The effects of lysine peptide lengths on DNA and siRNA packaging and delivery were studied using four linear oligolysine peptides with 8 (K8), 16 (K16), 24 (K24) and 32 (K32) lysines. Oligolysine peptides with 16 lysines or longer were effective for stable monodisperse particle formation and optimal transfection efficiency with plasmid DNA (pDNA), but K8 formulations were less stable under anionic heparin challenge and consequently displayed poor transfection efficiency. However, here we show that the oligolysines were not able to package siRNA to form stable complexes, and consequently, siRNA transfection was unsuccessful. These results indicate that the physical structure and length of cationic peptides and their charge ratios are critical parameters for stable particle formation with pDNA and siRNA and that without packaging, delivery and transfection cannot be achieved.

Hybrid event beds are texturally and compositionally‐diverse deposits preserved within deepwater settings. They are deposited by flows exhibiting ‘mixed behaviour’, forming complex successions of sandstone and mudstone, which are often challenging to predict. Hybrid event beds are documented in deep‐marine settings, where they have been thoroughly characterized, and are well‐known as effective fluid transmissibility barriers and baffles in reservoirs. By comparison, there are far‐fewer studies of hybrid event beds from deep‐lacustrine settings, where their character and distribution remains relatively under‐explored. In order to provide insights into these deposits, this study presents the detailed analysis of three‐dimensional seismic data, wireline logs and core from a series of ancient deep‐lacustrine fan systems in the North Falkland Basin. Results confirm that deep‐lacustrine hybrid event beds comprise the same idealized sequence of the ‘H1–H5’ divisions. However, in this study H3 ‘debrite’ units can be sub‐divided into ‘H3a–H3c’, based on: sharp or erosional intra‐H3 contacts, bulk lithology, mud‐content and discrete sedimentary textures. This study interprets the H3a–H3c sub‐units as the products of multiple flow components formed through significant rearward longitudinal flow transformation processes, during the emplacement of a single hybrid event bed. Hybrid event beds are observed within lobe fringes, where flow types, energies and transport mechanisms diversify as a result of flow transformation. The temporal context of hybrid event bed occurrences is considered in relation to stages of fan evolution, including: the Initiation; Growth (I); Growth (II); By‐pass; Abandonment; and Termination phases. Hybrid event beds are mainly found in either the initiation phase where flow interaction and erosion of initial substrates promoted mixed flow behaviour, or in the abandonment phase as facies belts retreated landward. The results of this study have important implications in terms of flow processes of hybrid event bed emplacement, in particular sub‐division of the H3 unit, as well as the prediction of hybrid event bed occurrence and character within ancient deep‐lacustrine fan settings, in general.

The early stages of transform margin formation are associated with crustal fragmentation and block rotation. The restricted size of the resultant microcontinental blocks precludes palaeogeographical reconstructions and reliable estimations of the amount of rotation they can undergo. An example considered here is the Falkland Plateau. This is located adjacent to the Agulhas–Falkland Fracture Zone and its westernmost province is the Falkland Islands microcontinent. The position of the plateau and the islands prior to Gondwana break-up remains contentious. This study integrates seismic reflection and gravity data to propose a revised position of the Falkland Islands microcontinent constrained by (1) the presence of a mega-décollement, controlling the Gondwanide Orogen, described north of the Falkland Islands and underneath South Africa and the Outeniqua Basin, and (2) the similar architecture of fault networks mapped north of the islands and in the northernmost Outeniqua Basin. This revised position requires a re-evaluation of the timing and rate of rotation of the Falkland Islands microcontinent and affects the expected crustal architecture adjacent to the islands. Our model yields rotation rates between 5.5° and 8° Ma ⁻¹ and two potential times for rotation, and predicts more unstretched crust beneath the basin east of the Falkland Islands than previous models.

The Inner Moray Firth Basin (IMFB) forms the western arm of the North Sea trilete rift system that initiated mainly during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous with the widespread development of major NE–SW-trending dip-slip growth faults. The IMFB is superimposed over the southern part of the older Devonian Orcadian Basin. The potential influence of older rift-related faults on the kinematics of later Mesozoic basin opening has received little attention, partly owing to the poor resolution of offshore seismic reflection data at depth. New field observations augmented by drone photography and photogrammetry, coupled with U–Pb geochronology, have been used to explore the kinematic history of faulting in onshore exposures along the southern IMFB margin. Dip-slip north–south- to NNE–SSW-striking Devonian growth faults are recognized that have undergone later dextral reactivation during NNW–SSE extension. The U–Pb calcite dating of a sample from the synkinematic calcite veins associated with this later episode shows that the age of fault reactivation is 130.99 ± 4.60 Ma (Hauterivian). The recognition of dextral-oblique Early Cretaceous reactivation of faults related to the underlying and older Orcadian Basin highlights the importance of structural inheritance in controlling basin- to sub-basin-scale architectures and how this influences the kinematics of IMFB rifting. Supplementary material: Analytical protocols and analysed sample details are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5635432