Coordinator: Dr. hab. Joanna Mirosław-Grabowska
Address:
Instytut Nauk Geologicznych PAN
Ośrodek Badawczy w Warszawie
(Institute of Geological Sciences P.A.S., Research Centre in Warszawa )
Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa
Phone: (48) 22 6978-809
e-mail: jmirosla@twarda.pan.pl
Introduction
Institute of Geological Sciences Polish Academy of Sciences (ING PAN) conducts studies focusing on the environmental changes, evoked by natural factors such climate changes as well as human presence and activity. The studies concern on the processes and phenomena occurring in the last several hundred thousand years (during the Quaternary period) and are carried out in Central and Eastern Europe, from the Carpathians to the northern polar regions (e.g. Poland, Ukraine, Finland) as well as in America (Mexico). The environmental reconstructions are based on the multi‑proxy analyses of lake, peat bog and cave sediments, using the biological (pollen, diatoms, cladocerans, vertebrates, macrofossils) and geochemical (organic matter, stable isotopes) methods as well the archaeological data.
Staff
Team composition:
Research area
The human presence and activity modify the natural environment, among others lake conditions. This effect is manifested in the change of geochemical and biological parameters of water (eg. trophic state) and sediment (eg. organic matter content, phosphorus content, heavy metals). These parameters cause the changes in the world of aquatic plants and animals. In addition, the pollen grains of plants growing on surrounding lake, including cultivated and synanthropic plants, are accumulated in the lake sediments, providing for settlement and agriculture. The geochemical and biological analyses of the lake sediments allow the identification of the environmental changes observed in sediments of anthropogenic origin and evaluation of them in terms of range of human impact.
Projects:
Marta Wojewódka-Przybył, grant NSC “Minitura” no. 2021/05/X/ST10/00774
The development of fossil fuel energy production has disrupted the balance of many ecosystems. The extraction, storage, and combustion of these fuels have significantly impacted the air and water quality, as well as living organisms. Although coal processing and coal waste disposal have been extensively studied, there has been a lack of analysis regarding the impact of urban gasworks (based on coal coking) on aquatic ecosystems in Poland. Therefore, research was conducted to examine the influence of early urban gasworks on lakes. As part of this study, sediment cores were collected from Lake Liwieniec (Prabuty, Pomeranian Voivodeship), which had an urban gasworks located on its shore from 1908 to 1980. Two short sediment cores (approximately 50 cm) were obtained, and comprehensive geochemical, isotopic, isotopic dating, and microcrustacean analyses were conducted. The research provided a comprehensive view of the geochemical variability of Lake Liwieniec sediments over the past 70 years. Based on the collected geochemical data, it was possible to assess the degree of sediment contamination in the lake. The results indicated significant pollution in Lake Liwieniec sediments, particularly in terms of Te, Re, Se, and Ag concentrations, which exceeded values found in the Earth's crust or uncontaminated lake sediments. The examined sediments also exhibited high concentrations of As, Au, Hg, Pb, and Cd (elements potentially toxic to living organisms), as indicated by the calculated Igeo index (geoaccumulation index) suggesting strong contamination with these elements. Using other geochemical and isotopic indicators, as well as statistical analyses (such as principal component analysis), it was inferred that the enrichment of sediments with these elements resulted from their delivery from the lake's catchment, with the highest concentrations occurring during the gasworks' operation period. Furthermore, it was observed that there is likely mobilization of these elements under favorable environmental conditions, which poses an additional environmental risk.
Fig. 1. Variability diagram of principal components (PC1, PC2), Pollution Load Index (PLI), selected Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) indicators, and selected geochemical data recorded in the PR2 profile over the last 70 years.
Buildings of the former gasworks in Prabuty View of Lake Liwieniec Sediment core from Lake Liwieniec
The border area of the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland, the so‑called "Black Triangle", has been strongly impacted by developed industry for several decades. Changes in lake ecosystems connected with progressive acidification after the Industrial Revolution are noted in many alpine, arctic, and subarctic waterbodies. Since ca 1900, acid deposition has played an important role in the decrease of pH. The Mały Staw and Wielki Staw lakes have been impacted by natural long‑term acidification due to poorly buffered bedrock. Both lakes were also strongly impacted by acid rain, especially since the 1960s (anthropogenic acidification); a few years later this was followed by changes in the phytoplankton communities toward an increase of diatom taxa preferring acidic conditions. The inferred pH decreased by 0.7 in Mały Staw and 0.3 in Wielki Staw. The differences in the timing of the onset of acidification and intensity are caused by the differences in the morphometry and catchment area of the lakes. Mały Staw is considerably smaller and has a greater catchment area, so a pollution load per unit of water volume is higher than in Wielki Staw. Moreover, Mały Staw is 'naturally' less acidic an more sensitive to a relatively small load of acid deposits.
