This study provides an age model based on dinocysts for the early Oligocene succession from the North Sea. The changes in the dinocysts assemblage show that the succession was deposited in a proximal and dynamic environment. Furthermore, the results suggests that the early icehouse climate played an important role in the depositional development of the Oligocene succession in the North Sea basin.

The use of micropalaeontological samples from mudstone successions that have suffered de-watering and compaction means that subtle, lamina-thick, changes in assemblages may be lost when samples are processed that are 1–2 cm thick. As most micropalaeontological samples are often 2–5 cm thick, one must be then cautious of interpretations based on such short-duration changes. This work is part of an integrated study of the Christian Malford lagerstätten that has resulted in a number of papers.

To reconstruct subsurface water conditions using deep-dwelling planktonic foraminifera, we must fully understand how the oxygen isotope signal incorporates into their shell. We report δ¹⁸O in four species sampled in the eastern North Atlantic with plankton tows. We assess the size and crust effect on the isotopic δ¹⁸O and compared them with predictions from two equations. We reveal different patterns of calcite addition with depth, highlighting the need to perform species-specific calibrations.

We report extant ostracods from the Co To Islands in northeastern Vietnam and identified 77 ostracod species. On the basis of the comparison of ostracod species reported from adjacent areas, the assemblages from the Co To Islands have a relationship with those of the Kymerian Province, especially with that of South China, and have little relationship with the East Indian Province. Our result is useful for the reconstruction of the dispersal of the Kymerian ostracods during the Quaternary.