The stratigraphy of the upper Fredericksburg and lower Washita groups of northern Texas and southern Oklahoma is described, and biostratigraphical correlation within the region, and further afield, using micro­ crinoids, ammonites, planktonic foraminiferans and inoceramid bivalves is summarised. The taxonomy of the roveacrind microcrinoids is revised by the senior author, and a new genus, Peckicrinus, is described, with the type species Poecilocrinus porcatus (Peck, 1943). New species include Roveacrinus proteus sp. nov., R. morganae sp. nov., Plotocrinus reidi sp. nov., Pl. molineuxae sp. nov., Pl. rashallae sp. nov. and Styracocrinus thomasae sp. nov. New formae of the genus Poecilocrinus Peck, 1943 are Po. dispandus forma floriformis nov. and Po. dispandus forma discus nov. New formae of the genus Euglyphocrinus Gale, 2019 are E. pyramidalis (Peck, 1943) forma pyramidalis nov., E. pyramidalis forma radix nov. and E. pyramidalis forma pentaspinus nov. The genera Plotocrinus Peck, 1943, Poecilocrinus and Roveacrinus Douglas, 1908 form a branching phylogenetic lineage extending from the middle Albian into the lower Cenomanian, showing rapid speciation, upon which a new roveacrinid zonation for the middle and upper Albian (zones AlR1–12) is largely based. Outside Texas and Oklahoma, zone AlR1 is recorded from the lower middle Albian of Aube (southeastern France) and zones AlR11–CeR2 from the Agadir Basin in Morocco and central Tunisia. It is likely that the zonation will be widely applicable to the middle and upper Albian and lower Cenomanian successions of many other regions.

The uppermost Albian and lowermost Cenomanian succession at Abouda Plage, north of Agadir, in the Agadir Basin, western Morocco, is described in detail, and ammonites, microcrinoids and planktonic foraminifera are recorded and illustrated. The lower part of the Aït Lamine Formation yields ammonites indicative of the Pervinquieria (Subschloenbachia) rostrata and P. (S.) perinflata ammonite zones, and the Thalmanninella appenninica planktonic foraminiferan Zone. The base of the Cenomanian is identified at 42.2 m above the base of the Aït Lamine Formation, based on the lowest occurrence of the planktonic foraminiferan Thalmanninella globotruncanoides Sigal, 1948. Lower Cenomanian ammonites of the Graysonites adkinsi Zone enter 3 m higher in the succession. Microcrinoid zones AlR11 and AlR12 are identified in the Upper Albian, and the base of the CeR1 Zone coincides with the lowest occurrence of Cenomanian ammonites. The ammonite and microcrinoid occurrences and detailed distributions are very similar to those found in north central Texas, which, in the Cenomanian, was 5,300 km to the west. The new records suggest that the G. adkinsi Zone is equivalent to the uppermost (Lower Cenomanian) part of the Pleurohoplites briacensis Zone of the Global Stratotype Section for the base of the Cenomanian stage. An hiatus, of global extent, immediately underlies the base of the G. adkinsi Zone and is represented in the Agadir Basin by an erosion surface containing bored and encrusted hiatus concretions.

The dynamics of climatic conditions during the Holocene in the Sumba Strait is not well known, compared with in the Indian Ocean. The aim of this paper is to identify the possible Holocene climate dynamics in Sumba Strait, eastern Indonesia by using deep-sea core sediments. A 243 cm core was taken aboard RV Baruna Jaya VIII during the Ekspedisi Widya Nusantara 2016 cruise. The core was analyzed for elemental, carbonate and organic matter content, and abundance of foraminifera. Based on geochemical and foraminifera data, we were able to identify at least six climatic changes during the Holocene in the Sumba Strait. By using the elemental ratio of terrigenous input parameter, we infer to interpret that the precipitation in the Sumba Strait during the Early Holocene was relatively higher compared with the Mid to Late Holocene.