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Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1992Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1992 Typeset in 10/12 pt Times by Columns Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the London address printed on this page.The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.

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This integrated study of the sedimentology, magnetostratigraphic chronology and petrography of the mostly continental clastics of the Oligocene to Miocene Swiss Molasse Basin underpins a reconstruction of facies architecture and delineates relationships between the depositional evolution of a foreland-basin margin and exhumation phases and orogenic events in the adjacent orogen. A biostratigraphically based highresolution magnetostratigraphy provides a detailed temporal framework and covers nearly the whole stratigraphic record of the Molasse Basin (31.5-13 Ma).

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Aeolian sand sea accumulations can serve as valuable archives of climate change in continental environments. The Wahiba Sand Sea is situated at the northern margin of the area presently affected by Indian Summer Monsoon Circulation and it records environmental changes associated with this major climatic boundary over the last 160 000 years. The internal stratigraphy and evolution of the sand sea is investigated using a combination of outcrop, borehole, seismic and luminescence data. Proximity to the Indian Ocean means that the sand sea succession shows the influence of sea level changes on the sedimentary architecture and composition of the dune deposits. During the last two glacial periods, low global sea level was associated with a high input of bioclastic grains, reflecting the significance of subaerially exposed shelf areas as one of the main sources of aeolian sediment. The onset of aeolian sediment transport and deposition was related to the breakdown of stabilizing vegetation during arid periods that equate with sea level lowstands. The preservation of aeolian sediments by the formation of supersurfaces and associated palaeosoils took place during times of increased wetness and elevated groundwater tables. This interplay of constructive and destructive periods greatly influenced the sedimentary architecture. Oscillations of wet and dry periods between 160 000 and 130 000 years and 120 000–105 000 years ago are attributed to the evolution of a wet aeolian system. Younger periods of aeolian deposition around and after the last glacial maximum were characterized by dry aeolian conditions. No soil horizons developed during these times.

Correlating continental red-bed successions in the sub-surface is a common problem for the hydrocarbon industry. These successions are typically barren of fauna and often monotonous, leading to non-diagnostic wire-line log signatures. A high-resolution, high precision study of detrital garnet chemistry within Triassic reservoir sandstones from the Beryl Field of the North Sea failed to subdivide the sequence satisfactorily. However, the whole-rock concentrations of immobile trace elements such as Zr, Nb and Cr can be shown to be controlled primarily by the abundances of the heavy minerals zircon, rutile and chrome-spinel, respectively. The chemistry of detrital rutile and chrome spinel varies widely within any one sample, implying that the whole-rock concentrations of Nb and Cr are also a function of the chemistry of these heavy minerals. Having calibrated a type well with a detailed mineralogical and geochemical study, it was possible to correlate between wells using whole-rock geochemical cross-plots.

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