Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences has recently become a test centre for the development of hi-tech sensors used for high-precision grinding and polishing of samples selected for subsequent microscopic analyses.  Several staff members of the Institute were trained by Finnish specialists in operating the Polishing Wizard device, developed at the University of Turku. The device also allows for a potential automation of these processes, considering the needs of both science and industry. Testing is planned as a part of the Strategy AV21 Programme – Dynamic Planet Earth, specifically the project “Innovative methods for the study of geological processes and environmental monitoring” co-ordinated by Tomáš Hrstka. 

At the end of the Triassic period (201 million years ago), the Earth's climate changed drastically with massive occurrence of volcanic eruptions. This period marked a significant change in the species composition of plants. A new study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, co-authored by Tomáš Navrátil and Jan Rohovec of the Department of Environmental Geochemistry, explains geological conditions leading to the changes in the biota. By combining paleoecological and geochemical approaches, we have gained insight into a complex and long-term sequence of events in which global warming of the paleoclimate and an increase in the concentration of toxic metal mercury, released into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions, acted together as stressors. As a result, trees were replaced by ferns during the 1.3 million-year extinction interval.

Between 2021 and 2023, the Reykjanes Peninsula experienced three eruptions within the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system. Currently, the volcanic activity has shifted to the more western Svartsengi system. Volcanologist Lukáš Krmíček, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Iceland, collected liquid lava from the current Icelandic eruption. The research will help us in solving the question as to whether and in which aspects are the Fagradalsfjall and Svartsengi volcanic systems interconnected. Those interested in the latest Icelandic volcanoes can find additional information in the book “The world of volcanoes up close”.

In 2018, a pair of enthusiastic paleontologists discovered a site in southern France where, in addition to the usual fossilized shells and skeletons, even remains of soft bodies of ancient organisms were preserved. This site, the study of which was also contributed by Lukáš Laibl of the Institute of Geology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Martina Nohejlová of the Czech Geological Survey, offers a hitherto unknown view of polar ecosystems 470 million years ago. The site was located near the South Pole at that time, whereas the most similar sites with preserved soft bodies come from former tropical regions. Moreover, the high diversity of species at the new site confirms the migration hypothesis towards the southern hemisphere, where these species sought refuge from the high temperatures prevailing in the then-tropical zones.
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Image caption: Artistic reconstruction of the Cabrières biota © Christian McCall