A giant pliosaurid skull from the late Jurassic of England.

The Wallowa terrane is one of five pre-Cenozoic terranes in the Blue Mountains province of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. The other four terranes are Baker, Grindstone, Olds Ferry, and Izee. The Wallowa terrane includes plutonic, volcanic, and sedimentary rocks that are as old as Middle Permian and as young as late Early Cretaceous. They evolved during six distinct time segments or phases: (1) a Middle Permian to Early Triassic(?) island-arc phase; (2) a second island-arc phase of Middle and Late Triassic age; (3) a Late Triassic and Early Jurassic phase of carbonate platform growth, subsidence, and siliciclastic sediment deposition; (4) an Early Jurassic subaerial volcanic and sedimentary phase; (5) a Late Jurassic sedimentary phase that formed a thin subaerial and thick marine overlap sequence; and (6) a Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous phase of plutonism. Rocks in the Wallowa terrane are separated into formally named units. The Permian and Triassic Seven Devils Group encompasses the Middle and Late(?) Permian Windy Ridge and Hunsaker Creek Formations and the Middle and Late Triassic Wild Sheep Creek and Doyle Creek Formations. Some Permian and Triassic plutonic rocks, which crystallized beneath the partly contemporaneous volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Seven Devils Group, represent magma chambers that fed the volcanic rocks. The Permian and Triassic plutonic rocks form the Cougar Creek and Oxbow “basement complexes,” the Triassic Imnaha plutons, and the more isolated Permian and Triassic plutons, such as those in the Sheep Creek to Marks Creek chain and in the southern Seven Devils Mountains near Cuprum, Idaho. The Seven Devils Group, and its associated plutons, are capped by the Martin Bridge Formation, a Late Triassic platform and reef carbonate unit, with associated shelf and upper-slope facies, and overlying and partly contemporaneous siliciclastic, limestone, and calcareous phyllitic rocks of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic Hurwal Formation. Younger rocks are a subaerial Early Jurassic volcanic and sedimentary rock unit of the informally named Hammer Creek assemblage, and a Late Jurassic overlap sedimentary unit, the Coon Hollow Formation. Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous plutons intrude the older rocks. Lava flows of the Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group overlie the pre-Cenozoic rocks. Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentation left discontinuous deposits throughout the canyon. Most impressive are deposits left by the Bonneville flood. The latest interpretations for the origin of terranes in the Blue Mountains province show that the Wallowa terrane is the only terrane that, during its Permian and Triassic evolution, had an intra-oceanic (not close to a continental landmass) island-arc origin. On this field trip, we travel through the northern segment of the Wallowa terrane in Hells Canyon of the Snake River, where representative rocks and structures of the Wallowa terrane are well exposed. Thick sections of lava flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group cap the older rocks, and reach river levels in two places.

ABSTRACTThe Ordos Basin, situated in the western part of the North China Craton, preserves the 150-million-year history of North China Craton disruption. Those sedimentary sources from Late Triassic to early Middle Jurassic are controlled by the southern Qinling orogenic belt and northern Yinshan orogenic belt. The Middle and Late Jurassic deposits are received from south, north, east, and west of the Ordos Basin. The Cretaceous deposits are composed of aeolian deposits, probably derived from the plateau to the east. The Ordos Basin records four stages of volcanism in the Mesozoic–Late Triassic (230–220 Ma), Early Jurassic (176 Ma), Middle Jurassic (161 Ma), and Early Cretaceous (132 Ma). Late Triassic and Early Jurassic tuff develop in the southern part of the Ordos Basin, Middle Jurassic in the northeastern part, while Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks have a banding distribution along the eastern part. Mesozoic tectonic evolution can be divided into five stages according to sedimentary and volcanic records: Late Triassic extension in a N–S direction (230–220 Ma), Late Triassic compression in a N–S direction (220–210 Ma), Late Triassic–Early Jurassic–Middle Jurassic extension in a N–S direction (210–168 Ma), Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous compression in both N–S and E–W directions (168–136 Ma), and Early Cretaceous extension in a NE–SW direction (136–132 Ma).

