Ophiuroids from the Upper Jurassic marine deposits (upper Oxfordian–lower Kimmeridgian) of southern and north-western Poland have been studied in two sections: Zalas quarry in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland in southern Poland and Wapienno/Bielawy quarries in the Kuyavia region of north-western Poland. Described herein are nine taxa belonging to five genera (one new to science): Alternacantha Thuy and Meyer, 2013; Dermocoma Hess, 1964; Ophiobartia Loba gen. nov.; Ophioderma Müller and Troschel, 1840; Ophiotreta Verrill, 1899, and three families: Ophiacanthidae and Ophiodermatidae (both of Ljungman, 1867), and Ophiotomidae Paterson, 1985. Only a few representatives of some of these taxa have previously been reported from the Jurassic of Poland. One species, Ophiobartia radwanskii Loba, is established as new. The ophiuroid material recognized from both Polish localities is close to those described from Western Europe at family or even genus level. Both studied ophiuroid assemblages from Zalas and Wapienno/Bielawy show similarities, being dominated by the cosmopolitan species Ophioderma spectabile Hess, 1966, and by different species of Dermocoma. The recognized ophiuroid assemblages represent a rather shallow-water environment.
This paper is a summary of the results of research on the accumulation conditions of the Upper Younger Loess (LMg) in Poland and Bug loess (bg) in Ukraine from the maximum stage (MIS 2) of the Vistulian (Weichselian) Glaciation in central and eastern Europe. These studies included an analysis of the morphological (topographic) situation of the loess cover, its grain size and heavy mineral composition, the preserved structures of loess sedimentation as well as mollusc and pollen analyses of this loess. They revealed that the accumulation of Upper Younger Loess (UYL) might have been more dependent on the prevailing moisture conditions than previously thought. These conditions could have been caused by cold air masses from an ice sheet and warm air masses from the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic coming together in the Carpathians and the Holy Cross Mountains and favouring the formation of dust storms and precipitation. In this process, a loading of loess dust (formed from local rocks weathering in periglacial conditions) by atmospheric moisture particles was especially significant. The moist substrate not only favoured the periodic development of vegetation and molluscs but also enabled the interception of dust and the accumulation of an increasingly thick loess cover. Westerly and south-westerly winds predominated in the UYL as indicated by the topographic position of loess patches and the mineral composition of the studied loess. Periodically an increased air circulation from the east and northeast occurred.
In the mining galleries of the abandoned Au-As mine in Radzimowice, diverse groups of secondary arsenates crystallized recently. They form several characteristic assemblages. In the first of them the typical minerals are bukovskýite and melanterite. The second group of secondary arsenates includes scorodite, kaňkite, zýkaite, and pitticite. The third assemblage includes Co-Ni-Mg arsenates of the erythrite-annabergite-hörnesite series. The first assemblage crystallized in a zone with a very high activity of sulphate and arsenate ions and where the pH varies within a narrow range of 2.0–3.5. The second group of secondary arsenates formed in the acidic zone. The minerals identified here suggest pH variation within fairly wide ranges, from about 2.0 to 5.5. Contrary to the first and second mineral assemblage, the Co-Ni-Mg arsenates formed under different geochemical conditions. Their crystallization took place under weak acidic to neutral conditions.
Twenty silver minerals of the sulphide, arsenide, selenide, telluride, sulphosalt and chloride groups were found in 13 locations in the Variscan Karkonosze granitoid pluton. Previously only one of these minerals was known from this area. The findings include species characterized in publications as rare or exceptionally rare, e.g., muthmannite and tsnigriite. They occur in pegmatites and quartz veins; their parageneses are described. The studies include determination of chemical compositions, formulae calculations and recording of XRD patterns. Inclusion studies in paragenetic quartz indicate that they crystallized from epithermal fluids with a common but low component of CO 2. The results suggest that the minerals formed from trace elements (Ag included) in the Karkonosze granitoid due to very local degrees of recrystallization of the host granitoid.
