CZECH IGCP NATIONAL COMMITTEE * SUMMARY REPORT * 1996

 

1. Chairpersons of the Czech IGCP National Committee

Chairman: Jan PASAVA, Czech Geological Survey

Secretary: Jindrich HLADIL, Institute of Geology, Academy of Sciences CR

Date of submission of Report: November 20th, 1996

 

2. Members of the Czech IGCP National Committee:

Karel BREITER; Miloslav DURIS; Olga HODANOVA; Stanislav OPLUSTIL, Vladimir SKOCEK, Vladimir SIBRAVA, Miroslav STEMPROK, Jaroslav TYRACEK.

 

3. Number and title of projects in which the Czech Republic has participated:

 

A/ Projects with project leaders from the Czech Republic:

 

Project #357 - Organics and Mineral Deposits

Project Leader: J. Pasava

Czech Representative: B. Kribek

Activities of the Working Group have been focused on two topics:

(1) Black shale hosted PGE (platinum group elements) mineralization of the Upper Proterozoic of the Bohemian Massif: It has been documented that the distribution of PGE concentrations in the Upper Proterozoic metal-rich black shales from the Barrandian Proterozoic (Bohemian Massif) was controlled by the type and size of sedimentary environment, the character of volcanogenic-hydrothermal fluids, the intensity of organic activity, and finally by the degree of metamorphism. Relatively low organic activity have resulted in the formation of subeconomic PGE concentrations. These results have came out of broader correlation studies carried out within the Czech-Finnish and Russian collaborative project on examples of the Proterozoic metal-rich black shales from the Bohemian Massif, eastern Finland and Voronez Massif (Russia).

(2) Weathering of fossil organic matter at spoil banks and tips of mines: Millions tons of material is deposited in spoil banks, tips and heap of mines. In many cases, the material contains a substantial amount of fossil organic matter. Studying changes of organic matter at the heaps of the brown coal opencast mines at the Miocene North Bohemian Coal Basin, Czech IGCP #357 scientists came out with a very important discovery. It has been found that a high amount of humic substances is produced during weathering of mostly aromatic organic matter (type III kerogen). Consequently, the cation exchange capacity of this type of material substantially increases in time. Besides the humic acids, a high amount of free phenols (from 0.024 to 0.52 mg.kg-1 of sediment) is generated. Phenols dramatically limit bacterial activity (including N2 - fixing bacteria) in the materials of spoil banks. Generally, the amount of available nitrogen remains very low and any type of remediation of this type of material is practically impossible.

On the other hand, only a limited amount of humic acids is produced during weathering of sediments which contain aliphatic or mixed type of organic matter (type I and II kerogen). In this case the amount of produced phenols is negligible (less than 0.005 mg.kg-1 of sediment) and moreover, easily metabolized aliphatic part of kerogen accelerates the development of microbial activity. In these sediments, the amount of available nitrogen gradually increases, reaching the amount of nitrogen typical for arable soils within 40 years. This type of material is usually remediated with a great success. A Czech IGCP 357 WG meeting will be held in Prague, November 26-27, 1996 and a book of Proceedings has already been published (B. Kribek, editor, 1996, Weathering of fossil organic matter. Proceedings of the Czech IGCP 357 WG Meeting, Prague, November 26-27, Czech Geological Survey, ISBN 80-7075-237-8).

 

Project #405 - Anthropogenic Impact on Weathering Processes

Project Leaders: P. Sulovsky and J. Zeman

Czech Representatives: P. Sulovsky and J. Zeman

The Project #405 has been approved by UNESCO and successfully started in 1996. The topic of cooperation was apparently welcome by scientific public of the world. Coordination of experimental and theoretical research, with possible feedback from applied research in this field, seems to provide good results. Physical and chemical aspects of the processes will scrutinized in detail, but emphasis to modeling is evident. The Inaugural Meeting of the Project will be held in Brno, December 2-4, 1996 and about 50 scientists from many foreign countries have already confirmed the participation in this meeting. A broad agenda covering the formation of working groups and discussing scientific goals as well as the schedule of the next national and international meetings will be on the program.

 

B/ Projects with active working groups in the Czech Republic:

 

Project #326 - Oligocene-Miocene transition in the Northern Hemisphere

Project Leaders: M.A. Akhmetiev

Czech Corresspondent: J. Krhovsky

Activity was centered on the biostratigraphic, eventostratigraphic and ecostratigraphic correlation studies of the Oligocene and Lower Miocene of Paratethys. Calcareous nannofossil stratigraphy of the standard Eastern Paratethys section along the Belaya river, Northern Precaucasus, Russia has been studied in detail. Czech corresspondent took an active part in the field symposium of the Project #326 "Oligocene-Miocene transition and main geological events in Romania" which was organized in Pomania (Eastern Carpathians - Tarcau Nappe, North-Western Transylvania) in the period from August 26 through September 8, 1996. The 1996 was the last year of the Project and a Final Report is under preparation to be published in the near future.