A Jurassic- Cretaceous carbonate succession crops out along the Zyghosti Rema, Kozani (Northern Greece). The substratum consists of the ophiolitic succession of the Vourinos Massif (Pelagonian Domain): serpentinites tectonically overlain by basalts, with thin lenses of radiolarian cherts of middle Bathonian age. The contact with the overlying Jurassic limestones is tectonic. Eight informal units have been distinguished within the Mesozoic limestones, from the base upwards. (A) bioclastic, intraclastic and oolitic packstone (Callovian- Oxfordian). (B) bioclastic packstone and coral boundstone (Oxfordian ). (C) bioclastic and oncoidal wackestone with Clypeina jurassica (Oxfordian- Upper Kimmeridgian). (D) (Upper Kimmeridgian- Portlandian): oncoidal packstone and rudstone (facies D1); intraclastic and bioclastic grainstone and packstone (facies D2); neptunian dykes with intraclastic and bioclastic wackestone and packstone filling (facies D3); neptunian dykes with Fe-Mn rich laterite filling and with pink silty filling of early Late Cretaceous age. An unconformity surface, due to emersion and erosion of the platform during the latest Jurassic- Early Cretaceous, is overlain by (E) intraclastic, bioclastic packstone and grainstone (Cenomanian). (F) massive body of debrites with coral, echinoderm, algae and rudist large clasts (facies F1) (Cenomanian); turbiditic beds of bioclastic, intraclastic and lithoclastic rudstone and grainstone (facies F2). (G) thin bedded bioclastic mudstone and wackestone with planktonic foraminifers and radiolarians, alternating with turbiditic beds of bioclastic, intraclastic packstone and rudstone and with conglomeratic levels and slumped beds of the previous turbidites (upper Santonian- lower Campanian). (H): bioclastic packstone with planktonic foraminifers (facies H1) (lower Campanian - ?Maastrichtian); amalgamated turbiditic beds of bioclastic wackestone and packstone with planktonic foraminifers (facies H2); turbiditic beds of bioclastic packstone and rudstone (facies H3). These features allow to recognise the following sequence of events: 1) development of a carbonate platform in the Middle and Late Jurassic; 2) its overthrusting onto the ophiolites and its emersion starting from latest Jurassic time, with erosion and deposition of laterites; 3) marine transgression on the Jurassic platform and on the ophiolites during the early Late Cretaceous, and 4) extensional tectonism and platform demise starting in the Cenomanian, with sedimentation of gravity flows and turbidity currents deposits from the Cenomanian to the Campanian- ?Maastrichtian.

In the circum-Pacific ophiolitic belts, when no other biogenic constituents are found, radiolarians have the potential to provide significant biostratigraph- ic information. The Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex, which crops out in several half-windows (Carrizal, Sitio Santa Rosa, Bahia Nancite, Playa Naranjo) along the south shores of the Santa Elena Peninsula in northwestern Costa Rica, is one of these little-known ophiolitic mélanges. It contains various oceanic assemblages of alkaline basalt, radiolarite and polymictic breccias. The radiolarian biochronology presented in this work is mainly based by correlation on the biozonations of Carter et al. (2010), Baumgartner et al. (1995b), and O'Dogherty (1994) and indicate an Early Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous (early Pliensbachian to earliest Turonian) age for the sediments associated with oceanic basalts or recovered from blocks in breccias or megabreccias. The 19 illus- trated assemblages from the Carrizal tectonic window and Sitio Santa Rosa contain in total 162 species belonging to 65 genera. The nomenclature of tecton- ic units is the one presented by (Baumgartner and Denyer, 2006). This study brings to light the Early Jurassic age of a succession of radiolarite, which was previously thought to be of Cretaceous age, intruded by alkaline basalts sills (Unit 3). The presence of Early Jurassic large reworked blocks in a polymictic megabreccia, firstly reported by De Wever et al. (1985) is confirmed (Unit 4). Therefore, the alkaline basalt associated with the radiolarites of these two units (and maybe also Units 5 and 8) could be of Jurassic age. In the Carrizal tectonic window, Middle to early Late Jurassic radiolarian chert blocks associ- ated with massive tholeitic basalts and Early Cretaceous brick-red ribbon cherts overlying pillow basalts are interpreted as fragments of a Middle Jurassic oceanic basement accreted to an Early Cretaceous oceanic Plate, in an intra-oceanic subduction context. Whereas, the knobby radiolarites and black shales of Playa Carrizal are indicative of a shallower middle Cretaceous paleoenvironment. Other remnants of this oceanic basin are found in Units 2, 6, and 7, which documented the rapid approach of the depocentre to a subduction trench during the late Early Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian), to possibly early Late Cretaceous (Turonian).

