On the & Aring;land Islands, Finland, rare erratic boulders with a pelmatozoan pack-, grainstone lithology occur. These boulders contain predominantly crinoid columnal fragments with columnal diameters of up to 12 mm. Based on petrographic characteristics, the boulders can be interpreted as representing clinoform flank deposits, probably of small patch reefs. The stratigraphic age of one of the boulders can be precisely constrained as belonging to the mid-Sandbian Baltoniodus viirae conodont zone, Dalbyan Regional Stage, Ordovician. It corresponds in age to the pelmatozoan-rich Dalby Limestone of Sweden. The occurrence of erratic boulders of pelmatozoan limestone on the & Aring;land Islands suggests a mid-Sandbian existence of pelmatozoan-rich patch reefs on the proximal, now eroded part of the carbonate platform. This is significantly older than the previously known oldest echinoderm-rich reefs of Baltoscandia.
Natural history collections hold immense global significance - not only as historical archives but also as precious resources for novel scientific discoveries. These collections, housed in museums and institutions worldwide, are (or should be) accessible and open for study. In this paper, we provide a brief history of the fossil collections at Lund University, Sweden, tracing their origins, key historical contributors, contents, significance and current state, as well as their future prospects. The collections' foundation dates back to 1735 when Kilian Stob ae us (1690-1742) bequeathed his extensive assembly of artefacts to the university, which originally included several thousand geological specimens, such as fossils, minerals, rocks and soil samples. Since then, the Lund collections have steadily expanded through contributions from numerous influential Earth science scholars. However, they have also undergone a convoluted history, including multiple relocations, all of which is outlined herein. Beyond documenting the Lund fossil collections, we highlight the broader importance of natural history collections, particularly with regard to type material. Despite their critical role in research and education, these collections in many cases remain undervalued by both the public and policymakers, resulting in insufficient financial support for their curation. This neglect poses an uncertain but likely detrimental impact on scientific and cultural heritage. As stewards of these valuable resources, we have a responsibility to preserve and develop them for future generations.
This paper presents a multiscale rebuttal to the discussion paper by Ulf B. Andersson (Andersson 2025), which critiques the structural interpretations and network of geological structures presented in Veress et al. (2024). We clarify that Veress et al. (2024) is a 3D modeling study, not a traditional mapping study, based on the systematic integration of LKAB's geological subsurface dataset with more than a decade of regional structural fieldwork by our research group. The reply is structured from the regional tectonic framework, through the central Kiruna area, to individual structures questioned in the discussion. We demonstrate that the structures in Veress et al. (2024), many trending NW-SE or NE-SW, fit into a regionally extensive conjugate system formed during late Paleoproterozoic E-W crustal shortening and basin inversion. This deformation regime is well documented by mapping-based studies west, east, south, and north of Kiirunavaara. We further show that the structures under discussion are all supported by LKAB datasets, in particular, drill core logging data and geophysics. Structure D is specifically indicated by drill core data compiled by Ulf B. Andersson himself in a recent report (Andersson 2023), data that include RQD and GSI values that we have now integrated into the updated 3D model, providing additional support for this structure. We also evaluate an alternative cooling-related origin for these structures, previously proposed by Ulf B. Andersson in another report (Andersson & Berglund 2024), and argue that it is inconsistent with the structural context of the wider area.
The L & auml;rbro Group and Tj & auml;ngvide Group are two special groups of picture stones from Gotland, Sweden. They are characterised by their motifs and decorations. The picture stones of the L & auml;rbro Group seem to belong to the same tradition of one group of crafters, whereas the picture stones of the Tj & auml;ngvide Group were probably produced by the same crafter. In this study, we present the carbon (delta 13C) and oxygen (delta 18O) isotope values, and visual facies analyses of the raw material, which were carried out on five sampled picture stones of the L & auml;rbro Group and three sampled picture stones of the Tj & auml;ngvide Group at Statens Historiska Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. The crafters mainly used local materials from single geological units, Slite Group and Hemse Group, to produce picture stones. In addition, we determine possible transport distance minima up to 10 km between the raw material source area and the find place of the analysed picture stones. Finally, we present that coarse and fine reef debris limestones were preferred by the crafters for producing those picture stones.
