A valuable overview of the lithostratigraphical variation of the Purbeck Limestone Group across its Dorset type-area (within the Wessex sub-basin of northern Europe) is gained from new logging of coastal sections in west and central parts of south Dorset, and re-evaluation of previous detailed work further east. An adapted lithostratigraphical classification is presented, which divides the group into the two existing formations (Lulworth and Durlston), five new members, and fifteen or so traditional beds. The members were set up in the more representative west and central parts of the basin; they have been designed to reflect broad sedimentary variations in the group, and thus are useful for inland mapping and will be helpful for palaeogeographical analysis. The beds are the traditional minor divisions of the group conceived in the last century, which have been promoted recently by some authors to member status. The problematic historic 'Lower', Middle' and 'Upper' divisions are not used, in agreement with many recent researchers. The type-section of the group, at Durlston Bay in the east is placed in a regional context. It is revealed that the lower part of the sequence, the Lulworth Formation, is at its most lithologically variable in the west, whilst its upper part, the Durlston Formation, is more variable in the east. The work may help in discussions on the position of the base of the Cretaceous in relation to the Purbeck Limestone Group.

Regional metamorphism in the Sulitjelma area of the arctic Scandinavian Caledonides has produced a series of Barrovian zones, from chlorite through to kyanite in more aluminous pelites, which transect the major lithological boundaries in a large nappe unit of the Koli Nappe Complex. The metamorphic zones are inverted, and metamorphic grade increases westwards from the foreland to the hinterland. The Furulund Group comprises a mixed sequence of originally flysch-like sediments which crop out over the whole range of the observed Barrovian zones, but are usually too calcareous to develop the characteristic Barrovian aluminous phases staurolite and kyanite. Instead, above the garnet isograd, the Furulund Group pelites and semi-pelites have widely developed hornblende porphyroblasts in the common assemblage Grt + PI + Bt + Ms + Qtz f Hbl f Ep f Czo f Chl f Cal f Dol. Thermobarometric estimates of metamorphic peak P-T conditions (i.e. at maximum recorded temperatures) from this assemblage, using three different methods, indicate a westward increase of both pressure and temperature over a distance of 14 km away from the garnet isograd towards the hinterland of the orogen, independent of topographic level and without change in the common mineral assemblage. The increased peak pressure in the west indicates greater initial burial and subsequent exhumation in the hinterland than towards the foreland. Restoration indicates that the Furulund Group has been subjected to substantial eastward bulk tilting after peak metamorphic conditions. Whilst this enhances the overturning of the metamorphic zones, the amount of tilting was not sufficient to cause the overturning.

New seamless onshore to offshore bedrock (1:10k scale) mapping for the Lyme Bay area is used to resolve the westward termination of the Purbeck-Wight Fault Zone (PWFZ) structure, comprising one of the most prominent, long-lived (Variscan-Cimmerian-Alpine) structural lineaments in the southern UK. The study area lies south of the Variscan Frontal Thrust and overlays the basement Variscide Rhenohercynian Zone, in a region of dominant E-W tectonic fabric and a secondary conjugate NW-SE/NE-SW fabric. The PWFZ comprises one of the E-W major structures, with a typical history including Permian to early Cretaceous growth movement (relating to basement Variscan Thrust reactivation) followed by significant Alpine (Helvetic) inversion. Previous interpretations of the PWFZ have been limited by the low resolution (1:250k scale) of the available offshore BGS mapping, and our study fills this gap. We describe a significant change in structural style of the fault zone from east to west. In the Weymouth Bay area, previous studies demonstrate the development of focussed strain associated with the PWFZ, accompanied by distributed strain, N-S fault development, and potential basement uplift in its hangingwall. In the Lyme Bay area to the west, faulting is dominantly E-W, with N-S faulting absent. Comparison of the newly mapped faulting networks to gravity data suggests a spatial relationship between this faulting variation and basement variability and uplift. *Manuscript Click here to view linked References

Abstract-Modern communication technologies are changing the way we think about spatial mapping information and how we deliver it into the hands of end-users. For geoscience, the challenges are particularly interesting because of the strong three-dimensional nature and sheer richness of the underlying geological information. For several hundreds of years, the favoured method for delivering this information has been the paper map. However, as in the topographical sector, the geosciences have moved rapidly over recent years to digital platforms for effective delivery of spatial information. What we are delivering is still a map, but what it looks like and how it is carried will have changed beyond recognition for earlier surveyors. In particular, new generations of mobile tablet computers and smartphones, which can self-locate using GPS technology, and stream in spatial mapping live to the user, have all but rendered the paper map redundant in many parts of the UK and beyond. Furthermore, the interactive nature of these technologies allows two-way sharing of information, through twinned display of digital maps and live 'crowdsourced' collection of point observations. But perhaps the greatest opportunities lie in the use of augmented reality techniques to transform complex three-dimensional information into an easily digestible form for the user. The paper map made an admirable attempt to do this in the geosciences but mobile technologies and software offer the chance to at last display the information in the way it has always existed within the mind of the geological surveyor. This paper describes the informatics research and development work lead by the British Geological Survey (Natural Environment Research Council) which is taking on these challenges and opportunities, and is already beginning to deliver a new and very different generation of the geological map.

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