The contributions of the members of the Department of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Petrology, University of Warsaw, to the study of the chevkinite-group of minerals (CGM) are described. The range of research topics includes: (i) geochemical and mineralogical studies of natural occurrences of the group, and attempts to relate their chemical composition to host lithology; (ii) detailed analysis of the hydrothermal alteration of CGM in various settings, with the aim of understanding element redistribution and the potential implications for ore formation. An ongoing series of high P-T experiments is providing quantitative information on the pressures, temperatures and melt water conditions under which the alteration assemblages have formed. Various spectroscopic techniques are being used to determine the structure of the CGM and to identify cation distribution in the structures.
The Northern Copper Belt is located in south-western Poland, a region well known for its copper and silver occurrences of varying significance. This area also includes the abandoned mines of the North-Sudetic Trough (Old Copper District), as well as the currently active New Copper District in the southern part of the Fore- Sudetic Monocline. The vast exploration programme of Miedzi Copper Corp. initiated in 2011 in the northern, deeper part of the Fore Sudetic Monocline provided new data about the deeper parts of this geological unit, located north of the known deposits. A number of prospective areas with Cu-Ag mineralization were investigated, which ultimately resulted in the discovery of three new Cu-Ag deposits. Both the prospective areas and the documented deposits form the so-called Northern Copper Belt, which as a whole has high potential for the identification of new ore deposits and an increase in resources. A description of these three new deposits is provided along with characteristics of the areas of their possible extension, and the additional prospective areas with hypothetical and speculative resources. The new deposits are compared to other Polish Cu-Ag ore deposits, with an emphasis on differences in their geological structure and mineralogy. The paper also presents a brief summary of the applied new exploration tools which have led to this discovery.
The first recognition of a tracemaker responding to a temporary shift in the redox boundary is recognized. This is recorded by a new trace fossil, Sursumichnus orbicularis igen. et isp. nov., which is established for mound-like structures on the upper surfaces of sandstone beds from the Borjomi Flysch (upper Paleocene–lower Eocene) in the Lesser Caucasus (Georgia). It is connected with the spatangoid echinoid burrow Scolicia de Quatrefages, 1849 and interpreted as a resting trace of the same tracemaker produced after moving up from a deeper position within the sediment. The resting is caused by an episode of unfavourable conditions related to shallowing of the redox boundary. The trace fossil is a component of the Nereites ichnofacies.
Biostratigraphic analysis of calcareous nannofossils from the Pełczyska section in the Miechów Trough (southern Poland) has revealed that the entire section covers the lowermost Maastrichtian. The UC16bTP Tethyan subzone is designated based on the presence of Broinsonia parca constricta Hattner, Wind and Wise, 1980, reworked remains of Uniplanarius trifidus (Stradner) Hattner and Wise in Wind and Wise, 1983 and the simultaneous lack of Eiffellithus eximius (Stover) Perch-Nielsen, 1968. The studied section spans also the interval between the LO of Zeugrhabdotus praesigmoides Burnett, 1997 and the FO of Prediscosphaera mgayae Lees, 2007 (UC16 S3 Boreal subzone). Quantitative analysis of nannofossil assemblages has shown the dominance of cold water species (up to 50%), e.g., Micula decussata Vekshina, 1959, Prediscosphaera spp., Arkhangelskiella spp., Calculites obscurus (Deflandre) Prins and Sissingh in Sissingh, 1977 and Lucianorhabdus cayeuxii Deflandre, 1959. In the early Maastrichtian, the studied area was more influenced by cool water masses from the Boreal Province rather than by warm water from the Tethyan Province. The significant predominance of cold water taxa and the elevated presence of Prediscosphaera cretacea (Arkhangelsky) Gartner, 1968 also supports the hypothesis of climate cooling in the early Maastrichtian.
A detailed analysis of the upper Viséan, Serpukhovian and Bashkirian Rugosa of the Donets Basin confirms their Mississippian/Pennsylvanian turnover during the Eumorphoceras / Homalophyllites–Hudsonoceras Zone, as postulated earlier (Fedorowski 1981a). The deterioration of rugose corals, globally diverse in time and space in the late Viséan and Serpukhovian, has resulted in the patchy distribution of survivors and newcomers, present in the Bashkirian. Difficulties in inter-basinal communication and the isolation of some sites have resulted in a different content of Bashkirian Rugosa in particular patches, with only rare genera in common. New data has made it possible to document the appearance of the first late Carboniferous genera in the Donets Basin as early as the lower Voznessenkian Horizon (= lower Chokierian Substage), i.e., close to the beginning of the Bashkirian Stage. The two stages of diversification, established in the Bashkirian rugose corals of the Donets Basin, cannot find their counterparts elsewhere. A palaeogeographic overview of the most important sites of diversified rugose corals documents the need to re-examine many taxa, which should be based on complete specimen studies. This and the precise placement of taxa in the modern stratigraphy must be done in order to make rugose corals globally comparable. Simple repetitions of names, commonly used in general summaries, is strongly misleading in both stratigraphic and palaeogeographic reconstructions.
