(Tables 1-2) Composition of red coloured tills from Schobuell, Schleswig-Holstein and Møn Island, Denmark

The stratigraphic position of the glacially transported 'Scholle' (large-size erratic block) at Schobüll near Husum (Schleswig-Holstein) is now considered to be Devonian rather than 'Rotliegendes'. The 'Scholle', consisting of red clay and dolomite, is overlain by red-colored till without any flint but with up to 90% carbonate clasts (containing 15% dolomite), which indicates an eastern Baltic origin. The relationship of the 'Scholle' with the glacial till also points to an eastern Baltic origin for it, with up to 1 000 km transport distance.

Electron microprobe results of clay minerals from samples of the Frankenwald and the Thüringer Wald

Late Devonian (Frasnian) pillow basalts from the Frankenwald and Thüringer Wald within the Saxothuringian zone in Germany were found to contain abundant putative biogenic filaments, indicating that the volcanic rocks once harbored microbial life. The mineralized filaments are found in calcite-filled amygdules (former vesicles), where they started to form on internal surfaces of vesicles after seawater ingress. The filaments postdate an early fibrous carbonate cement but predate later equant calcite spar, revealing syngenetic formation. A biogenic origin of filaments is indicated by their size and morphology resembling modern microorganisms, their independence of crystal faces and cleavage plans, complex branching patterns, and internal segmentation. The filamentous microorganisms represent cryptoendoliths that lived in structural cavities of the basalt. They became preserved upon microbial clay authigenesis similar to the encrustation of modern prokaryotes in iron-rich environments. Filaments consist of clay minerals with the endmember composition berthierine-chamosite and illite-glauconite. Based on the discovery of fossilized filamentous microorganisms in Late Devonian pillow basalts of the Saxothurigian zone that are similar to filaments previously found in Middle Devonian pillow basalts of the Rhenohercynian zone, it is apparent that cryptoendolithic life was more widespread than previously recognized. Structural cavities within seafloor basalt may thus represent a common, perhaps universal niche for life in the oceanic crust.

(Table 1) Detrital modes for sand grains in sediment core CRP-3

Detrital modes determined on 68 sandstone samples from CRP-3 drillcore indicate a continuation of the dynamic history of uplift-related erosion and unroofing previously documented in CRP-1 and CRP-2/2A. The source area is identified very strongly with the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) Dry Valleys block in southern Victoria Land. Initial unroofing of the TAM comprised removal of much of a former capping sequence of Jurassic Kirkpatrick basalts, which preceded the formation of the Victoria Land Basin. Erosion of Beacon Supergroup outcrops took place during progressive uplift of the TAM in the Oligocene. Earliest CRP-3 Oligocene samples above 788 metres below the sea floor (mbsf) were sourced overwhelmingly in Beacon Supergroup strata, including a recognisable contribution from Triassic volcanogenic Lashly Formation sandstones (uppermost Victoria Group). Moving up-section, by 500 mbsf, the CRP-3 samples are depauperate quartz arenites dominantly derived from the quartzose Devonian Taylor Group. Between c. 500 and 450 mbsf, the modal parameters show a distinctive change indicating that small outcrops of basement granitoids and metamorphic rocks were also being eroded along with the remaining Beacon (mainly Taylor Group) sequence. Apart from enigmatic fluctuations in modal indices above 450 mbsf, similar to those displayed by samples in CRP-2/2A, the CRP-3 modes are essentially constant (within a broad data scatter) to the top of CRP-3. The proportion of exposed basement outcrop remained at < 20 %, indicating negligible uplift (i.e. relative stability) throughout that period.

Age determination of the Vendian intrusions in the polar Urals

The Precambrian basement beneath the Pechora Basin of northern Russia is known from deep (up to approx. 4.5 km) drill holes to be largely composed of Neoproterozoic successions, variously deformed and metamorphosed and intruded by magmatic suites of Vendian age. Presented here are new single- zircon, Pb-evaporation (Kober method) ages from eight intrusions across the Izhma, Pechora and Bolshezemel'skaya Zones, all from below the Lower Ordovician (locally Middle Cambrian) unconformity. The majority of the intrusions (six) yield remarkably similar ages of 550-560 Ma, apparently dating a widespread pulse of late- to post-tectonic magmatism. An early Vendian granite (618 Ma) has been identified in the northeasternmost region (Bolshezemel'skaya zone) and a Devonian granodiorite (380 Ma) in the Pechora Zone, where mid to late Palaeozoic magmatism has been previously reported. Evidence of inheritance in the zircon populations suggests the presence of Mesoproterozoic crust beneath the Neoproterozoic complexes.

Germanium content in marine sediments

In the geosphere, germanium (Ge) has a chemical behavior close to that of silicon (Si), and Ge commonly substitutes for Si (in small proportions) in silicates. Studying the evolution of the respective proportions of Ge and Si through time allows us to better constrain the global Si cycle. The marine inventory of Ge present as dissolved germanic acid is facing two main sinks known through the study of present sediments: 1) incorporation into diatom frustules and transfer to sediments by these "shuttles", 2) capture of Ge released to pore water through frustule dissolution by authigenic mineral phases forming within reducing sediments. Our goals are to determine whether such a bio-induced transfer of Ge is also achieved by radiolarian and whether Ge could be trapped directly from seawater into authigenic phases with no intervention of opal-secreting organisms (shuttles). To this end, we studied two Paleozoic radiolarite formations and geological formations dated of Devonian, Jurassic and Cretaceous, deposited under more or less drastic redox conditions. Our results show that the Ge/Si values observed for these radiolarites are close to (slightly above) those measured from modern diatoms and sponges. In addition, our results confirm what is observed with some present-day reducing sediments: the ancient sediments that underwent reducing depositional conditions are authigenically enriched in Ge. Furthermore, it is probable that at least a part of the authigenic Ge came directly from seawater. The recurrence and extent (through time and space) of anoxic conditions affecting sea bottoms have been quite important through the geological times; consequently, the capture of Ge by reducing sediments must have impacted Ge distribution and in turn, the evolution of the seawater Ge/Si ratio.