This paper presents geochemical data for 171 core samples of the Carboniferous coal-bearing series and the Miocene cove from the central part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Major oxide concentrations (Al ₂O ₃, SiO ₂, Fe ₂O ₃, P ₂O ₅, K ₂O, MgO, CaO, Na ₂O, K ₂O, MnO, TiO ₂, and Cr ₂O ₃) were obtained using XRF. Trace and major elements (Mo, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, U, Cr, V, Mn, As, Th, Sr, Cd, Sb, Bi, Ba, Ti, W, Zr, Ce, Nb, Ta, Be Sc) were analysed ICP-MS. The main goals of this study were to demonstrate the distribution, as well as the stratigraphical variability, of the selected elements and to determine whether chemostratigraphy tools could be effectively applied to analyze Carboniferous and Miocene deposits of the USCB. Geochemical studies have shown showed different geochemical features of the samples from the Carboniferous and the Miocene. The diversity is mainly expressed in the enrichment of Miocene sediments in Ca and Sr related to biogenic carbonate material. It was also stated that the concentrations of trace elements associated with the detrital fraction, such as Zn, Cr, Co, Ba, Ti, Zr, Nb, and Sc show slightly higher values in Carboniferous sediments. On the basis of the content of Ti, Zr, and Nb, as well as ratios such as Th/U, Zr/Th, Ti/Zr, and TiO ₂/K ₂O, units with different inputs of the terrigenous fraction can be identified in both Carboniferous and Miocene formations. The paper shows that chemostratigraphy can be used as a stratigraphic and correlation tool for the Carboniferous and the Miocene deposits of the USCB.

Przeprowadzono analizę wyników opróbowań utworów miocenu autochtonicznego wieku baden górny - sarmat dolny w zapadlisku przedkarpackim rurowymi próbnikami złoża. Testy złożowe były wykonywane w nieorurowanych oraz w orurowanych odcinkach odwiertów, z których otrzymano przypływy wody złożowej o różnym stopniu nagazowania, a niekiedy też zanieczyszczonej filtratem płuczki wiertniczej. Łącznie przeanalizowano 57 interwałów wytypowanych metodami geofizyki wiertniczej. Metodami analizy statystycznej wyznaczono zależność ciśnienia złożowego od głębokości zalegania utworów miocenu, a także zależność początkowego przeciwciśnienia wytwarzanego na te utwory podczas testu RPZ, od głębokości zalegania tych utworów. Natomiast nie stwierdzono korelacji między wydatkiem wody a początkowym ciśnieniem różnicowym. Dla wybranych 22 interwałów miocenu z rejonu Dębicy uzyskano zadowalającą korelację pomiędzy: wydatkiem wody złożowej a logarytmem naturalnym ilorazu: ciśnienia hydrostatycznego słupa wody przybitkowej w kolumnie próbnikowej i ciśnienia złożowego (w rejonie tym wartość ilorazu ciśnień: php/pz wahała się w bardzo szerokich granicach, tj od 0,05 do 0,57). Stwierdzono również korelację między początkowym przeciwciśnieniem a głębokością pomiaru ciśnienia oraz początkowym przeciwciśnieniem a wydatkiem wody złożowej. Wyznaczone metodami statystycznymi równania regresji umożliwiają prognozowanie wartości ciśnienia złożowego, początkowej wartości przeciwciśnienia, podczas testów RPZ, wydatku wody złożowej oraz początkowego ciśnienia różnicowego i mogą być wykorzystane przy projektowaniu parametrów technologicznych kolejnych testów złożowych, w analizowanym obszarze zapadliska przedkarpackiego, a w szczególności w rejonie Dębicy.

W publikacji przedstawiono wybrane wyniki badań laboratoryjnych dotyczące ograniczania dopływu wody złożowej do odwiertów wydobywczych gazu i ropy. Przeanalizowano wpływ nasycenia wodą gazonośnych utworów miocenu z rejonu zapadliska przedkarpackiego na ich przepuszczalność względną dla gazu. Dokonano przeglądu literatury pod kątem oceny rezultatów uzyskanych w zabiegach zmniejszania przepuszczalności względnej skał gazonośnych i roponośnych dla wody. Na podstawie testów laboratoryjnych dokonano próby oceny skuteczności zmian przepuszczalności względnej dla solanki i azotu próbek piaskowca szydłowieckiego pod wpływem oddziaływania czterech wyselekcjonownych produktów chemicznych w postaci polimerów oraz mikrożeli. Badania laboratoryjne wykazały, że trend zmian przepuszczalności jest również silnie powiązany z zastosowanym produktem - modyfikatorem przepuszczalności względnej (RPM). Ponadto, skuteczność działania cieczy zabiegowej zależy od prędkości przepływu (wydatku przepływu) solanki przez testowaną próbkę skały - skuteczność działania testowanego preparatu jest tym większa, im wydatek przepływu solanki jest mniejszy. Wyniki testów wykazały selektywne działanie badanych produktów. W przypadku produktu nr 1 uzyskano średnie spadki przepuszczalności na poziomie 60% dla solanki oraz 18% dla gazu. W przypadku zastosowania produktu nr 2 opartego na technologii mikrożeli zaobserwowano znaczące obniżenie względnej przepuszczalności skały dla wody, z małym wpływem na przepuszczalność dla węglowodorów. Zmiany przepuszczalności dla solanki testowanych próbek piaskowca zawierały się w przedziale od 65 do 90%, a dla gazu wynosiły około 50%.

