News archive
News older than one year.
Leadership of the GLU in Academic Magazines
Interview with director Dr. Tomáš Přikryl issued the AB academic bulletin. In this interview, Dr. Přikryl describes some of research topics of the staff and outlines the way of their work. For details (in Czech) click here.
In the second official academic magazine “Áčko- science and research”, an article was published based on an interview with the deputy director Dr. Michal Filippi. This article describes long-term research performed in a unique salt karts in Iran, but also a new exploration of the unknown karst regions in central China. For details (in Czech) click here.
Summer course of lithium geology
Lithium (Li) is one of the most popular raw materials for modern technologies. With the prospect of electricity management from renewable sources and the proposed development of electric mobility, the use of lithium batteries will increase substantially in the next decade. In Europe, the Bohemian Massif is a positive geological anomaly, containing the largest potential Li resources within the European Union. In order to support the theoretical knowledge of geological processes leading to lithium resources and to provide young scientists with information needed for lithium ore prospection and analysis, the Institute Geology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic organized the Course of Lithium Geology for graduate students. The course took place on August 27–September 1, 2018, in the Krušné Hory Mts. (Erzgebirge) with the participation of 13 students from 9 countries. Up-to-date scientific knowledge was provided to them by four leading specialists from the Institute of Geology, the Masaryk University and the Mendel University. The course also included an excursion to the former tin mines, now potential lithium sources, near Krupka and Cínovec. The course was funded by the Academy of Sciences with the help of geological companies TIMEX Zdice, s.r.o. and Geomet s.r.o. Brno.
Discovery of specific volcanogenic structures in basaltic rocks of the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands (Føroyar) are formed by several thick series of subaerially emplaced plateau basalts of Palaeogene age. During the systematic volcanological survey of the Faroe Islands conducted since 2014, actively participated by Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Lukáš Krmíček, Ph.D. of the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, unusual volcanogenic structures occurring on the surface of a basaltic dyke located on the Sandfelli mountain ridge (754 m a.s.l.) were discovered. The rock wall of the dyke is covered by a dense mosaic of angular to rounded polygonal convex structures designated as pseudo-hieroglyphs. The discovery of pseudo-hieroglyphs, which probably represent unique examples of a chaotic stage of horizontal columnar jointing developed in basaltic rocks, has been described as a part of a worldwide natural heritage in the recent issue of the Geoheritage journal.
A new weathering form in sandstone
A recently published paper in Earth-Science Reviews (IF 7.051), which was also contributed by scientists of the Institute of Geology (Michal Filippi and Jiří Adamovič), presents a newly recognized weathering form termed arcades. The arcades develop on the surface of sandstones but also arkoses, granites and volcanosedimentary rocks as a consequence of “stress shadows” developed along planar discontinuities (i.e., bedding planes, joints, etc.). Using physical and numerical modelling, this paper evidences that it is a principal feature of weathering of granular rocks, which explains also the origin of other widely known geomorphic forms of various sizes – such as rock pillars, some rock shelters or ledges.
Berriasian Working Group Meeting 2018 organized by the Institute of Geology CAS, v.v.i.
An international meeting of scientists interested in dating of rocks in the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary interval (Berriasian Working Group Meeting) was organized by Petr Schnabl, the head of the Laboratory of Palaeomagnetism, in May 2018. The conference was held at Kroměříž and was attended by another 5 scientists of the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, colleagues from Charles University, Czech Geological Survey, Technical University in Ostrava and scientists from Slovakia, Poland, United Kingdom, France, Bulgaria, Hungary and China. This time interval is highly topical because the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary is the last boundary between two stratigraphic systems which has not been conclusively defined by a stratotype of the International Commission on Stratigraphy yet. The latest results of integrated research were presented and fieldtrips were made to important sites in the Czech Republic (Kurovice Quarry and Štramberk). For photo gallery click here.
News in karst research at the Institute of Geology
Staff of the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences have been long participating in the exploration and research in karst areas, not only in the Czech Republic. Their effort resulted in discoveries of new caves, abysses and other karst phenomena, and yielded considerable scientific knowledge. A few days ago, the media released two interesting news documenting the cooperation of the Institute of Geology within speleological-geological projects. One of these activities brought a major discovery of new large caves in central China (for details click here and here). Another news relates to the co-operation on cave research in the Krkonoše Mts. (for details click here and here).
Cooksonia barrandei – the oldest known terrestrial vascular plant
Cooksonia barrandei, the oldest known (432 million years old) terrestrial vascular plant, was described by a team of authors including Milan Libertín, Jiří Bek and Petr Štorch of the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The paper was published in the scientific journal Nature Plants (IF 10.300). For more details see the original paper or an article of the popular scientific journal Vesmír supplemented by a video (in Czech).
Study of Permian plant Pompeii in Wuda, Inner Mongolia, China
Two scientists of the Institute, Jiří Bek and Jana Frojdová, participated in the research of flora of „Pompeii in Wuda“ in November 2017. Uncovering of the Permian tropical forest was made special by frosty temperatures of minus ten degrees Celsius during the excavations. The difficult weather conditions were rewarded by the discovery of various species of ferns, sphenopsids, primitive conifers and also rare genera of Pterophyllum and Tingia. These Permian plants were studied by our scientists in the depository of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Nanjing. Now, they are processed in detail at the Institute of Geology CAS.
Not only a small experimental catchment suffered a loss
In preparations for the next field sampling at a reference site, which has been monitored for more than 25 years, we received a sad news about our colleague. Assoc. Prof. Petr Skřivan who started the monitoring of the Lesní potok catchment will not join us. We will miss Petr’s attitude, his great knowledge and merry nature. The coming field sampling campaign will be sad for us but we will be thinking of Petr this time and at all future occasions.
Lithium economy - what are the benefits?
Lithium is currently one of the most often discussed raw materials for modern technologies. Efficient storage and conversion of energy from solar and wind power plants, as well as promotion of electromobility will increase the demand for Li batteries. The Bohemian Massif represents a positive geological Li anomaly within Europe and contains the largest potential Li sources within the European Union - the Cínovec/Zinnwald deposit in the Krušné hory/Erzgebirge Mts. Discussion about the technical possibilities and economic benefits of planned lithium mining at Cínovec has become a political problem in recent months. In order to return the discussion to the subject-matter, the Masaryk Democratic Academy and the Ecological Platform Zvonečník organized a panel discussion on February 7, with the participation of representatives of the potential mining company, local government, and experts in the field of economic geology from the Academy of Sciences and the Czech Geological Survey. The lecturers and the present audience agreed on the positive contribution of the potential mining and processing of lithium for the regional development of northern Bohemia and called for a substantive approach in the search for a consensus allowing an efficient use of the Cínovec deposit.
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