In this paper cation arrangement in two samples of aluminoceladonite, emerald‑green and dark-green were studied by Mössbauer, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra obtained in the region of the Si2p, Al2p, Fe2p, K2p, and O1s core levels provided information, for the first time highlighting a route to identify the position of Si, Al, K, and Fe cations in a structure of layered silicates. The XPS analysis showed the presence of Al in tetrahedral and octahedral coordination while the K2p line indicated the possibility of K+ substitution by other cations in interlayer sites. Mössbauer spectroscopy provided information about crystal chemistry with respect to the local electronic and geometric environment around the Fe atom and to distortions of the polyhedra. It turned out that iron was located mostly in the cis-octahedra position wherein about 75% of iron appeared in the form of Fe 3+. The most preferred cation combinations around Fe corresponded to 3Fe 3+ ions and MgFe 2+Fe 3+/2MgFe 3+. Raman spectroscopy illustrated aluminium substitution in silicon and iron positions wherein the concentration of the aluminium determined the degree of structural distortion within the layered system. These isomorphic substitutions implied a typical band arrangement in the hydroxyl region, which has not been observed in celadonites so far.
The presented studies focus on changes in groundwater levels and chemistry, and the identification of important factors influencing these changes on short- and long-term scales in urban areas. The results may be useful for rational and sustainable groundwater planning and management in cities. The studies concerned three aquifers: (1) the shallow Quaternary aquifer, (2) the deep Quaternary aquifer, and (3) the Oligocene aquifer in the capital city of Warsaw (Poland). The spatial variability of groundwater recharge was determined and its changes in time were characterized. The characteristics of groundwater levels were based on long-term monitoring series. The results indicate that urban development has caused overall reduction in infiltration recharge (from 54 to 51 mm/ year), which is particularly clear in the city suburbs and in its centre, where land development has significantly densified during the last 30 years. Studies of groundwater levels indicate variable long-term trends. However, for the shallowest aquifer, the trends indicate a gradual decrease of the groundwater levels. In the case of the much deeper Oligocene aquifer, groundwater table rise is observed since the 1970s (averagely c. 20 m), which is related with excessive pumping. Based on the studied results, the groundwater chemistry in the subsurface aquifer indicates strong anthropogenic influence, which is reflected in multi-ionic hydrogeochemical types and the occurrence of chemical tracers typical of human activity. The Oligocene aquifer is characterized by a chemical composition indicating the influence of geogenic factors.
Compositional and textural data are presented for zircon, secondary Zr-silicates, catapleiite and elpidite in a peralkaline granite from the Ilímaussaq complex, south Greenland. The zircon is essentially stoichiometric, with (Zr + Hf + Si) = 1.96–1.98 a.p.f.u. The secondary Zr-silicates show a wide range of Zr/Si atomic ratios (0.13–0.79). The catapleiite varies from close to stoichiometric to a Na-depleted type showing cation deficiency (5.2–5.8 a.p.f.u.). Elpidite shows similar variations (7.2–9.0 a.p.f.u.). Textural relationships between the Zr phases are interpreted to show that magmatic zircon interacted with hydrous fluids exsolved from the magma to form the secondary Zr-silicates. Formation of catapleiite was late‑magmatic, in equilibrium with a Na-Sibearing fluid. This was followed by the crystallization of elpidite, the fluid having a different Na/Si ratio. Both catapleiite and elpidite experienced Na-loss during late-stage hydrothermal alteration.
