A study of the stable isotope composition (δ18O, δ13C) of biogenic (ostracod, mollusc) and authigenic carbonates in the Ballagan Formation, Lower Carboniferous of Scotland, coupled with evidence from sedimentology and associated fossil fauna and flora, supports the argument that this formation was deposited in a coastal flood plain setting, in brackish (0.5 40‰ NaCl) waters, but in the absence of persistent normal marine conditions. The oxygen isotope data from the Ballagan Formation divide into three clusters: a diagenetic field defined by low δ18O (