The allochthonous Hawasina complex is a sedimentary sequence of both continental-slope and oceanic-basin deposits that were thrust up over shallow-water marine carbonates of the Arabian Shelf during the Late Cretaceous. The Hawasina tectonically overlies the autochthonous Hajar Super Group, and is overlain tectonically by the Samail Ophiolite and associated sedimentary rocks. The lower thrust units, the Hamat Duru Group, and Wahrah Al Ayn Formations, are generally interpreted as limestone and sandstone turbidites deposited on the continental rise. The Wahrah Formation and lower Zulla and upper Sid'r Formations within the Hamrat Duru Group all contain thick sequences of radiolarian-bearing chert. Samples collected from the Zulla and Wahrah (lower chert member) Formations yielded radiolarian faunas assignable to the Late Triassic (Karnian/Norian) based on key species of the genera Capnodoce, Capnuchosphaera, Eptingium, Sarla, Triassocampe, and Yeharaia. Additional samples from the Zulla Formation indicate an Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) age based on the presence of Broctus, Canoptum, Canutus, Droltus, and Pseudoheliodiscus sp.; previous investigators sugge ted a hiatus in pelagic sedimentation during Early Jurassic time. Radiolarian faunas extracted from two measured sections of the Wahrah Formation (upper chert member) range in age from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) to Early Cretaceous (late Valanginian/Hauterivian). No suitable radiolarian faunas were obtained from cherts of the Sid'r Formation (Hamrat Duru Group). The higher thrust units are represented by the conglomeratic Al Ayn Formation, and the deeper water Halfa and Haliw Formations. Radiolarian faunas extracted from a measured section near the type locality of the Halfa Formation range in age from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian) to the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian/Barremian). All the radiolarian faunas obtained thus far from the Haliw Formation are assignable to the Late Triassic (late Karnian to middle Norian) based on fragments of Capnodoce and Veghicyclia sp. Previous biostratigraphic data suggested that the thickest sections of radiolarian chert and mudstone were deposited during Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous time. Newly obtained paleontologic evidence based on radiolarian biostratigraphy indicates that significant pelagic sedimentation occurred also during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. End_of_Article - Last_Page 425------------

Quantitative subsidence analysis of the Mesozoic evolution of the Lusitanian basin (western Iberian margin)

In this paper, we summarize results of studies on ophiolitic mélanges of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone (BNSZ) and the Shiquanhe–Yongzhu–Jiali ophiolitic mélange belt (SYJMB) in central Tibet, and use these insights to constrain the nature and evolution of the Neo-Tethys oceanic basin in this region. The BNSZ is characterized by late Permian–Early Cretaceous ophiolitic fragments associated with thick sequences of Middle Triassic–Middle Jurassic flysch sediments. The BNSZ peridotites are similar to residual mantle related to mid-ocean-ridge basalts (MORBs) where the mantle was subsequently modified by interactions with the melt. The mafic rocks exhibit the mixing of various components, and the end-members range from MORB-types to island-arc tholeiites and ocean island basalts. The BNSZ ophiolites probably represent the main oceanic basin of the Neo-Tethys in central Tibet. The SYJMB ophiolitic sequences date from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous, and they are dismembered and in fault contact with pre-Ordovician, Permian, and Jurassic–Early Cretaceous blocks. Geochemical and stratigraphic data are consistent with an origin in a short-lived intra-oceanic back-arc basin. The Neo-Tethys Ocean in central Tibet opened in the late Permian and widened during the Triassic. Southwards subduction started in the Late Triassic in the east and propagated westwards during the Jurassic. A short-lived back-arc basin developed in the middle and western parts of the oceanic basin from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. After the late Early Jurassic, the middle and western parts of the oceanic basin were subducted beneath the Southern Qiangtang terrane, separating the Nierong microcontinent from the Southern Qiangtang terrane. The closing of the Neo-Tethys Basin began in the east during the Early Jurassic and ended in the west during the early Late Cretaceous.

