This volume provides an overview of current research on fossil and modern dinoflagellates, as well as highlighting research areas for future collaboration, following the DINO9 International Conference in Liverpool. The volume is organized into four themes, with a review paper for each theme written by the key-note speaker. Each theme also includes a future research foci note following discussion during the conference. The contributions are organized into the following sections: environmental change, ecology/palaeoecology, life cycles and diversity, and stratigraphy and evolution. Also included are notes from two workshops: culture experiments and dinocysts as palaeoceanographic tracers. This volume will be of interest to both the biological and micropalaeontological communities.

Bivalves are key components of recent marine and freshwater ecosystems and have been so for most of the Phanerozoic. Their rich and long fossil record, combined with their abundance and diversity in modern seas, has made bivalves the ideal subject of palaeobiological and evolutionary studies. Despite this, however, topics such as the early evolution of the class, relationships between various taxa and the life habits of some key extinct forms have remained remarkably unclear. This volume integrates palaeontological and zoological approaches and sheds new light on the course of bivalve evolution.

A review of the extensive advances made in the understanding the petroleum geology of the Atlantic margin of northwest Europe, of the North Sea and of adjacent areas since the;ast conference in 1992. In particular, the volume focuses on: the development of and application of 3D seismic, time-lapse ('4D') and other innovative seismic tools; the ongoing refinement of sequence and other stratigraphic approaches, including the integration of detailed biostratigraphic data; the development of modelling at both the reservoir and basin scale which can respond to new data acquisition and be used to assess uncertainties at the reservoir scale and scenarios at the basin scale.