economic proved reserves acceptable to them? The US boom in unconventional gas production was preceded by government sponsored research programmes that stimulated the development of unconventional gas production technology. Decline in domestic gas production in the Netherlands therefore prompts for a dedicated upstream gas research programme. This will help to unlock future value from stranded conventional gas and unexplored unconventional gas resources. If such new gas resources can indeed be developed with the aid of research, undue loss of state income can be mitigated, which makes such a programme a compelling business case.

Uphill and drainage line environments reveal many hiatuses or discordances, because of truncation by erosion. In downslope position accumulation often prevailed outside the drainage lines and prevented erosion, even during unstable periods. Consequently, downslope sections yield the most detailed environmental data, but often lack contact with uphill series. However, for stratigraphical correlation the contact between downslope and uphill series is essential. In the Veldwezelt loess sequence this contact is intact, which provides additional data on transitional processes. In view of these special palaeoenvironmental conditions, exhibiting a transition between downslope and uphill areas and a south-east trending stream, an extraordinarily detailed Late Saalian, Eemian and Weichselian loess sequence could be reconstructed. The Veldwezelt series furnished important pedological, sedimentological, faunal, tephrochronological and cryogenic data, on the basis of which palaeoenvironmental conclusions could be drawn and six types of pedo-sedimentological cycles distinguished. A stratigraphical overview was obtained by correlating the Veldwezelt section with other west European loess frameworks and tephra sequences; the sedimentary series at Harmignies (Mons Basin, southern Belgium) and the Greenland GRIP ice core.

Three nothosaur skulls from the Lower Muschelkalk (Lower Anisian) locality of Winterswijk, the Netherlands, were recently acquired by museum Twentse Welle (Enschede) and have thereby become available for scientific description. Thus, these skulls had been identified as Nothosaurus winterswijkensis, but upon examination these skulls challenge the status of this Nothosaurus species. All diagnostic characters are somehow discredited, but the material can also not be unequivocably be considered as Nothosaurus marchicus, which is the only other obvious candidate. As these fossils originate from the same strata as the type of Nothosaurus winterswijkensis and there is no reason to assume that the animals occupied different ecological niches they are more plausibly considered one species, and Nothosaurus winterswijkensis therefore becomes a junior synonym of Nothosaurus marchicus. The diagnosis of Nothosaurus marchicus is enlarged to include all finds.

A lower molar of Castor fiber from the sandpit of Langenboom (the Netherlands) represents, so far, the oldest occurrence of a beaver in the North Sea Basin. Its presence in the marine sand deposit of the Langenboom Formation indicates that Castor fiber inhabited areas in or near the river systems of Rhine and Meuse in the Early Pliocene.

A new lyelliceratid, Lyelliceras escragnollensis sp. nov., is described from the condensed Albian of Escragnolles (Var) and La Balme de Rencurel (Isère), as well as from the upper Lower or lower Upper Albian of Maurepaire (Aube), in France. The new species is precisely dated on the basis of a previous record from the lower Middle Albian Lyelliceras lyelli Subzone of the Hoplites dentatus Zone at Courcelles (Aube). It is regarded as a short-lived descendant of Lyelliceras pseudolyelli, and is characterised as a compressed species of the genus in which the inner ventrolateral tubercles are weak and apparently absent on the early phragmocone whorls, the outer ventrolateral clavi feeble, offset to opposite across the venter, the siphonal clavi being more numerous than the outer ventrolateral.