Seismic stratigraphic techniques permit identification of Late Triassic, Jurassic, and Early Cretaceous eustatically controlled sequences in strata from the North American Gulf Coast and West Africa. Several distinct sequences are remarkably persistent from the Florida Panhandle around the perimeter of the Gulf Coast into northern Mexico, a distance of over 1,500 miles. Their identification requires the integration of seismic data with lithologic, environmental-facies, biostratigraphic, radiometric, and well log information. A comparison with strata of comparable age in offshore West Africa indicates the same sequences can be recognized there. The sequences in North America and Africa are interpreted to be eustatically controlled because they occupy the same time-stratigraphic positions and display coastal onlap patterns similar to those previously recognized by us elsewhere in the world. Gulf Coast eustatic cycles and the formations occurring within them are: (1) Late Triassic--Eagle Mills Formation; (2) Early Jurassic--known only from southern Mexico and not identified in the study area; (3) Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian)--Werner Anhydrite-Louann Salt interval; (4) Late Middle Jurassic (Callovian)--Norphlet Formation; (5) Late Jurassic (Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian)--Smackover-Buckner-Haynesville Formations; (6) Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Tithonian-Berriasian)--most of the Cotton Valley Group; and (7) Early Cretaceous (Valanginian)--a restricted wedge seen only in a basinward position. West African eustatic cycles are (1) Late Triassic; (2) Early Jurassic; (3) Middle Jurassic; (4) Early Late Jurassic (Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian); (5) Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Tithonian-Berriasian); and (6) Early Cretaceous (Valanginian). Further refinement may show additional sequences in Middle Jurassic and Late Jurassic intervals.

In Rajmahal Basin the Upper Gondwana (Mesozoic) sequences are represented by the Dubrajpur and Rajmahal Formations. Palynologically, the Dubrajpur Formation is shown to be a time transgressive unit spanning from Early Triassic to Early Cretaceous. Out of seven palynological assemblages recorded from this formation four have Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age. Arcuatipollenites tethyensis Assemblage Zone represents the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic time interval. Callialasporites turbatus Assemblage Zone registers presence of dinoflagellate taxon Phallocysta indicating Late Early to Early Middle Jurassic age. The Contignisporites cooksonii Assemblage Zone has Late Middle Jurassic age. The topmost Ruffordiaspora australiensis Assemblage Zone represents Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous age. The palynological information from Rajmahal Basin evidently reveals presence of nonmarine Jurassic sediments on Indian peninsula, on the contrary to the old assumption of their absence.

The Qinling Orogenic Belt is divided commonly by the Fengxian-Taibai strike-slip shear zone and the Huicheng Basin into the East and West Qinling mountains, which show significant geological differences after the Indosinian orogeny. The Fengxian-Taibai fault zone and the Meso-Cenozoic Huicheng Basin, situated at the boundary of the East and West Qinling, provide a natural laboratory for tectonic analysis and sedimentological study of intracontinental tectonic evolution of the Qinling Orogenic Belt. In order to explain the dynamic development of the Huicheng Basin and elucidate its post-orogenic tectonic evolution at the junction of the East and West Qinling, we studied the geometry and kinematics of fault zones between the blocks of West Qinling, as well as the sedimentary fill history of the Huicheng Basin. First, we found that after the collisional orogeny in the Late Triassic, post-orogenic extensional collapse occurred in the Early and Middle Jurassic within the Qinling Orogenic Belt, resulting in a series of rift basins. Second, in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, a NE-SW compressive stress field caused large-scale sinistral strike-slip faults in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, causing intracontinental escape tectonics at the junction of the East and West Qinling, including eastward finite escape of the East Qinling micro-plate and southwest lateral escape of the Bikou Terrane. Meanwhile, the strike-slip-related Early Cretaceous sedimentary basin was formed with a right-order echelon arrangement in sinistral shear zones along the southern margin of the Huicheng fault. Overall during the Mesozoic, the Huicheng Basin and surrounding areas experienced four tectonic evolutionary stages, including extensional rift basin development in the Early and Middle Jurassic, intense compressive uplift in the Late Jurassic, formation of a strike-slip extensional basin in the Early Cretaceous, and compressive uplift in the Late Cretaceous.