The paper presents new data on the Miocene development within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The Miocene succession of the study area is characterized by high thickness and highly variable lithology. In the Miocene sediments of the studied area, the presence of organic matter in the form of a coal layer, coal crumbs, and dispersed organic matter has been found. The research focused mainly on the analysis of organic matter in terms of its origin, degree of coalification, and depositional environment. The degree of coalification of organic matter was determined by the huminite/vitrinite reflectance. The hard brown coal layer with a thickness of about eight meters was identified within the Kłodnica Formation. Based on the textural properties and degree of coalification, brown coal was classified as dull brown coal and bright brown coal. Organic matter in the form of coal crumbs and dispersed organic matter were found within a package clastic sedimentary. On the basis of petrographic analysis, two types of allochthonous organic matter with different degrees of coalification were identified. The coal clasts are mainly of Carboniferous origin, while the Miocene redeposited brown coal grains dominate within the dispersed organic matter. Coal fragments and dispersed organic matter derived from the Miocene brown coal were also found within the black claystones. The study of organic matter of the Miocene sediments in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin showed both its autochthonous and allochthonous origins.

The algal microfossil Bolboforma reticulata Daniels and Spiegler is recorded from the Oligocene-Miocene glacio-marine sediments of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The record extends the geographic extent of the species to Antarctica.

Cephalopod specimens assigned to the Argonautidae (Obinautilus pulchra Kobayashi, 1954 and an unknown taxon) from two localities of the Mishan Formation in Gohreh and Khorgu sections, Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, are reported for the first time from the Persian Gulf area. The co-existing foraminifera confirm the middle Miocene age of the strata. Based on micropalaeontological data, the previous Oligocene age of Obinautilus pulchra is extended to the middle Miocene. The palaeobiogeographic distribution of the reported Argonautidae shows that the presence of these faunas is limited to the West Pacific, Indo-Pacific and the East Pacific. The present-day distribution of the Argonautidae is similar to the ancient one and seems to be inherited from their ancestors.

Upper Miocene (~6 Ma) sediments from a north-south transect of Ocean Drilling Program Holes 848B, 849B, 850B, 851B across the equator in the Eastern Pacific Ocean record an episode of unusual skeletal variability associated with the silicoflagellate Bachmannocena diodon subsp. nodosa (Bukry) Bukry, 1987. Skeletons in this plexus persisted for between 55,000 and 75,000 years and include an arch across a 2-sided basal ring, a highly unusual morphology for the genus. Groups of skeletal morphotypes were common within the plexus episode, and occur in a systematic sequence that is consistent between sites. As a result of this study, silicoflagellates previously placed in the genus Neonaviculopsis Locker and Martini, 1986 are now considered part of the Bachmannocena diodon subsp. nodosa plexus.

Over three thousand specimens representing the superfamily Trochoidea Rafinesque, 1815 [Trochidae Rafinesque, 1815 and Calliostomatidae Thiele, 1924 (1847)] from the upper Upper Badenian = Kosovian = lower Serravallian (middle Miocene) marine deposits of Ukraine, housed in the collections of the Polish Academy of Sciences Museum of the Earth in Warsaw (MZ), are studied herein. The abundant material has allowed for investigations of the intraspecific variation and revision of earlier determinations. As a result, 21 species belonging to 5 genera have been identified, described and illustrated, of which one is new [Clanculus (Clanculopsis) krachi sp. nov.] and one is left in open nomenclature. Granulifera O. Anistratenko, 2000 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Clanculopsis Monterosato, 1879; Granulifera pulla O. Anistratenko, 2000 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Monodonta tuberculata Eichwald, 1830; Gibbula sytovae Amitrov, 1961 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Trochus miocaenicus Mayer, 1853; Gibbula volhynica Friedberg, 1928 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Trochus novemcinctus von Buch, 1830; and Trochus buchii du Bois de Montpéreux, 1831 is suppressed in favour of the senior subjective synonym Trochus puschii Andrzejowski, 1830. The geographic distribution and stratigraphic ranges of the taxa are given. Six species are known only from the Polish-Ukrainian part of the Fore-Carpathian Basin. The protoconch features are systematically studied in the Trochidae and Calliostomatidae from this area for the first time.

