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Paleontological Conference and the Award for the best student presentation

The traditional annual meeting of enthusiasts in paleontology was held in Banská Bystrica within the 23rd Czech–Slovak–Polish Paleontological Conference. It was organized by the staff of the Earth Science Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Scientific results were also presented by ten paleontologists of the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (download the Book of Abstracts here). The Award for the best student presentation was granted to Monika Uhlířová of the Department of Paleobiology and Paleontology.

Ladislav Slavík is the newly elected Chairman of the International Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy

Ladislav Slavík was re-elected the Chairman of the Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS/International Commission on Stratigraphy of the IUGS) https://devonian.stratigraphy.org/ and his new term in office began at the 37th International Geological Congress in Busan, South Korea in August 2024. The Devonian Subcommission includes over 150 members from five continents who contribute biostratigraphic, sedimentological and chemophysical proxy studies to refine Devonian stratigraphy and define new international chronostratigraphic standards (GSSP).

A new look on Neoproterozoic evolution of rocks in central and western Bohemia

Owing to a series of interconnected scientific projects, researchers of the Department of Geological Processes of the Institute managed to decipher – together with their colleagues from the Faculty of Science, Charles University – the formation of rocks in central and western Bohemia during the Neoproterozoic. Sedimentary, volcanic and deformational processes in this region could be characterized, and the results were published in prestigious scientific journals (e.g., here and here). This research also showed a public outreach, materialized in an article for the Vesmír journal and an educational panel at the foot of a rock section at the Štěchovice Dam. 

An interview on the effects of a lightning

Researchers of the Department of Paleomagnetism of the Institute of Geology gave a short interview related to the study of soil samples taken from the immediate vicinity of a tree struck by a lightning at Vratislavice, where eighteen people were injured in June this year. A report with this interview (starts at approximately 17:58) was broadcast by Czech Radio on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. The research is carried out within a subproject of the Strategy AV21 programme, the general goal of which is to investigate changes in magnetic properties of igneous and sedimentary rocks, soils or even wood after lightning strikes.

Completion of a long-lasting collaboration on a Slovenian cave

The 37th International Geological Congress in Busan (Korean Republic) announced the decision of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences (under UNESCO; IUGS) of 21 February 2024. This decision included the Račiška pečina Cave (Matarsko podolje, SW Slovenia) in the IUGS Geoheritage Sites list. Its justification stated: multidisciplinary record of landscape and palaeoenvironmental change within the last 3.4 million years, including geomagnetic field variations in the Pliocene and Pleistocene including the Matuyama/Brunhes transition. The cave features a unique flowstone section with clays containing abundant fauna of small and large vertebrates and gastropods. The long-lasting research, conducted from 2004, employed a combination of geomorphological methods with numerical radiometric dating (U-Th, U-Pb, 14C), correlative stratigraphy based on fossil remains, and stable isotope (O, C) study which contributed to palaeoenvironmental interpretations. This result is credited to an international team of scientists from Slovenia (ZRC SAZU Karst Research Institute, Postojna), Czechia (Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, v. v. i., Department of Zoology of the Faculty of Science of Charles University, Prague, National Museum in Prague) and Poland (Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań). For references to some papers resulting from this research click here and here.

XV International Palynological Congress/XI International Organization of Palaeobotany Conference, Prague, May 27–31, 2024

Leading researchers in palynology and palaeobotany met after eight years for their joint meeting in the Clarion Conference Hotel in Prague. The event was attended by 521 participants from 46 countries presenting over 400 talks, and three workshops, one art session and six field trips were held. The main motto of the event was 200 years of palaeobotany, commemorating Caspar Maria Sternberg, who is also known as the "Father of Palaeobotany". Institute of Geology was significantly represented, with Jiří Bek acting as the President of the Congress and Jana Votočková Frojdová as its General Secretary. 

Thin sections and polished sections of rocks: optimization of grinding and polishing

Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences has recently become a test centre for the development of hi-tech sensors used for high-precision grinding and polishing of samples selected for subsequent microscopic analyses.  Several staff members of the Institute were trained by Finnish specialists in operating the Polishing Wizard device, developed at the University of Turku. The device also allows for a potential automation of these processes, considering the needs of both science and industry. Testing is planned as a part of the Strategy AV21 Programme – Dynamic Planet Earth, specifically the project “Innovative methods for the study of geological processes and environmental monitoring” co-ordinated by Tomáš Hrstka. 

Icelandic volcanism at the Academy of Sciences Podcast

On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, an interview with Lukáš Krmíček, volcanologist of the Institute of Geology, was published at the Czech Academy of Sciences Podcast. It was devoted to volcanoes in Iceland but also in the Czech Republic. By coincidence, at 2:46 p.m. CEST the same day, the fifth consecutive fissure eruption started on the Reykjanes Peninsula northeast of Grindavík. The eruption was preceded by a seismic swarm in the morning, which was also detected by stations of the Czech Reykjanet network. The interview can be accessed through link

Climate change and mercury pollution found to stress plants for millions of years

At the end of the Triassic period (201 million years ago), the Earth's climate changed drastically with massive occurrence of volcanic eruptions. This period marked a significant change in the species composition of plants. A new study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, co-authored by Tomáš Navrátil and Jan Rohovec of the Department of Environmental Geochemistry, explains geological conditions leading to the changes in the biota. By combining paleoecological and geochemical approaches, we have gained insight into a complex and long-term sequence of events in which global warming of the paleoclimate and an increase in the concentration of toxic metal mercury, released into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions, acted together as stressors. As a result, trees were replaced by ferns during the 1.3 million-year extinction interval.

New paper about stromatolites from Czechia

Stromatolites are organosedimentary laminated structures that grow gradually through time due to the activity of microorganisms. The presence of stromatolites in formations as old as ∼3.7 Ga provides the earliest macroscopic traces of life on the Earth. A new paper under the leadership of Lukáš Ackerman of the Institute of Geology presents a detailed study of Ediacaran stromatolitic cherts from the Bohemian Massif. Collected data suggest a biogenic origin of primary carbonaceous stromatolite precursors that formed in shallow-water lagoons on seamount slopes. The presence of late-stage diagenetic modifications may be related to subsequent burial and low-grade metamorphism within the accretionary wedge. This paper represents a significant contribution to the stromatolite issue. Link: This paper

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