In this study Jurassic–Paleogene strata were investigated to understand the litho- and biostratigraphic framework and hydrocarbon source-rock potential of various stratal packages. Biostratigraphic controls were used to establish the chronostratigraphic framework of Jurassic–Paleogene strata in the area. The Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) clastics saw an unconformity during the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian, while the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian)–Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) clastic–carbonate mixed strata is also separated by a Bathonian unconformity from the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) to the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) carbonate sequence. The Upper Jurassic Oxfordian strata are missing, while the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)–Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian) glauconitic sandstone and clays are the conformable sequences. The Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian)–Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) clastics is a conformable sequence that is separated by a Coniacian–Santonian unconformity from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) pelagic carbonates. The Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary is marked by laterites, while the Paleocene (Thanetian) sequence is represented by a shale- and sandstone-dominated sequence. The Paleocene (Thanetian)–Early Eocene (Ilerdian) siliciclastic–carbonate mixed sequence marks the last episode of Tethyan sedimentation. Total organic content (TOC), organic petrography and Rock-Eval pyrolysis (REP) techniques were used to evaluate the hydrocarbon source-rock potential, kerogen type and level of maturity of the hydrocarbons. The majority of studied samples show the occurrence of type IV kerogen. However, the Middle Jurassic (Callovian)–Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) carbonate sequence of the Samana Suk Formation, the Kimmeridgian–Valanginian Chichali Formation, the Paleocene (Thanetian) sequence of the Hangu Formation and the Paleocene (Thanetian)–Early Eocene (Ilerdian) Patala Formation confirms the Type III kerogen, poor–fair source-rock quality, immature–mature, gas- and oil-prone indigenous hydrocarbon occurrence in the region.

The Bristol Channel Basin forms an early Mesozoic ((?Permo‐) Triassic‐Jurassic) basin development with a relatively thin cover of Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments. On the basis of structural trends and stratigraphy, the Basin can be divided into two sub‐basins: the ENE‐WSW trending Main Bristol Channel Basin and the E‐W trending East Bristol Channel Basin. In between them there is an Intermediate Area which incorporates features of the sub‐basins on either side. This subdivision appears to be the result of the presence of major NW‐SE basement faults which intersect the Bristol Channel area in several places.As a result of intermittent periods of tectonic activity three main stages of basin development can be recognised: (1) a (?Permo‐) Triassic‐ Middle Jurassic stage terminated by mid‐Kimmerian epeirogenetic movements, (2) an Upper Jurassic—Lower Cretaceous stage terminated by a Lower Cretaceous (late Berriasian‐pre‐Aptian) period of deformation, (3) an Upper Cretaceous—Tertiary stage.The bulk of the preserved sedimentary fill in the main Bristol Channel Basin consists of up to 11,000 ft of (?Permo‐) Triassic‐Jurassic sediments. The section is severely truncated by the overlying late Lower Cretaceoussediments or, in theirabsence, by Upper Cretaceous strata. Below the unconformity, the Upper Jurassic and, depending on their structural position, parts or the whole of the Middle and Lower Jurassic are missing.The East Bristol Channel Basin hasapreserved fill of some 7,500 ft of Triassic‐Jurassic sediments. The Middle and Upper Jurassic are completely preserved in the centre of this Eastern Basin, contrasting with the situation found in the main Basin.The basin fill of both sub‐basins consists largely of Triassic continental red‐beds, mainly silty claystones and evaporites and Jurassic marine calcareous siltstonesand claystones.Structures are essentiully the result of the Lower Cretaceous tectonic phase(s) and are therefore mainly confined to the Triassic—Jurassic—early Lower Cretaceous sections. A number of structural traps of interest to exploration have been delineated and (unsuccessfully) tested in the Main Bristol Channel and Intermediate Area.Evaluation of the currently available data indicates that the absence of significant hydrocarbon indications in these wells is probably due to insufficient and untimely hydrocarbon generation. The possible generation is thought to have occurred prior to the main phases(s) of structural deformation, during a period of temporarily increased heatflow (Middle Jurassic—Lower Cretaceous). An additional unfavourable aspect for hydrocarbon prospects is the lack of good quality reservoir developments.From a megateetonic point of view the Bristol Channel Basin formspart of a regional rift basin development which also includes the Celtic Sea and Western Approaches Basins. The different basins and blocks of this area can, according to their behaviour during the Mesozoic, be grouped as follows: (a) the East Bristol Channel, E. of the zone of majorNWSE faults (e.g. Sticklepath fault), (b) a Central Fault Block, comprising the Cornubian Platform, the Main Bristol Channel and Haig Fras Basins, (c) Flanking Basins, such as the Intermediate Area, the Celtic Sea and Western Approaches Basins.