On the basis of the presence of pollen of plants, so‑called anthropogenic indicators in sediments, the settlement phases can be identify. Individual ecological groups of plants associated with human presence in the environment allow to reconstruct the various types of human activity (grazing, animal husbandry, plant cultivation). The type and intensity of the human impact in the examined area is presented in the diagram of selected anthropogenic indicators.
2. BIOGEOLOGY
General information:
Fossil bones consists a great part of the record of Quaternary palaeoenvironments. As some information on the past ecosystems may be derived from fossil fauna with use of classical palaeontological methods (taxonomy, species representation in the assemblage, morphometry, traces of bone modifications), the direct relationships between the biological and abiotic components of past ecosystems can be traced with use of chemical methods. The main scope of our studies are stable isotopes in human and faunal remains from archaeological contexts. We are focused on the analysis of stable isotope ratios in fossil tissues, including δ18O, δ13C and δ15N, that inform us about the palaeoclimate, palaeovegetation, soil maturity, but also the ecological requirements of extinct animals and trophic relations in terrestrial ecosystems. We are also interested in ancient organic biomolecules preserved in the sediments, providing information on the palaeovegetation, degradative soil or weathering processes, and participation of plants, animals and human in the accumulation of organic residues.
Projects:
3. GEOARCHAEOLOGY
General information:
Each archaeological site needs geological investigation to recognize so called site formation processes, it means all sedimentary and post-sedimentary events that affected the structure of the site. Before using the artefacts from a site to reconstruct human past and evaluate our cultural heritage, it is crucial to understand the homogeneity of the archaeological assemblages, their completeness and possible geo- and biogenic disturbances. Our group is focused on cave sites -important carriers of our knowledge on Palaeolithic, the most ancient part of human prehistory. In our researches we are using micromorphology of sediments and geochemistry of fossil bones (stable isotopes and trace elements content), supported by classical methods (grain size distribution, morphology of limestone clasts, facies analysis, palaeoecology, chronometric dating).
Projects:
"The use of diagenetic alterations to determine homogeneity of fossil bone assemblages from archaeological sites". Research project financed by Polish National Science Centre, number 2014/13/D/HS3/03842; implemented in the Institute of Geological Sciences PAS, Warszawa (Poland); 2015-2018; coordinator - Dr. hab. Maciej T. Krajcarz.
4. PALEOCLIMATE
Over the past few years, many people: researchers, politicians, economists, journalists discus about climate change. The debate is about the changes observed today, such as increases in main global air and ocean temperatures, shrinking glaciers and ice sheets surface, numerous extreme weather events (hail, tornadoes, heat waves), as well as predicting the direction and magnitude of climate change, that will occur in the future. There new questions arise: whether climate changes nowadays occurring are the results only of human activity? How did change the climate in the past, especially before the period of human interference in the environment?
Answers to these questions are provided by paleoenvironmental studies, including paleoclimate studies, among others the lake sediments. The data show that climate change is not caused by human economic activity, but is mainly related to the natural evolution of the climate due to orbital cycles of the Earth and changes in thermohaline circulation of the oceans (THC).
5. PALEOLIMNOLOGY
The researches of lake and peat bog sediments deposited during the past, allow to follow the climate and environmental changes.
Prowadzone w ING PAN badania paleolimnologiczne umożliwiają odtworzenie parametrów jeziornych takich jak: poziom i temperatura wody, stan troficzny, składu roślinności wodnej, zoo- i fitoplanktonu, aktywności biologicznej, zasolenia, pH. Dane palinologiczne są wykorzystywane do określania historii rozwoju roślinności i parametrów klimatycznych, w tym średniej temperatury najzimniejszego i najcieplejszego miesiąca oraz wielkości rocznego opadu. Dodatkowo badania pyłku roślin, okrzemek, wioślarek (Cladocera) oraz dane geochemiczne (m.in. izotopy trwałe) pozwalają na określenie i oszacowanie wpływu gospodarczej działalności człowieka na środowisko (min. fazy osadnictwa, zanieczyszczenie zbiornika).
Projekty:
Stanowisko Romoty (Pojezierze Ełckie) zlokalizowane jest w obrębie zarośniętego zbiornika położonego między jeziorami: Okrągłe i Rudnik, tworzących jeden system jeziorny. Ten system jeziorny ukształtował się u schyłku zlodowacenia Wisły, w obrębie dużej rynny glacjalnej o orientacji N-S i długości ok. 8‑9 km.
Na podstawie otrzymanych dat radiowęglowych stwierdzono, że akumulacja osadów w badanym zbiorniku jeziornym trwała nieprzerwanie od ponad 13 tyś. lat (> 12 921 lat kalib. BP). W tym czasie litologia osadów zmieniała się od osadów z mineralnych występujących w spągu, przez biogeniczne gytie węglanowo-detrytusowe i gytie wapienne - do torfów występujących w stropie profilu.
