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The Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences

The Institute of Geological Sciences is a part of the Division III of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

 

History of our institute reaches 1956. We conduct basic geological investigations concerning the origin and formation of rocks and minerals, evolution of selected orogens and reconstruction of ancient environments. Disciplinary areas of research interests include sedimentology, Quaternary geology, isotope geochemistry (especially geochronology), mineralogy, petrology, tectonics, stratigraphy and hydrogeology, also paleontology .

The Headquarters of the Institute is in Warszawa.  
Scientific units of the Institute are research groups residing at Research Centres - in Kraków, Warszawa and Wrocław - along with Doctoral Studies section, laboratories, libraries and the Geological Museum. 

Our Research Groups

Projects and partnership

Latest publications

AuthorsStanisław Mazur, Waldemar Jóźwiak, Krzysztof Nowożyński, Szymon Oryński
Year2024
TytułMagnetotelluric evidence for long-lasting crustal memory in an intraplate setting – the Grójec Fault and Mid-Polish Trough in central Poland
MagazineTectonophysics, 2024, 230213
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2024.230213

The Grójec Fault (GF) is of significant interest due to its orientation perpendicular to the dominant NW-SE structural grain in the transition zone from Precambrian to Phanerozoic Europe. The fault is located along the extension of the boundary between the Sarmatia and Fennoscandia segments of the East European Craton (EEC). While Late Cretaceous fault activity has been documented by studies since the 1980s, its earlier history remains poorly understood. To better understand the deep crustal structure and its link to shallow deformation, new magnetotelluric data from 39 points, along with older geomagnetic data from 22 survey points, were used to create a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the geoelectric structure.

AuthorsNadine J. Kanik, Artur Kuligiewicz, Jeffrey T. Cullen
Year2024
TitleImpacts of chemical pre-treatments on the hydrogen isotope composition of clay minerals: Determining potential effects in the absence of impurities
MagazineApplied Clay Science, Volume 247, 2024
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2023.107213

Highlights

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AuthorsSzczepański J, Kaszuba G, Anczkiewicz R, Ilnicki S.
Year2023
TitleProvenance of the early Palaeozoic volcano-sedimentary successions from eastern part of the Central Sudetes: implications for the tectonic evolution of the NE Bohemian Massif.
MagazineGeological Magazine. 2023;160(8):1498-1534.
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756823000523

The Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt (KMB) and the Doboszowice Metamorphic Complex (DMC) expose a fragment of the pre-Variscan volcano-sedimentary cover preserved in the Fore-Sudetic Block in the NE part of the Bohemian Massif. We present the age of detrital and magmatic zircon grains and the bulk rock chemical composition of rock samples from the KMB and the DMC to better understand the evolution of the early Palaeozoic Gondwana margin.

Authors Christopher J Barnes, Mattia Gilio, Michał Bukała, Adam Włodek, Jarosław Majka, Matthijs Smit
Year2023
TitleGarnet–Quartz Inclusion Thermobarometry and Lu–Hf Chronology Detail the Pre-Ultra-High Pressure Metamorphic History of the Grapesvare Nappe, Scandinavian Caledonides
Magazine Journal of Petrology, Volume 64, Issue 12
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egad086

The subduction–exhumation history of the Grapesvare nappe in the northern Seve Nappe Complex (Scandinavian Caledonides) is recorded by late Cambrian/Early Ordovician ultra-high pressure (UHP) and subsequent amphibolite facies metamorphic events. Records of these events obscured earlier metamorphic episodes that are important for understanding the tectonics of the orogen. To extract the pre–UHP metamorphic records, garnet Lu–Hf geochronology, Titanium-in-Quartz thermobarometry, and Quartz-in-Garnet elastic thermobarometry were applied to garnet porphyroblasts in metasedimentary rocks and eclogite.

Authors Jan Środoń, Daniel J. Condon, Elena Golubkova, Ian L. Millar, Oksana Kuzmenkova, Mariusz Paszkowski, Stanisław Mazur, Artur Kędzior, Daniel Drygant, Valerian Ciobotaru, Sirle Liivamägi
Year2023
TitleAges of the Ediacaran Volyn-Brest trap volcanism, glaciations, paleosols, Podillya Ediacaran soft-bodied organisms, and the Redkino-Kotlin boundary (East European Craton) constrained by zircon single grain U-Pb dating
MagazinePrecambrian Research, Volume 386, March 2023, 106962
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2023.106962

  Combined single zircon crystal CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb dating, micropaleontological study, and quantitative XRD analysis were used to correlate sections of the Podillya-Moldova Ediacaran succession with sections of the Volyn Large Igneous Province (Volyn LIP). Five U-Pb zircon ages were obtained from Volyn LIP rocks, and four from three distinct Podillya bentonite horizons. Biostratigraphic determinations were made for one section in Volyn, and two sections in Podillya. It was concluded that Volyn LIP activity had two phases.