We propose a new terrane subdivision of Nicaragua and Northern Costa Rica, based on Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous radiolarian biochronology of ribbon radiolarites, the newly studied Siuna Serpentinite Mélange, and published 40Ar/39Ar dating and geochemistry of mafic and ultramafic igneous rock units of the area. The new Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane (MCOT) comprises the southern half of the Chortis Block, that was assumed to be a continental fragment of N-America. The MCOT is defined by 4 corner localities characterized by ultramafic and mafic oceanic rocks and radiolarites of Late Triassic, Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age: 1. The Siuna Serpentinite Mélange (NE-Nicaragua), 2. The El Castillo Mélange (Nicaragua/Costa Rica border), 3.The Santa Elena Ultramafics (N-Costa Rica) and, 4. DSDP Legs 67/84. 1. The Siuna Serpentinite Mélange contains, high pressure metamorphic mafics and Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian) radiolarites in original, sedimentary contact with arc-metandesites. The Siuna Mélange also contains Upper Jurassic black detrital chert formed in a marginal (fore-arc?) basin shortly before subduction. A phengite 40Ar/39Ar -cooling age dates the exhumation of the high pressure rocks as 139 Ma (earliest Cretaceous). 2. The El Castillo Mélange comprises a radiolarite block tectonically embedded in serpentinite that yielded a diverse Rhaetian (latest Triassic) radiolarian assemblage, the oldest fossils recovered so far from S-Central America. 3. The Santa Elena Ultramafics of N-Costa Rica together with the serpentinite outcrops near El Castillo (2) in Southern Nicaragua, are the southernmost outcrops of the MCOT. The Santa Elena Unit (3) itself is still undated, but it is thrust onto the middle Cretaceous Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex (SRAC), that contains Lower to Upper Jurassic, highly deformed radiolarite blocks, probably reworked from the MCOT, which was the upper plate with respect to the SRAC. 4. Serpentinites, metagabbros and basalts have long been known from DSDP Leg 67/84 (3), drilled off Guatemala in the Nicaragua-Guatemala forearc basement. They have been restudied and reveal 40Ar/39Ar dated Upper Triassic to middle Cretaceous enriched Ocean Island Basalts and Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous depleted Island arc rocks of probable Pacific origin. The area between localities 1-4 is largely covered by Tertiary to Recent arcs, but we suspect that its basement is made of oceanic/accreted terranes. Earthquake seismic studies indicate an ill-defined, shallow Moho in this area. The MCOT covers most of Nicaragua and could extend to Guatemala to the W and form the Lower (southern) Nicaragua Rise to the NE. Some basement complexes of Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico may also belong to the MCOT. The Nicoya Complex s. str. has been regarded as an example of Caribbean crust and the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP). However, 40Ar/39Ar - dates on basalts and intrusives indicate ages as old as Early Cretaceous. Highly deformed Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous radiolarites occur as blocks within younger intrusives and basalts. Our interpretation is that radiolarites became first accreted to the MCOT, then became reworked into the Nicoya Plateau in Late Cretaceous times. This implies that the Nicoya Plateau formed along the Pacific edge of the MCOT, independent form the CLIP and most probably unrelated with he Galapagos hotspot. No Jurassic radiolarite, no older sediment age than Coniacian-Santonian, and no older 40Ar/39Ar age than 95 Ma is known from S-Central America between SE of Nicoya and Colombia. For us this area represents the trailing edge of the CLIP s. str.

