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Palaeodrainage models for the mixed fluvial‐aeolian systems, which supplied detritus to Triassic basins on and offshore Britain and Ireland are well established. Basins such as those across Northern Ireland are not as well understood. Provenance studies of Triassic sandstones in the Slyne Basin offshore western Ireland and in basins west of Shetland have indicated that sediment supply was through a southward flowing fluvial system. Similar work on Triassic sandstones in the Wessex and East Irish Sea basins on and offshore Britain identified source rocks to the south supporting models, which evoke the northward flowing "Budleighensis" river system. The basins across Northern Ireland are potentially situated along the drainage divide between these two large‐scale drainage systems. K‐feldspar Pb‐isotopic analysis, apatite U–Pb geochronology and trace element geochemistry identify the Hebridean Platform, and the Scottish and Irish massifs to the north and west, respectively, and the remnant Variscan Uplands to the far south of the basins as source areas. The proportion of the northern‐ and southern‐derived detritus fluctuates several times over the sampled intervals, suggesting the dominance of drainage systems supplying sand to the basins "switched" intermittently over time. This may be due to abnormally heavy rains periodically powering the Budleighensis river system farther north or perhaps localised subsidence temporarily disconnecting Triassic basins on and offshore Britain and Ireland. The Triassic basins in Northern Ireland acted as either a major drainage divide between southern and northern river systems or as a regional sink for sediment preventing further expansion of either system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The illegal burial of waste often occurs in locations where loose, transferable material is abundant, allowing covert pits to be dug or filled. The transfer of waste material onto suspects and their vehicles during loading, unloading, and burial is common, as is the case during other criminal activities such as the burial of murder victims. We use two case studies to show that the established principles of using geological materials in excluding or linking suspects can be applied to illegal waste disposal. In the first case, the layering of different geological materials on the tailgate of a container used to transport toxic waste demonstrated where the vehicle had been and denied the owner's alibi, associating him with an illegal dumpsite. In the second case, an unusual suite of minerals, recovered from a suspect's trousers, provided the intelligence that led environmental law enforcement officers to an illegal waste burial site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the contribution ground-penetrating radar technology on search of burial site in Northern Ireland. Search mechanics of the radar equipment using frequency signal; Identification of the missing body by the Irish Republican Army; Significance of the non-invasive military technology.

This study uses a range of proxy sedimentological data in order to elucidate what information might be interpreted from the phosphate nodules at a condensed, transgressive horizon at the base of the Cretaceous succession (Coniacian–Santonian) in Northern Ireland. It comprises phosphate pellets and nodules, quartz, glauconite and occasional metamorphic and igneous clasts. The phosphate pellets and nodules contain an admixture of carbonate fluorapatite, calcite, glauconite, pyrite and quartz. The formation of glaucony abstracted Mg from the seafloor environment, aiding the precipitation of phosphate as nodules. Some nodules exhibit concentric lamination with borings both on the outer surface and within, where they are covered by successive layers of phosphate. Such truncated borings suggest reworking with subsequent re-phosphatisation on hiatus concretions. Concentrically-laminated hiatus concretions are enriched in heavy metals and rare earth elements. The phosphates developed during a period of transgression and onlap that promoted sediment starvation in a succession of limestones and greensands that were already deficient in clastic supply. Simple (internally homogenous) P2O5-enriched phosphate nodules probably replaced calcite nodule precursors in suboxic conditions. The overall scenario is of oceanic upwelling conditions, exhumation and burial coupled with alternating oxic to suboxic conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Geophysical investigation of a former convent graveyard for conversion to a community centre identified an unrecorded, unmarked burial below a later burial. Archaeological excavation confirmed the presence of skeletonized human remains, considered by police as a possible clandestine burial. Mortuary examination indicated the remains belonged to a mature adult female. To determine whether the deceased could be a recorded missing person, radiocarbon dating was undertaken on a femur and a rib bone. This is not always straightforward, and results showed two possible ages due to intercepts on either side of the nuclear weapons testing spike in atmospheric 14 C; however, the later dated burial allowed us to constrain the date of a rib to CE 1959. This study demonstrates that dating a second tissue with a longer turnaround time, such as a femur, can help to constrain which side of the bomb spike is most probable. This paper documents in one work the search, scene and sample and then advances this to resolution by anthropological analysis and radiocarbon dating of human remains., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)