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Opportunities for Soil Sustainability in Europe

During November 2016, the Dutch Academy offered to lead an EASAC project on soils and organized a workshop for 20 pedology experts. This report has been recently submitted to the European Union as an obligatory document for a debate on soil sustainability. The project benefited from the work of its authors and reviewers of the Institute of Geology CAS (L. Lisá as a co-author and A. Žigová as one of the reviewers). The complete report of EASAC is available here. The document is free to distribute. The principal aim of EASAC is to unify the National Academies of Sciences of EU, Norway and Switzerland to provide scientific expertise to EU politicians. For additional information see here.

Cadmium hyperaccumulation and its chemical form in Cystoderma carcharias

Macrofungi (mushrooms) may accumulate high concentrations of toxic metals in their fruit-bodies. The team led by Jan Borovička of the Department of Environmental Geology and Geochemistry (GLI) has focused on the saprotrophic fungus Cystoderma carcharias. According to the joint study published together with collaborating laboratories (University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, University of Graz, Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, Charles University), cadmium concentrations in C. carcharias are elevated at pristine sites. However, concentrations reaching 600 mg/kg in dry weight, the highest ever reported in macrofungi under natural conditions, have been found from a polluted site in the vicinity of Příbram (Central Bohemia, Czech Republic). In the study published in Science of the Total Environment (IF 4.610) the authors investigated the chemical species of the accumulated elements, particularly cadmium and arsenic. Cadmium appeared to be associated with specific proteins (possibly metallothioneins) but arsenic was present in numerous low-molecular-weight methylated compounds of which two have been known only from marine environments yet.

The seminar "Dust Particles"

The seminar "Dust Particles" was held in cooperation with the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, v.v.i. and the Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, v. v. i. on Monday, October 22, 2018. The seminar was devoted to the study of dust particles and aerosols and their impact on the environment and humans. It brought together scientists and the public interested in the topic. The whole event was supported by the AV21 Strategy under the Natural Threats Research Program.

19th Czech–Slovak–Polish Palaeontological Conference and the 11th MIKRO 2018 Worskshop

The Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences organized the 19th Czech–Slovak–Polish Palaeontological Conference together with the 11th MIKRO 2018 Worskshop on 18th–20th October 2018. The conference took place in Villa Lanna, a beautiful architectonic place and a representative residence of the Czech Academy of Sciences. One-hundred and two researchers from the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Ukraine and Slovenia participated in the conference. There were representatives of a wide range of interests including palaeobotany, palaeozoology, micropalaeontology and also anthropology. Forty-four lectures and forty-seven posters were presented during this conference. The last day, a guided field excursion focused on stratigraphy and tectonics of the Prague Basin was led by František Vacek of the National Museum. A special issue of the Folia journal dedicated to this conference was published. It is available through the Library of the Institute of Geology or on the official webpage of the Folia journal.

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