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Field study of Late Archean granites (ca. 2.9–2.6 Ga) in northeastern Canada

A joint research group from the Institute of Geology CAS and Charles University returned from a field study of several geological transects across the James Bay area in northeastern Canada (province of Quebec). The team documented petrology and inner structures of several lithological types of plutonic and metamorphic rocks in the Bienville subprovince: Opinaca, La Grande and Opatica units. In this wilderness area, the team also collected a huge amount of rock material focusing especially on the analysis of internal pluton fabrics, including anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), and metasediments for zircon geochronological U-Pb dating. Photos.

Director Tomáš Přikryl interviewed by the Týden magazine

In his interview for the Týden magazine (in Czech), Tomáš Přikryl covered the themes of discovering new animal species and a human impact on planet Earth.

Filip Tomek awarded the Otto Wichterle Prize

Prof. Eva Zažímalová, President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, decorated twenty-three young scientists with the Otto Wichterle Award in Lanna Villa in Prague on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. One of the Award holders was  Mgr. Filip Tomek, PhD., a research scientist of the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Joachim Barrande – 220 years of his birth

The distinguished French geologist and palaeontologist Joachim Barrande was born on 11 August 1799. His research work concentrated on Bohemia, starting in the 1830s. Barrande died at Frohsdorf (Austria) on 5 October 1883 and is buried in the cemetery at Lanzenkirchen. At the occasion of the 220 yearsʼ anniversary of his birth, director of the Institute of Geology together with representatives of the Paleontological Department of the National Museum and the Society of the National Museum paid tribute to this eminent researcher at his grave.

Lesní potok catchment under a magnifying glass

The last issue of the Academic Bulletin journal published for public relations of the Czech Academy of Sciences, No. 05/2019, features an interview with Tomáš Navrátil (in Czech). It is aimed at research of the experimental Lesní potok catchment in the Voděrady beechstands. This interview covers various aspects of small catchment monitoring and biogeochemical research in general.

Research Reports 2017

Annual report on scientific activities of staff of the Institute of Geology – Research Reports 2017 – has been published.

Institute of Geology at Science Fair 2019

For the first time in its history, the Institute of Geology participated in the annual Science Fair held at the PVA EXPO Exhibition Center in Prague-Letňany in early June. This event presented over 100 displays from 54 institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences and many other institutions and companies. According to the organizers, the fair was visited by approximately 30,000 during the 3 days. It was a pleasure to see that the stand of the Institute of Geology was highly attended. Its main attractions included an exposition of minerals and fossils, presentations on mercury research in tree trunks and information on the latest research on moldavites, sandstone weathering forms, accumulation of heavy metals in mushrooms. Photographs from discoveries of large caves were meeting a lot of interest. The greatest success, however, was microscopy of fossils together with a geo-quiz after the completion of which visitors could keep a mineral sample of their choice. The quiz was completed (either individually or in a group) by more than 250 visitors of all ages. For additional details on the Fair click here.

Mercury deposition in the Czech Republic decreasing in the 21st century

Mercury as a global pollutant is regularly mentioned in the news with respect to discussions about its emissions. Due to the low reactivity of gaseous elemental mercury in the atmosphere the wet deposition is low at 2–3 µg/m2/year. In forest environment, the main deposition path of Hg to the forest floor is litterfall. Litterfall Hg deposition, including deposition of biomass, such as needles, twigs, cones and bark, reaches usually 20–50 µg/m2/year. Long-term research of two mountain lake catchments in the Šumava (Bohemian Forest) National Park area indicated a significant decrease in Hg deposition in litterfall since the beginning of the 21st century. Furthermore, this research shows that the bark beetle infestation may increase Hg deposition up to 5 fold due to high biomass deposition. This study evaluated individual contribution of spruce litterfall components, such as needles, twigs, cones, bark, lichen and unidentifiable debris separately. Research published in Science of the Total Environment (IF 4,6) Journal was performed within a broad cooperation with the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, U.S. Geological Survey and Global Change Research Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

15th International Ichnofabric Workshop in Prague

Radek Mikuláš convened the 15th International Ichnofabric Workshop to Prague (April 27 – May 5, 2019). Thirty-two specialists from over the world presented recent contributions from the mainstream branch of ichnology, e.g., ichnofabrics of terrestrial systems. A special discussion block was devoted to the use of computed tomography in the study of ichnofabric. Despite severe health complications of the convenor, the workshop was held at the scheduled time and followed the previously announced plan of excursions. In result, most of the sites known to a few people only through publications were now visited and evaluated directly by the top ichnologists. See Web page and Abstracts & Guidebook.

Some aspects of mercury records in tree rings

Tree-rings as a geochemical archive were presented as a topic studied within the Department of Environmental Geology and Geochemistry of the Institute of Geology CAS. The article describes some aspects of mercury records that can be deciphered from Larch and Pine tree rings as well as some peculiarities of the associated fieldwork. In Czech only.

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