The Dividalen Group is exposed in a narrow zone along the eastern Caledonian front of northern Fennoscandia. Trace fossils provide important age constraints in these largely siliciclastic strata and demonstrate that in Sweden the entire Dividalen Group is of Cambrian age. Here we provide the first detailed description of trace fossils from the Dividalen Group in Finland, based on new material from the Kilpisjärvi area. This material includes the vertical spiral Gyrolithes polonicus and trace fossils with a three-lobed lower surface, here informally described as the Bure ichnocomplex. These trace fossils have a wide distribution in Baltica and probably represent a rare case of trace fossil provincialism.

No abstract

Abstract. Crystalline bedrock and Quaternary sediments are the parent materials for soil, which is a substrate for plant roots and also a supplier of nutrients. Through interactions within the bedrock-soil-plant-animal-human beings system, bedrock geology and geochemistry influence all forms of life on the planet. There are 11 major elements or macronutrients that are nutritionally essential for plants and animals in constructing and maintaining cells and tissues, and up to 43 trace elements or micronutrients involved in the regulation of metabolic processes. Element concentrations in soils reflect those of parent rocks, but for healthy growth and development of plant and animal tissues there are very strict constraints on trace element concentrations. Chemical analysis of different organic materials shows that all forms of life, marine and terrestrial plants and animals, and bacteria consist of comparable proportions of the of macronutrients: O, H, C, N, P, S, Ca, Mg, K, Na, Cl , as well as trace elements. Some differences are noted in elements that are more available in sea water (Mg, I, Br, Sr, Fe, Pb) or are essential for life outside of water (terrestrial animals need more Ca and P for stronger skeletons, etc.). Limestone and dolostone of northern and central Estonia are rich in Ca and Mg, whereas the sandstones that predominate in southern Estonia consist mainly of quartz (SiO 2 ) and contain very few nutrients. Glacial activity in Fennoscandia transported predominantly Si-rich granite rock material to Estonia, in which trace element concentrations are very low, as in the local bedrock. The bedrock geochemistry, Quaternary cover and their influence on vegetation in some selected areas in Fennoscandia and Estonia are discussed.

No abstract

Three linear tectonic dislocation groups of different orientation (and probably also of different age) cut the Estonian oil shale-kukersite deposits. Two younger groups of structures are typical fault zones with N-NE and NW trends, which are expressed topographically as narrow valleys, partly infilled by till, both on land and offshore. The oldest, third group of structures is represented by narrow, somewhat curvilinear, NE-trending folded and fractured zones, associated with extensive dolomitization, hydrothermal mineralization and karst. Oil shale within these structural zones is oxidized and partly replaced by karst clay. All dislocations disrupt and complicate the structure of deposit, which affects mining conditions from the technical point of view and also causes a loss of oil shale resources.