Zestawienie uzyskanych rezultatów badań multidyscyplinarnych (chemicznych, izotopów trwałych tlenu i węgla, Cladocera i palinologicznych), umożliwiło wyróżnienie trzech głównych etapów ewolucji paleojeziora Romoty. Pierwszy (początkowy) etap obejmuje utworzenie zlewni jeziora i akumulację osadów mineralnych w późnym glacjale i we wczesnym holocenie (okres preborealny). Drugi etap, przypadający na okres borealny i subborealny, charakteryzuje się harmonicznym, naturalnym rozwojem zbiornika i nagromadzeniem osadów biogenicznych. Etap ten związany jest z okresem ocieplenia klimatycznego, co znajduje potwierdzenie w odtworzonej sukcesji roślinnej i składzie zooplanktonu (fauna Cladocera). Trzeci etap dotyczy zanikania jeziora w późnym holocenie (okres subatlantycki). Zbiornik został całkowicie wypełniony osadami i przekształcił się w mokradło.
Charakterystyka każdego etapu obejmuje opis warunków środowiskowych występujących w paleojeziorze, zwłaszcza skład fauny wioślarek, skład chemiczny osadów, termikę i trofię wody, poziom wody, charakterystykę osadów dennych oraz kompozycję roślin występujących w zbiorniku i w jego otoczeniu. W późnym glacjale i w okresie preborealnym, w zbiorniku występowały wody o najniższej temperaturze (niskie wartości δ18O, "zimnolubna" fauna Cladocera). W okresie borealnym, rozpoczęło się stopniowe ocieplenie klimatu, co wyraża się poprzez pozytywną tendencję przebiegu krzywych δ18O i δ13C, a także zmiany w składzie gatunkowym roślin i zooplanktonu (pojawiają się gatunki o wyższych wymaganiach termicznych). Na podstawie otrzymanych wyników, można stwierdzić, że jezioro miało największą głębokość na początku holocenu. Poziom wody znacząco spadł w okresie atlantyckim. Ponadto udział poszczególnych gatunków zooplanktonu i alg, odznaczających się różnymi preferencjami troficznymi, wskazuje na występowanie początkowo warunków niskiej trofii (poziom oligotrofii), a następnie wzrost trofii do poziomu mezotroficznego.
W osadach zbiornika Romoty natrafiono na ślady niewielkiego wpływu człowieka na środowisko jeziorne. Jedynie w najmłodszych osadach (okres subatlantycki) oznaczono niewielką ilość ziaren pyłku zbóż. Sugeruje to słabą penetrację przez grupy osadnicze okolicy w pobliżu zbiornika Romoty.
Rekonstrukcja rozwoju paleojeziora Romoty
Celem badań było odtworzenie zmian środowiska jeziornego w późnym glacjale i holocenie, na tle zmieniającego się klimatu, na podstawie wyników oznaczeń geochemicznych i izotopowych, analizy palinologicznej oraz analizy szczątków Cladocera osadów jeziornych. Przedmiotem badań były osady denne z jeziora Smolak (okolice Rucianego Nida, Pojezierze Mazurskie), których akumulacja rozpoczęła się ok. 12 400 lat temu.
Prowadzone badania mają na celu określenie charakterystyki i genezy materii organicznej akumulowanej w interglacjale eemskim i w początkowej fazie zlodowacenia Wisły (vistulian), na podstawie wyników analizy geochemicznej i izotopowej osadów jeziornych. Wyniki badań izotopowych i geochemicznych materii organicznej uzupełniają dane otrzymane z innych analiz np. palinologicznej, faunistycznej i pozwalają uściślić zmiany ekologiczne, zachodzące w okresie interglacjału eemskiego. Ponadto zestawienie wyników analiz multi-proxy umożliwia opracowanie charakterystyki i ewolucji badanych paleojezior.
Methods
1. Diatom analysis
Diatoms (Bacillarophyceae) are microscopic unicellular organisms and are the most diverse group of algae. Many diatoms have rather narrow ecological tolerances and optima and they are good indicators of environmental conditions (e.g. pollution, salinity, pH, nutrients, water level) as well as climate changes. Due to their short life cycle, they react quickly to environmental changes. Especially in sensitive environments, like mountain lakes, even small fluctuation of climate and/or human impact can induce huge alterations in biotic community. Different numerical methods are used to examine the relationships between the diatoms and environmental variables: reconstructing pH and trophic level of lakes, calibration models for pH and total phosphorus. The densely-sampled sequences of dated sediments enable the intensity and dynamism of lake acidity and/or eutrophication to be inferred. The results of the studies can help to estimate the effect of the human activities on the lake habitats and determine the onset of this change. It is possible to trace the rate of biotic changes in the individual lakes after reduction in sulphur and nitrogen emissions over the last decades and determine the fertility of the lakes. Diatoms are well preserved in sediments, so they are very helpful tools in palaeolimnological research.