 

Project #328 - Paleozoic Microvertebrates

Project Leaders: S. Turner/G.C. Young/A. Blieck

Czech Correspondents: J. Zajic and S. Stamberk

J. Zajic was working a special contribution to the IGCP #328 Final Report (Turner, S., ed.) which will be a special issue of the Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. The chart of biozones for the Czech limnic Permian/Carboniferous has been finished (based on the study of microvertebrate remains), largely including correlation with surrounding areas (Poland, Germany and France). J. Zajic took an active part in an international meeting on the "Premiers Vertebres/Vertebres infèrieurs" which was organized in Paris, France. A significant collection of fossil fishes from the Museum of Natural History in Vienna has been scrutinized by S. Stamberg and a publication "New paleontological findings from the Vesela Horizon of the Krkonose Piedmont Basin" has been completed and sent for publishing.

 

Project #335 - Biotic Recoveries from Mass Extinctions

Project Leaders: D.H. Erwin/E.G. Kauffman

Czech Representative: J. Hladil

The major event was the Second National Working Group Meeting which was held in Brno on November 23rd, 1996. Twelve lectures have been presented during the well attended (about 40 people) one full day meeting. Czech WG has come out with a new approach to the modeling of recovery process using (1) causality series and (2) concurrent processes where starting points for recovery is random.Conference Proceedings entitled "Evolution and Extinctions", and putting together 13 contributions of which 3 are internationally oriented (topics from Germany and Russia) were published and distributed to the participants at the meeting (Cejchan, P., Hladil, J., and Storch, P., eds., Geolines, 3, pp. 3-71. Prague. ISSN 1210-9606).

 

Project #343 -Stratigraphic Analysis of Peritethyan Epicratonic Basins

Project Leader: J. Dercourt/F. Cecca

Czech Representative: S. Oplustil

Czech Working Group, gathering 6 specialists from the Charles University, Prague, Academy of Sciences and Czech Geological Survey, has continued biostratigraphic studies of the Permo-Carboniferous and Triassic formations on the territory of the Bohemian Massif. A set of paleogeographic maps covering moscow/westfal D, artinsk/saxon and murgab/thuering has been provided to the leadership of the Project for the compilation of final paleogeographic maps. The project terminates in 1996.

 

Project #360 - Global Geochemical Baselines

Project Leader: A.G. Darnley

Czech and Central European Representative: M. Duris

Two working group meetings took place during the past period: in Keyworth (U.K.) and in Spisska Nova Ves (Slovak Republic). The first one was discussing organizing problems concerning the field and laboratory works with the aim to ensure the Global Geochemical Reference Network as a base for compatibility of geochemical mapping data in any place of the world surface. The second event helped to develop new important links between the former east-European scientists and western geochemists working in the field of global geochemical mapping. At the present time, the main organizing effort in European region has been transferred to the Forum of European Geological Surveys (FOREGS), which clearly distinguished the importance of the project. The national activity has covered the preparatory work which will be followed by a subsequent studies leading to the creation of the Global Geochemical Reference Network on the territory of the Bohemian Massif.

 

Project #362 - Tethyan and Boreal Cretaceous

Project Leaders: H. Leereveld and J. Michalik

Czech Representative: M. Bubik

The most important activity was the regional meeting - a workshop with a field trip, organized in Brno in April 1996 and devoted to the stratigraphy and palaeogeography of the autochthonous and allochtonous Upper Cretaceous in south Moravia and adjacent areas. Some of discussed topics have been already published, the other are in progress (e.g. Mid-Cretaceous transgression in the Blansko graben, revision of remnant sediments and redeposited Cretaceous microfossils in the eastern margin of the North-European Platform). About twenty Czech and Austrian scientists took an active part in both the scientitific and field part of the event.