New specimens described herein add to our knowledge of uncommon parataxa (embedment structures, borings and a certain type of burrow) from the type area of the Maastrichtian Stage, the material originating from the ENCI-HeidelbergCement Group (Maastricht), Ankerpoort-'t Rooth (Bemelen) and former Blom (Berg en Terblijt) quarries in southern Limburg (the Netherlands), and from the CBR-Romontbos (Eben Emael) and CPL SA (Haccourt) chalk pits in the province of Liège (northeast Belgium). Although Centrichnus eccentricus Bromley & Martinell has previously been recorded from this area, it has not received formal description; the specimen documented herein shares a test of the echinoid Echinocorys gr. conoidea with numerous other episkeletozoans. Podichnus cf. centrifugalis Bromley & Surlyk occurs both on echinocorythid echinoid tests and guards of belemnitellid coleoids; two out of seven specimens display radial discontinuous channels, indicative of the extreme penetration of filaments from the attached brachiopod's pedicle. Renichnus arcuatus Mayoral shows a range of morphologies, from the embedment structure sensu stricto through to specimens retaining internal moulds of the producing, embedded vermetid gastropod to free shells of Vermetus binkhorsti Cossmann. Burrows packed with bioclastic debris, particularly primary spines and a few test plates of phymosomatid echinoids, present a systematic conundrum, although appearing comparable to the ichnogenera Nummipera Hölder and Baronichnus Breton in several respects.

The chronostratigraphic position of aeolian dunes in East Flanders (Belgium) has been under debate for decades. Until now, the only available age information consisted of a limited number of radiocarbon dates, which provided indirect sediment deposition chronologies. This paper reports on the first direct determination, by quartz-based single-aliquot optically stimulated luminescence dating, of the time that dune sands were deposited along the Lower River Scheldt in Belgium. The sediments are dated at 12.0±0.9 ka (n = 5), which confirms that the time of inland dune formation in East Flanders dates from the Younger Dryas period and should not be constrained to the Holocene.

Accurate dating is necessary to get insight in the temporal variations in sediment deposition in floodplains. The interpretation of such dates is however dependent on the fluvial architecture of the floodplain. In this study we discuss the fluvial architecture of three contrasting Belgian catchments (Dijle, Geul and Amblève catchment) and how this influences the dating possibilities of net floodplain sediment storage. Although vertical aggradation occurred in all three floodplains during the last part of the Holocene, they differ in the importance of lateral accretion and vertical aggradation during the entire Holocene. Holocene floodplain aggradation is the dominant process in the Dijle catchment. Lateral reworking of the floodplain sediments by river meandering was limited to a part of the floodplain, resulting in stacked point bar deposits. The fluvial architecture allows identifying vertical aggradation without erosional hiatuses. Results show that trends in vertical floodplain aggradation in the Dijle catchment are mainly related to land use changes. In the other two catchments, lateral reworking was the dominant process, and channel lag and point bar deposits occur over the entire floodplain width. Here, tracers were used to date the sediment dynamics: lead from metal mining in the Geul and iron slag from ironworks in the Amblève catchment. These methods allow the identification of two or three discrete periods, but their spatial extent and variations is identified in a continuous way. The fluvial architecture and the limitation in dating with tracers hampered the identification of dominant environmental changes for sediment dynamics in both catchments. Dating methods which provide only discrete point information, like radiocarbon or OSL dating, are best suited for fluvial systems which contain continuous aggradation profiles. Spatially more continuous dating methods, e.g. through the use of tracers, allow to reconstruct past surfaces and allow to reconstruct reworked parts of the floodplain. As such they allow a better reconstruction of past sedimentation rates in systems with important lateral reworking.

A complete growth series of Terebratulina chrysalis (Von Schlotheim, 1813) collected from its type area near Maastricht (the Netherlands) is described and illustrated, with fully adult and gerontic specimens included so as to increase current knowledge of this taxon. Most specimens collected from other European outcrops are juveniles which are similar to juveniles from the type area near Maastricht. However, adults collected from the latter area and those from lower Maastrichtian white chalk deposits in northern Europe are quite different. These differences can be explained by palaeoenvironmental conditions and taphonomic processes.

In May 2009, Orson van de Plassche sadly passed away. In a paper of which parts, especially the discussion section, were written after his death, new data and a revision of an existing sea-level curve are presented for the Rotterdam area (Van de Plassche et al., 2010). This comment concerns two topics addressed in the discussion section: 1) connection of their revised Rotterdam relative sea-level curve for the period 7900-5300 cal yr BP (MSL-R2; Jelgersma, 1961; Van de Plassche, 1982; 1995; Berendsen et al., 2007; Van de Plassche et al., 2010) to the sea-level curve for the same area for the period 9000-7500 cal yr BP (MSL-R1; Hijma & Cohen, 2010); 2) The role of the river gradient on the calculation of the magnitude of a sea-level jump that occurred between 8450-8250 cal yr BP (Hijma & Cohen, 2010).