A peralkaline granite of the Ilímaussaq Complex, South Greenland, contains the rare mineral henrymeyerite [(Ba0.92Na0.05Ca0.03)1.0(Ti6.87Fe2+1.04Nb0.03)7.9O16], a low-Fe Ba titanate [(Ba0.74Ca0.02Na0.05)0.8 (Ti4.9oFe2+0.15 Nb0.04)5.1O11], and an unidentified Ba titanosilicate. Both titanates show the coupled substitution 2Na+ + Si4+ → Ba2+ + Ti4+. The minerals are present as tiny crystals fringing ilmenite inclusions in an amphibole crystal and are thought to have formed during the hydrothermal stage of the granite’s evolution.
A relatively rich assemblage of starfish is recognised from the talus facies of an Upper Jurassic (lower Kimmeridgian) biohermal, sponge-cyanobacterial build-up from the Wapienno/Bielawy succession exposed in a salt-dome anticline in Kuyavia region, north-central Poland. The paper presents 8 taxa belonging to 4 genera (one new to science): Boxaster gen. nov., Noviaster Valette, 1929, Tylasteria Valette, 1929, Valettaster Lambert, 1914, and 4 families: Astropectinidae Gray, 1840, Goniasteridae Forbes, 1841, Sphaerasteridae Schöndorf, 1906 and Stauranderasteridae Spencer, 1913. Only a very few representatives of some of these taxa have formerly been reported from the Jurassic of Poland. Two species are new: Valettaster planus sp. nov. and Boxaster wapienensis gen. et sp. nov. The Jurassic starfish assemblage recognised from the Wapienno/Bielawy succession is interpreted as an offshore starfish fauna with the admixture of allochtonous shallow-water taxa. The lithology of the source deposits indicates their transport by storm agitation and/or mass movements. This fact strongly influenced the preservation state, all collected plates being disarticulated and most of them abraded.
Herein are presented the results of detailed bio- (calcareous dinocysts, calpionellids, foraminifers, saccocomids) and chemostratigraphic (δ13C) studies combined with high-resolution microfacies, rock magnetic and gamma-ray spectrometry (GRS) investigations performed on the upper Kimmeridgian–upper Valanginian carbonates of the Giewont succession (Tatricum, Giewont and Mały Giewont sections, Western Tatra Mountains, Poland). The interval studied covers the contact between the Raptawicka Turnia Limestone (RTL) Fm. and the Wysoka Turnia Limestone (WTL) Fm. Their sedimentary sequence is composed of micrites, pseudonodular limestones, cyanoid packstones, lithoclastic packstone and encrinites. A precise correlation with the previously published Mały Giewont section is ensured by biostratigraphy, rock magnetic and GRS logs. The methodology adopted has enabled the recognition of two stratigraphic discontinuities, approximated here as corresponding to the latest Tithonian–early (late?) Berriasian and the early Valanginian. The hiatuses are evidenced by biostratigraphic data and the microfacies succession as well as by perturbations in isotopic compositions and rock magnetic logs; they are thought to result from a conjunction of tectonic activity and eustatic changes. A modified lithostratigraphic scheme for the Giewont and the Osobita High-Tatric successions is proposed. The top of the RTL Fm. falls in the upper Tithonian, where cyanoid packstones disappear. At the base of the WTL Fm. a new Giewont Member is defined as consisting of a basal lithoclastic packstone and following encrinites.
Fluorite mineralization was studied in the Variscan granitoid Karkonosze pluton in the northern part of the Bohemian massif (Lower Silesia, Poland). Fluid inclusions in fluorite and quartz were investigated by the following methods: heating and freezing on an immersion microscope stage, spectrophotometric and electron probe analysis, calcination and water leachate. The parent fluids of fluorite were of the Na-Ca-Cl type with a low CO₂ content. The fluoride ions had sources in the pluton and in its host rocks. Fluid inclusion observations provide evidence of various post-formation alteration. such as refilling, partition, cracking, migration, expulsion or vacuole modification from irregular to cubic habit. A final model of fluorite origin and parent fluid evolution is presented.