An integrated approach using plate tectonic analyses and detailed comparative stratigraphy of the North Atlantic has placed new constraints on the Mesozoic to Cenozoic geological history of the Atlantic margin of NW Europe. Key reconstructions from Mesozoic time to the present day have been plotted to show the evolution of the North Atlantic, and in particular the Rockall Trough. The reconstructions show Rockall Plateau attached to Greenland from Late Paleozoic time (380 Ma) to Late Cretaceous time (83 Ma) since when Rockall remained attached to Eurasia. The Rockall Trough probably initiated during end-Carboniferous to Early Permian time and underwent further stretching episodes in the Early Triassic, Early Jurassic, Middle Jurassic, Late Jurassic, Early Cretaceous, mid-Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous to give the present-day Rockall Trough configuration. The Permo-Triassic rift was dominated by oblique opening with a left-lateral component of strike-slip. Jurassic through Early Cretaceous extension was characterized by predominantly left-lateral strike-slip with a minor dip-slip component in the Faeroe basin and north Rockall Trough, and mainly dip-slip extension in central and south Rockall Trough. In Early Cretaceous time (mid-Aptian) the majority of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) Atlantic margin underwent orthogonal opening followed by continued extension in Late Cretaceous to Paleocene time, culminating in the opening of the North Atlantic west Rockall Plateau. The main Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous rift episodes conveniently divide the stratigraphy into pre-, syn- and post-rift megasequences which form gross play fairways along the North Atlantic margin. Analysis of these fairways permits integration of data from both mature (e.g. North Sea) and immature (e.g. North Atlantic margin) exploration provinces and helps provide a consistent, predictive approach to the assessment of future hydrocarbon potential of the frontier basins lying along the North Atlantic margin.

In this paper, we present the preliminary data on the age of the radiolarian cherts deposited on top of basalts belonging to the Eastern Ankara Mélange (part of the Izmir-Ankara Mélange). Petrological studies on the basalts were carried out in order to constrain the tectonic setting of the studied basalt-chert\nsequences. Nine sections were sampled East and Northeast of Ankara and twenty seven samples were collected for biostratigraphic and geochemical analyses.\nThe oldest radiolarian cherts dated in the present paper are referable to the Late Triassic (Section 6: late Norian) and are associated with basaltic rocks of OIB character. OIB type volcanic rocks are also found in other sections, associated with cherts of Late Jurassic (Section 3: middle-late Oxfordian to late Kimmeridgian-early Tithonian) and Early Cretaceous (Section 1: late Valanginian to late Hauterivian) ages.\nE-MORB type rocks are associated with radiolarian cherts of Cretaceous age (Section 4: middle late Barremian-early early Aptian and Section 7: Valanginian to middle Aptian-early Albian), whereas the oldest N-MORBs were found in a section of Late Jurassic age (Section 5: early-early late Tithonian).\nOther N-MORBs are associated with radiolarian cherts of Early Cretaceous age (Section 8: late Valanginian-early Barremian). P-MORBs type rocks were found only in a section of Middle Jurassic age (Section 2: early-middle Bajocian to late Bathonian-early Callovian age).\nIn this work, we document the occurrence of Late Triassic OIB-type rocks and of rocks showing different geochemical affinities (N-, E-, P-MORBs and OIB) generated within the same time span (Middle-Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous). N-MORBs are compatible with composition of melts generated by partial\nmelting of a depleted MORB mantle source. In contrast, OIBs are compatible with partial melting of an enriched-type mantle source. E-MORBs may have derived from mantle source slightly enriched with respect to a DMM source, whereas P-MORBs are compatible with melts generated from a mantle source\nsignificantly enriched, compared to DMM.