England and Wales through geological time, P J Brenchley and P F Rawson • Neoproterozoic: the late Precambrian terranes that formed Eastern Avalonia, D McIlroy and J M Horák • Early Palaeozoic History • Cambrian and Ordovician: the early Palaeozoic tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Welsh Basin, Midland, and Mona Terranes of Eastern Avalonia, P J Brenchley, A W A Rushton, M F Howells and R Cave • Silurian: the influence of extensional tectonics and sea-level changes on sedimentation in the Welsh Basin and on the Midland Platform, L Cherns, L R M Cocks, J R Davies, R D Hillier, R A Waters and M Williams • The Lakesman Terrane: the Lower Palaeozoic record of the deep marine Lakesman Basin, a volcanic arc and foreland basin, R P Barnes, M J Branney, P Stone and N H Woodcock • Late Palaeozoic History • The Acadian Orogeny: the mid-Devonian phase of deformation that formed slate belts in England and Wales, N H Woodcock and N J Soper • Caledonian intrusive rocks of northern England and the Midlands, D Millward • The alluvial Old Red Sandstone: fluvial basins, R D Hillier and B P J Williams • Carboniferous: extensional basins, advancing deltas and coal swamps, C N Waters and S J Davies • The Variscan Orogeny: the development and deformation of Devonian/ Carboniferous basins in SW England and South Wales, B E Leveridge and A J Hartley • Cornubian granites and mineralization of SW England, R C Scrivener • Permian: arid basins and hypersaline seas, A H Ruffell, D W Holliday and D B Smith • Mesozoic to Quaternary History • Triassic: seasonal rivers, dusty deserts and saline lakes, M W Hounslow and A H Ruffell • Jurassic: the returning seas, J C W Cope • Cretaceous: sea levels peak as the North Atlantic opens, P F Rawson • Paleogene and Neogene: uplift and a cooling climate, C King • Quaternary: ice sheets and their legacy, J A Catt, P L Gibbard, J J Lowe, D McCarroll, J D Scourse, M J C Walker and J J Wymer • What next? • The future: climate and sea-level changes, glaciation and a northward drift, P L Gibbard, J E Rawson and A G Smith