The well-known Pleuronectia badensis Fontannes, 1882 (currently classified as Cristatopecten cristatus badense) is declared as a n omen protectum against the older synonym Pecten burdigalensis var. polonica Pusch, 1837 considered a nomen oblitum. It ranges from the early to the late Miocene (Burdigalian–Messinian) of the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean. In the Central Paratethys it appeared in the early Miocene (Karpatian, correlating with the latest Burdigalian) and became extinct in the middle Miocene (Late Badenian, correlating with the early Serravallian). In Poland – the northernmost part of Central Paratethys – the occurrence of this taxon is limited to the late Early Badenian (late Langhian).

Brachiopods are reported for the first time from the Lower Miocene Cape Melville Formation of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica. Two genera, Liothyrella Thomson and Paraldingia Richardson have been identified. This is the first occurrence of Paraldingia in Antarctica.

Many geological problems have not been convincingly explained so far and are debatable, for instance the origin and changes of the Neogene depositional environments in central Poland. Therefore, these changes have been reconstructed in terms of global to local tectonic and climatic fluctuations. The examined Neogene deposits are divided into a sub-lignite unit (Koźmin Formation), a lignite-bearing unit (Grey Clays Member), and a supra-lignite unit (Wielkopolska Member). The two lithostratigraphic members constitute the Poznań Formation. The results of facies analysis show that the Koźmin Formation was deposited by relatively high-gradient and well-drained braided rivers. Most likely, they encompassed widespread alluvial plains. In the case of the Grey Clays Member, the type of river in close proximity to which the mid-Miocene low-lying mires existed and then were transformed into the first Mid-Miocene Lignite Seam (MPLS-1), has not been resolved. The obtained results confirm the formation of the Wielkopolska Member by low-gradient, but mostly well-drained anastomosing or anastomosing-to-meandering rivers. The depositional evolution of the examined successions depended on tectonic and climatic changes that may be closely related to the mid-Miocene great tectonic remodelling of the Alpine-Carpathian orogen. This resulted in palaeogeographic changes in its foreland in the form of limiting the flow of wet air and water masses from the south and vertical tectonic movements.

Echinoids represent an important component of the Cenozoic marine benthic communities. Their diversity in the Mediterranean area is reviewed within the Late Miocene–Recent, a period of remarkable paleogeographic and paleo- climate changes. Of the 37 genera that lived during the Late Miocene, only Holaster, Pliolampas, and Trachyaster did not survive the Messinian Mediterranean salinity crisis (MSC), indicating that this event was not as drastic as for other marine groups. The presence of Brissopsis within the uppermost Messinian testifies to the existence of fully marine conditions at least towards the end of the MSC. Severe drops in the echinoid diversity, involving the loss of 40% of the Pliocene genera, occurred during the Piacenzian, likely because of the onset of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Most of the echinoid extinctions correlate with the crisis of the Mediterranean bivalve assemblage recorded at about 3 Ma. The Early Pleistocene progressive cooling caused the disappearance of further thermophilous shallow-water genera (Clypeaster, Schizechinus, Echinolampas) and allowed the entrance of temperate taxa ( Paracentrotus lividus, Placentinechinus davolii and Sphaerechinus granularis) from the Atlantic. Some deep-water taxa ( Histocidaris sicula, Stirechinus scillae, Cidaris margaritifera), whose Recent relatives are currently restricted to tropical areas, are not found in the area after the Calabrian possibly because of the disappearance of the psychrosphere. The extant Mediterranean echinoid fauna mainly derives from the Late Miocene fauna, reduced after several climatic changes by about 43% at the genus level. The recent increase of the sea surface temperatures allowed the entrance of the Lessepsian Diadema seto sum and confined the deep-water species of Holanthus to the coldest areas of the basin, making this genus endangered.

Trace fossils Phymatoderma melvillensis isp. nov., Thalassinoides isp., ?Nereites isp. and Planolites isp. are reported from the glacio−marine sediments of the Cape Melville Formation (Lower Miocene) of King George Island, West Antarctica. Their occurrence and strong bioturbation of sediments point to an offshore or deeper (outer shelf or upper slope) en− vironment. Deep marine crab Antarctidromia inflata Förster, 1985, has been found in Thalassinoides isp. The tracemaker (?crustacean) of Phymatodermamelvillensis re−reworked pelletal sediments probably during times of food deficiency.