 

Project #369 - Comparative Evolution of Peritethyan Rift Basins

subproject: Magmatism and Rift-Basins Evolutions

Project Leaders: W. Cavazza, A. Robertson and P. Ziegler

Czech Corresspondent: J. Ulrych

A complex study entitled "Alkaline ultramafic sill at Dvur Kralove (eastern Bohemia), petrological and geochemical constraints" has been finished within a large cooperation of Czech and Hungarian scientists. The studied sill represented a link between the Late Cretaceous volcanism, 77-69 Ma, Osecna Complex, western Bohemia, and tesehenic rock-association of outer west Carpathians. Similar rocks were found in the Transdanubian Mid-Mountains, Hungary. Deep faulting of the crust (or initial rift stage?) is thus indicated in the Central Europe during the Late Cretaceous times. Trachytes and phonolites of the Ceske Stredohori Mts. have been further scrutinized providing promising results in geochemical evidence of tectonic setting (in the cooperation with German students). Czech representative took an active part in the Project #369 international meeting on the "Magmatic Events in Rifted Basins", which was held in Budapest in July 1996.

 

Project #378 - Circumalpine Quaternary Correlations

Project Leader: C. Schluechter

Czech Representative: P. Havlicek

The most important activity was the preparation of a very well attended National Working Group Meeting which was held on October 2, 1996 in Brno and preceeded and followed by a two day field trips visiting south Moravian and Austrian classical sections respectively. About 35 scientists from 12 countries participated in this important Quaternary event. It has been shown and emphasized that physical stratigraphical tools help to a better correlation of Circumalpine Quaternary sediments. Other physically recorded events, like soil horizons etc. have been investigated in detail. Besides that several Czech scientists took an active part in two IGCP #378 international workshops organized in northern Italy - western Switzerland and in southwestern Germany - southwestern France.

 

4. IGCP meetings held in the Czech Republic in 1996

Project #328 -"Paleozoic Microvertebrates" ( 8 working meetings of Czech correspondents during 1996; 6 of them at the Czech Geological Survey in Prague and 2 others at the Museum of the Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Kralove).

Project #335 -"Evolution and Extinctions" ( RECO96) - Second Czech WG Meeting (November 23, 1996, Brno) - 35 participants, 12 lectures. Organized by the Czech IGCP #335 Group, Masaryk University of Brno (Brzobohaty, R. - Musil, R. - Kalvoda, J. - Hladilova, S.) & Academy of Sciences Cz.R. (Hladil, J. - Cejchan, P.).

Project #357 -"Weathering of Fossil Organic Matter" - Czech WG Meeting ( Prague, November 27-28, 1996), about 30 participants.

Project #362 - Workshop on the "Cretaceous of South Moravia" - Czech WG Meeting (April 11-12, 1996, Brno). About 20 Czech and Austrian participants followed by a 1 day field trip.

Project #378 - "Loess Stratigraphy in South Moravia and Lower Austria" - Czech WG Meeting (September 30-October 4, 1996, Brno); Workshop (October 2, 1996) - Pre-meeting field trip to South Moravian localities (September 30-October 1, 1996); Post-meeting field trip to Austrian localities (October 3-4, 1996) 35 participants from 12 countries.

Project #405 - "Anthropogenic Impact on Weathering Processes". Inaugural meeting will be held in Brno (December 2-4, 1996). About 50 participants from Czech Republic and foreign countries plan to attend the event.

 

5. IGCP meetings planned for 1997

Project #335 - Biotic Recoveries from Mass Extinction - Czech WG will host the Final Meeting of the Project #335 - Prague, September 12-14, 1997. Expected between 150 - 250 scientists, worldwide. Pre-conference trip on Sept. 11 (1 day). Post-conference trips on Sept. 15 and 16 (2 days). Organized by P. Cejchan, H. Hladil et al.

Project #343 - Stratigraphic Analysis of Peritethyan Basins - Czech WG Meeting - the date and venue will be specified later.

Project #357 - Organics and Mineral Deposits - Czech WG Meeting (Prague) - the date will be specified later

Project #362 - Cretaceous of the Magura Flysch - Czech WG Meeting (spring 1997) - the date and venue will be decided later.

Project #369 - Comparative Evolution of Peritethyan Rift Basins - A joint Czech-Hungarian workshop is planned. The date and venue will be specified later.

Project #405 - "Anthropogenic Impact on Weathering Processes" - Czech WG Meeting is planned - The date and venue will be given later.

 

6. Other relevant information

We are delighted to inform IGCP Secretariat that in order to promote IGCP activities in the Czech Republic, the Czech IGCP National Committee has raised among domestic industry and also locally based foreign companies some extra funds and established a special foundation with the aim to help students, junior and senior scientists actively working in the field of IGCP. We have been able to provide 11 grants covering contributions to travel and accommodation costs, organizational expenses related to National Working Group Meetings and also limited material supply demands to individual scientists and their labs. This would not have been possible without generous donations coming from: CEVA Mokra a.s., Mostecka uhelna a.s. and RTZ/MINDEV s.r.o. and we do appreciate their concern.