Authors Helena Hercman, Michał Gąsiorowski, Jacek Szczygieł, Pavel Bella, Michał Gradziński, Marcin Błaszczyk, Šárka Matoušková, Petr Pruner, Pavel Bosák
Year2023
TitleDelayed valley incision due to karst capture (Demänová Cave System, Western Carpathians, Slovakia) Trough in Central Poland
MagazineGeomorphology, Volume 437, 15 September 2023, 108809
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108809

Karst systems can control the amount of water flowing on the surface and thus the fluvial erosional efficiency. Here, we used the ages of speleothems from the active cave system to determine the middle Pleistocene history of the entrenchment of the Demänová Valley.

Authors Gąsiorowski, M., Sienkiewicz, E., Kowalewska, U.
Year2023
TitlePaleohydrological changes during the Late Holocene recorded in the sediments of two mountain lakes in the Tatra Mountains (Central Europe)
MagazineJournal of Paleolimnology 70, 293–310 (2023)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-023-00294-9

Changes in local hydrological and climatic conditions over the last 5500 years have been reconstructed based on geochemical and paleobiological features recorded in the sediments of two mountain lakes.

AuthorsGoleń J., Tyszka J., Godos K., Janse M.
Year2022
TitleA model of F-actin organization in granuloreticulopodia in Foraminifera: Morphogenetic and evolutionary implications from novel fluorescent and polarised light observations
MagazineProtist, Volume 173, Issue 4, August 2022, 125886
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2022.125886

Foraminifera are a group of mostly marine protists that form highly dynamic granular pseudopodia. Recent live experiments on foraminifera labelled with SiR-actin show that F-actin structures are involved in the morphogenesis of granuloreticulopodia and that pseudopodia contain small, motile granules referred to as SiR-actin-labelled granules (ALGs).

AuthorsSkov L., Peyrégne S., Popli D., Iasi L.N.M., Devièse T., Slon V., Zavala E.I., Hajdinjak M., Sümer A.P. , Grote S., Mesa A.B., Herráez D.L., Nickel B., Nagel S., Richter J., Essel E., Gansauge M., Schmidt A., Korlević P., Comeskey D., Derevianko A.P., Kharevich A., Markin S.V., Talamo S., Douka K., Krajcarz M.T., Roberts R.G., Higham T., Viola B., Krivoshapkin A.I., Kolobova K.A., Kelso J., Meyer M., Pääbo S., Peter B.M.
Year2022
TitleGenetic insights into the social organization of Neanderthals
MagazineNature 610: 519-525
DOIdoi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05283-y

Here we analyze the genetic structure of a unique Neanderthal taphocenosis in Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai Mountains). We found the group of 11 individuals to be a closely related family that roamed in the area around 59–51 thousand years ago. The mtDNA and Y-chromosome DNA reveal the low genetic diversity of the population and underrepresentation of males. Actualistic comparison with modern hominid populations allows perceiving those Neanderthals’ genetic structure in a similar way as that of modern mountain gorilla, an endangered subspecies. Distribution of the genetically-confirmed bones of the same individuals within the sedimentary sequence points toward strong post-depositional disturbances at the site.

AuthorsZhu RZ., Słaby E., Lai SC., Chen LH, Qin J., Zhang C., Zhao S., Zhang F., Liu WH, Fowler M.,
Year2021
TitleHigh-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic intrusions in SE Tibet: implications for metasomatized lithospheric mantle beneath an active continental margin
MagazineContributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, Volume 176, article 85, 7 Oct 2021
DOIdoi.org/10.1007/s00410-021-01843-z

High-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic suites are widespread and generally volumetrically small but provide key information on magmatic mantle-crust interactions. Limited work has addressed the multi-stage formation of relatively high-volume high-K to shoshonitic rocks. A newly identified, Late-Cretaceous to Early-Cenozoic high-volume high-K to shoshonitic association (ca. 28,000 km3) is described, from the southeastern Himalayan–Tibetan orogen.