On the occasion of the International Day of Museums and Galleries, a new outdoor geological exposition "Selected Rocks of the Rakovník District" will be opened on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 from 4 pm near the Museum T.G.M. in Rakovník. A number of subjects participated in the preparation of the exhibition, including the Institute of Geology represented by Karel Žák and Jiří Adamovič. This exhibition is one of many examples of the outreach of scientists-geologists beyond the area of "hard science" in conveying their knowledge to the general public. Those interested can visit the exhibition free of charge during the museum's opening hours.

Short 5 minute presentation including overview of Lesní potok catchment instrumentation and selected scientific achievements was given by Tomáš Navrátil in framework of “2021 Winter Cyberseminar Series: Research and Observatory Catchments: the Legacy and the Future” organized by CUAHSI (The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.). Follow this link to watch the Week 5 Section entitled “Low to no Snow Temperate Catchments”. The main purpose of this event was to bring the wide audience of catchment related research scientists familiar with location, instrumentation and/or results of others. The schedule and recordings of all presentations can be found here.

The book “Underground monuments of central Bohemia” by V. Cílek (Institute of Geology), M. Majer, L. Faltejsek and others, published by the Dokořán publisher in 2019, was awarded – after several postponements – the Egon Erwin Kisch Prize for non-fiction literature for the year 2020. The book describes underground spaces of various types in central Bohemia, concentrating on remains after ore, coal and limestone mining. The wide distribution of historical mines documents and explains the rapid, multi-level boom of central Bohemia. Many congratulations to the authors!

The famous Bělka tuff is an areally extensive pyroclastic layer preserved in the central and western Carboniferous late- to post-orogenic basins of central and western Bohemia. This tuff represents a unique stratigraphic marker documented from tens of boreholes and numerous black coal mines within a large area between the southern edge of the Pilsen Basin in western Bohemia and the eastern part of the Kladno-Rakovník Basin over a distance of 100 km. However, its volcanic source has been as yet enigmatic. In a new study by Tomek et al., published in International Geology Review, a multidisciplinary approach using the LA-ICP-MS U/Pb zircon dating, analysis of thickness and grain size distribution, and volume calculation suggested that the source volcano was the Altenberg–Teplice Caldera located at the Czech–German border in NW Bohemian Massif. In detail, this volcano underwent a major caldera-forming ignimbrite eruption with an estimated volcanic explosivity index 7 (out of 8) at 314 Ma. From the northern caldera margin, pyroclastic density currents travelled south over a distance of ca. 40 km towards the area of Oparno valley (Porta Bohemica). From here, northeasterly winds distributed the volcanic ash cloud towards the southwest, where the ash was deposited in the sedimentary basins. As indicated by an isopach reconstruction, the Regensburg area (Germany), for instance, was covered by a 10 cm thick ash layer that originated from the Altenberg–Teplice Caldera nearly 220 km away. For additional information click here.