The paper focuses on the taxonomic description of the lower Carboniferous (uppermost Tournaisian to middle Viséan) solitary rugose corals from bedded limestone and shale units in the Flett Formation in the Jackfish Gap (eastern Liard Range), northwestern Canada. The corals described herein include 12 species representing the genera Ankhelasma Sando, 1961, Bradyphyllum Grabau, 1928, Caninophyllum Lewis, 1929, Cyathaxonia Michelin, 1847, Ekvasophyllum Parks, 1951, Enniskillenia Kabakovich in Soshkina et al., 1962, Vesiculophyllum Easton, 1944 and Zaphrentites Hudson, 1941. Two of these species are new (Ankhelasma canadense sp. nov. and Ekvasophyllum variabilis sp. nov.) and 6 taxa are described in open nomenclature. The distribution and relative abundance of solitary Rugosa in Europe and the Liard Basin confirm the geographical proximity of those areas and the open marine communication between them during the early Carboniferous. It therefore represents an important contribution to the determination of the time of isolation of the western Laurussia shelf fauna from that of southeastern Laurussia, as well as the time of the possible emergence of species from southeastern Laurussia into the western Laurussia seas. Of particular importance here are cosmopolitan taxa and the timing of their disappearance from the fossil record.
Upper Turonian to lower Coniacian marls of the Strehlen Formation of the Graupa 60/1 core were investigated for their foraminiferal content to add stratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental information about the transitional facies zone of the Saxonian Cretaceous Basin. Further comparison with foraminiferal faunas of the Brausnitzbach Marl (Schrammstein Formation) were carried out to clarify its relationship to the marls of the Graupa 60/1 core. Tethyan agglutinated marker species for the late Turonian to early Coniacian confirm the proposed age of the marls of the Graupa 60/1 core and the Brausnitzbach Marl. The palaeoenvironment of the marls reflects middle to outer shelf conditions. The maximum flooding zones of genetic sequences TUR6, TUR7 and CON1 could be linked to acmes of foraminiferal species and foraminiferal morphogroups. In general, a rise of the relative sea-level can be recognised from the base to the top of the marls of the Graupa 60/1 core. While agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages suggest a generally high organic matter influx and variable but high productivity in the Graupa 60/1 core, the Brausnitzbach Marl deposition was characterized by moderate productivity and a generally shallower water depth.
We document an upper upper Albian ( Mortoniceras rostratum Zone) cephalopod assemblage from Clansayes (Drôme, south-eastern France). Although fossils are rare in local exposures and in the single sampled level, a decade of intensive fossil collecting yielded 290 ammonite and 5 nautilid specimens. In total, we describe 1 species of nautilid and 24 species (within 17 genera) of ammonites, including 13 heteromorphs. Only two of these ammonite taxa were previously recorded from the upper upper Albian at Clansayes, which demonstrates the value of this fauna with regard to taxonomy, palaeobiology and palaeobiogeography. Based on morphological and biometric analyses performed on an extensive material (104 specimens), we discriminate two species for the heteromorphic ammonite genus Mariella Nowak, 1916 within the Mortoniceras rostratum Zone. In addition, we investigate shell chirality patterns in Mariella from the late Albian of southern France. Upon comparison of the Clansayes material with older material from the immediately underlying upper Albian Mortoniceras fallax Zone at the neighbouring Salazac locality, we identify an increase in the proportion of sinistral specimens. This observed increase in the frequency of sinistral Mariella specimens may hypothetically be part of a global evolutionary pattern, considering that nearly all documented younger Cenomanian Mariella (and more generally Cenomanian turrilitids) are sinistral.
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.
Transmission lines’ live working is one of an effective means to ensure the reliable operation of transmission lines. In order to solve the unsafe problems existing in the implementation of traditional live working, the paper uses ground-based lidar to collect point cloud data. A tile based on the pyramid data structure is proposed to complete the storage and calling of point cloud data. The improved bidirectional filtering algorithm is used to distinguish surface features quickly and obtain a 3D model of the site. Considering the characteristics of live working, the speed of data reading and querying, the nearest point search algorithm based on octree is used to acquire a real- time calculation of the safe distance of each point in the planned path, and the safety of the operation mode is obtained by comparing with the value specified in the regulation, and assist in making decisions of the operation plan. In the paper, the simulation of the actual working condition is carried out by taking the “the electric lifting device ascending” as an example. The experimental results show that the established three-dimensional model can meet the whole process control of the operation, and has achieved practical effect.
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