2. Pollen analysis
Palynological analysis comprises the study of pollen grains of plants. The outer shells of pollen grains for each species are unique and can survive in favourable conditions for thousands of years. Therefore the many plants presenting in the past are recently identified. The information enable to reconstruct 1) vegetation development, 2) past environment and 3) discover human activity and human impact on natural environment. Moreover, by using pollen analysis it is possible to reconstruct the structure of the terrestrial vegetation and therefore to validate possible sources of organic matter. The results of pollen analysis are the basis for the establishment of biostratigraphy of deposits. Lake sediments and peat bogs are particularly valuable for preserving pollen grains because they are chemically suitable and they accumulate over time.
3. Cladocera analysis
Cladocera are primitive crustaceans that are dominant among zooplankton and inhabit lakes with various chemical conditions. The presence and frequency of certain species reflect the climatic and hydrologic conditions of the lake. Fluctuations in pH correlate with faunal diversity. The fauna also responds to changes in water nutrient concentrations. Cladocera remains are often found in lacustrine sediments. Cladocera analysis has been applied many times to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Glacial and Holocene. There have been several attempts to reconstruct water level changes based on changes in the cladoceran record because the ratio of planktonic to littoral forms reflects changes in the proportional areas of littoral and open water habitats. Cladocera analysis has also been used to estimate the trophic status of and human impact on.
4. Vertebrate remains analysis
The biogeological analyses of fossil and subfossil vertebrate remains from Quaternary sediments (both Pleistocene and Holocene), from paleontological and archaeological context:
- Taxonomic analysis of mammalian skeletal remains (species and anatomical identification of bones and teeth of Quaternary mammals, determination of NISP, MNE and MNI indexes for paleontological and archaeological sites);
- Taphonomic analysis of vertebrate bones (macro- and microscopic determination of the weathering state, analysis of diagenetic changes, identification of anthropogenic and natural traces, geochemical fossil provenance analysis for multilayered sites);
- Pretreatment of vertebrate teeth samples for δ18O / δ13C isotopic analysis (sampling of enamel with micro drill, removal of diagenetic carbonate and organic substance before isotopic analysis for carbonate and phosphate fraction), cooperation along interpretation of results.
5. Stable isotopes analysis
The stable isotope analyses include both the oxygen and carbon isotope analysis from carbonate deposits (lake sediments, teeth enamel), and the carbon and nitrogen analysis from organic matter. The stable isotope analysis is usefulness for reconstruction of past climate, environment and dietary habits of fossil animals.
The oxygen isotope composition is determined in part by the atmospheric component of the global hydrological cycle (air mass source), and reflects the volume-weighted mean oxygen isotopic composition of catchment precipitation, and the precipitation/evaporation ratio. The carbon isotope composition of authigenic carbonates is determined by exchange between CO2 in water and the atmosphere, by the volume of incoming groundwater and the influx of dissolved carbonates, by photosynthesis/ respiration of aquatic plants and plankton within the lake, and by CO2 production during the decay of organic matter. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of organic matter are used to define the changes in the bioproductivity and source of organic matter transported into the lake. The lake evolution, such as sediment infilling and overgrowth, partially caused by climate deterioration, have recorded in stable isotopic and chemical element composition as well as in the features of organic matter.
Science for all
Od kilkunastu lat pracownicy ING PAN organizują kursy i szkolenia (zarówno grupowe i indywidualne) z oznaczania subfosylnej fauny wioślarek (Cladocera) i ich taksonomii. Nieodzownym elementem warsztatów są możliwości interpretacyjne fauny wioślarek oraz jej przydatność w rekonstrukcjach paleoklimatycznych i palekologicznych.
Członkowie grupy realizują, we współpracy z Climate-KIC, zadania prospołeczne związane z propagowaniem gospodarki niskoemisyjnej i walką ze zmianami klimatu. Corocznie organizujemy w Warszawie Climathon (globalne, 24-godzinne wydarzenie oparte na formule hacakathonu, w 2016 roku w akcji wzięło udział 59 miast z 6 kontynentów). Od 2017 roku jesteśmy koordynatorem programu Pioneers into Practice, który łączymy ze sobą profesjonalistów specjalizujących się w obszarze zmian klimatu z organizacjami publicznymi, prywatnymi, naukowo-badawczymi oraz organizacjami pozarządowe działającymi w szeroko pojętym sektorze ochrony klimatu.
