Unusual, basin-scale, fluid–rock interaction in the Palaeoproterozoic Onega basin from Fennoscandia : Preservation in calcite δ18O of an ancient high geothermal gradient

Acknowledgements We acknowledge financial support from ICDP for the drilling programme. AEF, ATB and ARP thank NERC for financial support through NE/G00398X/1. VAM thanks the Norwegian Research Council for financial support through 191530/V30. We are grateful for sample preparation and analyses to all the personnel at NGU lab. At SUERC we enjoyed exceptional analytical support from Julie Dougans. Anonymous reviewers and the editor provided comments that improved the final manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin

Petrography and geochemistry of carbonate rocks of the Paleoproterozoic Zaonega Formation, Russia : Documentation of C-13-depleted non-primary calcite

The Norwegian Research Council grant 191530/V30 to V.A. Melezhik fully funded the work of AEC, VAM and AL. ATB was supported by NERC grant NE/G00398X/1 to AEF and ARP. We are grateful for sample preparation and analyses to all the personnel at NGU lab. We appreciate the work on carbon and oxygen isotope analyses by Julie Dougans and Chris Taylor. Bojan Otoničar organized and helped with the CL work at the Karst Research Institute at Postojna. Arrangement of TOC, IC, and TC analyses at University of Münster is acknowledged to Harald Strauss.Peer reviewedPostprin

Earliest Cretaceous cocoons or plant seed structures from the Wealden Group, Hastings, UK

We thank Jason Hilton (University of Birmingham) and Alan Spencer (Imperial College) for discussion. RG is a member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Ancient Life (UMRI). We are grateful for the reviews of both Jorge Genise, and Duncan McIlroy whose comments and guidance greatly improved the manuscript.Postprin

Travertine precipitation in the Paleoproterozoic Kuetsjärvi Sedimentary Formation, Pechenga Greenstone Belt, NE Fennoscandian Shield

PES was supported by Väisälä Foundation (Finnish Academy of Science and Letters) and the Finnish Doctoral Program in Geology. ATB was supported by NERC grant NE/G00398X/1. VAM was supported by NFR grant 191530/V30 (projects 331000 and 802795). This is a contribution (paper) # 18 to the ICDP FAR-DEEP project.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Carbonate deposition in the Palaeoproterozoic Onega basin from Fennoscandia : a spotlight on the transition from the Lomagundi-Jatuli to Shunga events

Date of Acceptance: 08/05/2015 Date of online publication: 16/05/2015 Acknowledgements Elemental and isotopic data, thin and polished sections used in this contribution were obtained through two large umbrella-projects with grants provided by the Norwegian Research Council grant 191530/V30 to VAM and NERC grant NE/G00398X/1 to AEF. We thank A. Črne, the editor A. Strasser as well as one anonymous reviewer and D. Papineau for providing their valuable criticism and suggestions.Peer reviewedPostprin

Detecting ancient life : Investigating the nature and origin of possible stromatolites and associated calcite from a one billion year old lake

ATB acknowledges the hospitality of the North West Highlands Geopark in July 2017. DW acknowledges funding from the Australian Research Council via the Future Fellowship scheme (FT 140100321).Peer reviewedPostprin

The geomorphological distribution of subaqueous tufa columns within a hypersaline lake : Mono Lake, USA

Acknowledgments This work was supported by funding from BP Group. We thank the Mono Lake Committee for supporting fieldwork and for helping our vessel onto and most of all off the lake, and the State of California for permitting access to the lake and its environs. Dave Marquart is thanked for his support and knowledge of the lake environment. Cody and Phillip are thanked for their help on the lake, and Vern for vital logistical support. Ian Billing is thanked for his instrumental involvement in this project, and his role in shaping our thoughts. We hope he would be pleased with this paper. Dr. Chelsea Pederson, Dr. W. Fischer are heartily thanked for their excellent efforts as reviewers improving this manuscript, and Dr. Juan Carlos Laya is thanked for his careful handling of the manuscript as Associate Editor.Peer reviewedPostprin

Increasing forest loss worldwide from invasive pests requires new trade regulations

Loss of forests due to non-native invasive pests (including insects, nematodes, and pathogens) is a global phenomenon with profound population, community, ecosystem, and economic impacts. We review the magnitude of pest-associated forest loss worldwide and discuss the major ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of these invasions. After compiling and analyzing a dataset of pest invasions from 21 countries, we show that the number of forest pest invasions recorded for a given country has a significant positive relationship with trade (as indicated by gross domestic product) and is not associated with the amount of forested land within that country. We recommend revisions to existing international protocols for preventing pest entry and proliferation, including prohibiting shipments of non-essential plants and plant products unless quarantined. Because invasions often originate from taxa that are scientifically described only after their introduction, current phytosanitary regulations – which target specific, already named organisms – are ineffective

Observations of reservoir quality alteration in proximity to igneous intrusions for two distinct sandstones units in Scotland

Acknowledgements We thank the reviewers and editor for their helpful comments which greatly improved this manuscript. Thanks to John Still from the University of Aberdeen (ACEMAC ) for guidance with SEM/EDS, Colin Taylor for MICP tests and Walter Ritchie for making thin sections. Lorenza Sardisco and Jonathan Wilkins at X-Ray Minerals for XRD analysis and Prof. M.J. Wilson from the James Hutton Institute for valuable discussion of XRD results. Dave Healy acknowledges the support of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, UK) through the award NE/N003063/1 ‘Quantifying the Anisotropy of Permeability in Stressed Rock’.Peer reviewedPostprin

A test of the biogenicity criteria established for microfossils and stromatolites on quaternary tufa and speleothem materials formed in the “Twilight zone” at Caerwys, UK

© 2015, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The ability to distinguish the features of a chemical sedimentary rock that can only be attributed to biology is a challenge relevant to both geobiology and astrobiology. This study aimed to test criteria for recognizing petrographically the biogenicity of microbially influenced fabrics and fossil microbes in complex Quaternary stalactitic carbonate rocks from Caerwys, UK. We found that the presence of carbonaceous microfossils, fabrics produced by the calcification of microbial filaments, and the asymmetrical development of tufa fabrics due to the more rapid growth of microbially influenced laminations could be recognized as biogenic features. Petrographic evidence also indicates that the development of "speleothem-like" laminae was related to episodes of growth interrupted by intervals of nondeposition and erosion. The lack of any biogenic characteristics in these laminae is consistent with their development as a result of variation in the physicochemical parameters that drive calcite precipitation from meteoric waters in such environmental settings