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The preservation of molluscan shells as calcite casts is commonly a result of their centripetal replacement, while on the sea floor, by a stable micrite envelope. This grows in three stages: (1) algae bore into the shell wall, (2) the algal filaments die and decay, (3) micritic aragonite fills the tubes. Later, if the skeletal sand is exposed to fresh water as a result of uplift or a fall in sea level, or to a suitable brine deep under the sea floor, the residual molluscan shell is dissolved but the envelope remains intact. It forms an empty mould that is subsequently filled with drusy calcite. Complete replacement of skeletal grains by micritic aragonite yields cryptocrystalline grains like Ming's “grains of aragonite matrix” and the grains in Beales's “bahamite”. Through a study of compaction fabrics it may be possible to decide whether an envelope-bearing limestone was cemented above sea level or below the sea floor.

A Conus peptide family (the contryphans) is noteworthy because of the presence of a post-translationally modified d-amino acid in all members of the family. A new contryphan peptide, Leu-contryphan-P, was isolated from the venom of Conus purpurascens; the sequence of this peptide is: Gly-Cys-Val-D-Leu-Leu-Pro-Trp-Cys-OH This is the first known occurrence of d-leucine in a Conus peptide. The discovery of Leu-contryphan-P suggests that there may be branches of the contryphan peptide family that diverge much more in sequence than previously anticipated. Several natural contryphans provide dramatic examples of inter-conversion between multiple conformational states in small constrained peptides. The contryphans that have 4-trans-hydroxyproline and d-tryptophan in positions 3 and 4, respectively, exhibit two peaks under reverse-phase HPLC conditions, indicating interconversion between two discrete conformations. However, [l-Trp4]contryphan-Sm (with l-Trp substituted for d-Trp) exhibits a single, broad peak that elutes later than the natural peptide, suggesting that d-Trp stabilizes a conformation in which hydrophobic residues are buried. Leu-contryphan-P which has valine and d-leucine instead of 4-trans-hydroxyproline and d-tryptophan shows only a single peak that elutes much later than the other contryphans.

A fiber composite model of highly drawn polyethylene is presented. Quantitative predictions and calculations are made using shear-lag theory. The drawing process is shown to occur in two stages, a neck and a postneck taper. It is shown that there is an empirical linear relationship, with a high correlation, between the parameter x in shear-lag theory (which involves the aspect ratio of the reinforcing elements and the square root of the ratio of matrix shear modulus to the Young's modulus of the reinforcing elements) and the 3/2 power of the taper draw ratio. It is concluded that crystalline fibrils (the reinforcing elements) deform homogeneously during the secondary, taper drawing process. The increase in aspect ratio resulting from this homogeneous deformation is held to be responsible for the increase in tensile modulus owing to the increased efficiency of the fibrils as reinforcing elements. The model is also used to explain the self-hardening process exhibited by these fibers and, using measurements of density of hardened fibers, to predict that immediately after the neck the aspect (length to diameter) ratio of the crystalline reinforcing elements is ca. 2 and that the shear modulus of the matrix material in as-drawn fibers is ∼103N/m2 and does not change significantly during the taper-drawing process.

The load-elongation behavior during the postneck drawing stage in the deformation of crystalline polymers is shown to be modeled quantitatively by an aligned short-fiber composite in which crystalline fibrils form the reinforcing phase in a matrix of less well-ordered material. Three modes of deformation are distinguished in the model and are shown to correspond to the observed loadelongation relations in polyethylene and polypropylene. The regions are (I) elastic–plastic crystals in an elastic matrix, (II) elastic–plastic crystals in an elastic–plastic matrix, (III) elastic crystals in an elastic–plastic matrix. A requirement of the theory is that the flow stress in the crystals is little affected by temperature whereas that in the matrix falls as the temperature rises. Expressions are given for stress in terms of the applied strain and the relevant parameters of the system: concentration of fibrils, length and diameter of fibrils, and elastic and yield properties of fibrils and matrix.

Numerical results are given of calculations of the radial, transverse, and shear stresses in the matrix surrounding a cylindrical inclusion in plane strain perpendicular to the cylinder axis, this being taken as a model of a fiber composite under transverse loading. It is shown that the presence of an interlayer on the fiber at a thickness which is a small fraction of the fiber diameter can significantly affect the stress concentrations in the matrix. The interlayer-fiber ‘composite’ can be ‘matched’ to the matrix by suitable choice of interlayer elastic moduli. In particular, if the shear modulus of the interlayer is smaller than that of the matrix and its Poisson's ratio is very small, the stress concentrations in the matrix are considerably reduced and the composite should be less subject to failure by delamination.

Diagenetic fabrics (textures and structures) have been examined in thin sections of Dinantian limestones mainly from the Avon Gorge, North Wales and Yorkshire. Six processes are shown to have been responsible for the change from unconsolidated sediment to limestone. These are: (1) granular cementation and drusy growth, (2) rim cementation (secondary enlargement), (3) pressure solution, (4) grain growth sensu stricto, (5) mechanical deposition in cavities of post-depositional age, and (6) post-depositional formation of cavities by erosion and solution in a carbonate mud. Grain growth, a process well known to metallurgists, acts in monomineralic fabrics of low porosity in the solid state. The intergranular boundaries wander so that some grains enlarge while others shrink and disappear, so bringing about a general increase in coarseness. In all the limestones the mosaic between the mechanically deposited particles (skeletal debris, pellets, ooliths) is one of three types. These are granular cement, rim-cemented detrital crystals, and a mosaic caused by grain growth.