A palynological study of the Chalk Group (Campanian-Danian) in the Meer borehole (northern Belgium), which penetrated the thickest succession known in the Campine Basin, has revealed diverse, well-preserved organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages. The succession contains numerous chronostratigraphically significant dinocyst events, which are based mainly on the highest consistent occurrences of index species. At least 35 bio-events have enabled a subdivision into nine intervals, at stage or substage level, within the Campanian to Danian interval, as based on comparison with coeval assemblages elsewhere in northwest Europe, inclusive of stratotypes of stages and stage boundaries. Bio-events allow correlation of the section studied with the Campanian Exochosphaeridium? masureae, Areoligera coronata and Samlandia mayi zones, the Maastrichtian Pervosphaeridium tubuloaculeatum, Deflandrea galeata and Hystrichostrogylon coninckii zones, and the Danian Damassadinium californicum Zone. In addition, a correlation with other zonal schemes for the southern North Sea Basin and with conventional northwest European belemnite zones is presented. Comparisons with Boreal and Tethyan realms confirm that most bio-events may also be useful for interregional and global correlation. The Campanian-Danian dinocyst biostratigraphy of the Meer borehole is put alongside geophysical well logs and an ecozonation, in order to check the validity of lithostratigraphical correlations across the Campine Basin. This first, detailed correlation attempt shows that sensitivities to facies change associated with differences in accommodation space and sediment supply appear to be at the base of slight, yet consistent, shifts between the local lithological succession and the standard lithostratigraphical scheme of the Maastricht type area.

First of all, we want to stress that this reply to the comment by Hijma & Cohen on the paper by Van de Plassche et al. (2010) reflects our personal view and not necessarily the opinion of the first author of the paper under discussion, Orson van de Plassche. After a long career dedicated to sea-level research, Orson passed away on May 4, 2009, and left us with the Vlaardingen data set and his explicit wish to publish this material, which ultimately led to the Van de Plassche et al. (2010) paper. In the present paper we will: (1) give some background information on the Vlaardingen data set and the special circumstances under which the Van de Plassche et al. (2010) paper was written; (2) reply to the comment on the construction of our revised mean sea-level curve (MSL-R2); (3) reply to the comment on our suggestion that the palaeoriver-gradient might influence sea-level jump magnitude calculations.

The paper by Van de Plassche et al. (2010) is primarily based on the Vlaardingen data set that was collected by Orson van de Plassche in the mid-1980s, in a sequel to his PhD project (Van de Plassche, 1982). Soon after the start of the Vlaardingen project Orson became busily occupied with sea-level research in North America, leaving the Vlaardingen data set virtually unpublished (some data were published in Van de Plassche (1995)).

An overview is presented of belemnitellid faunas of Santonian to Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) age in the Mons Basin and in the Brabant-Méhaigne and Maastricht-Aachen-Liège areas (Belgium, southeast Netherlands). As many as twenty-two species of the genera Actinocamax Miller, 1823, Gonioteuthis Bayle, 1878, Belemnitella d'Orbigny, 1840 and Belemnella Nowak, 1913 have been recorded to date. On the basis of these, thirteen zones can be distinguished: three in the Santonian (G. w. westfalica, G. westfalicagranulata and G. granulata), six in the Campanian (G. granulataquadrata, G. quadrata, Blt. mucronata, Blt. woodi, Blt. minor I and Blt. minor II) and four in the Maastrichtian (Bln. obtusa, Bln. ex gr. sumensis/cimbrica, Blt. junior and Bln. kazimiroviensis). Correlative schemes between these zones and those proposed for Norfolk (southeast England) and for the combined Lägerdorf-Kronsmoor-Hemmoor section (northern Germany) are presented. The belemnitellid assemblage of the study area closely resembles that of Norfolk, but differs from the late Campanian faunas of northwest Germany.