The Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences:

The IGS PAS 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

Geoplanet

Doctoral school

We kindly invite to participate in Doctoral School Geoplanet, co-organised by IGS PAS

More info

Latest publications

AuthorsŁukasz Słonka, Michal Nemcǒk, Łukasz Gągała, Piotr Krzywiec
Year2026
TitleForward seismic modeling of thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belts: Understanding imaging artifacts and interpretation pitfalls
MagazineTectonophysics: Volume 930, Article 231185
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2026.231185

 

Highlights

• Forward seismic modeling explains key imaging artifacts in fold-and-thrust belts.

• Seismic image quality deteriorates with fold growth and structural complexity.

• Pull-up effects and shadow zones distort imaging in mature detachment folds.

• Lateral velocity contrasts amplify reflector distortion and mispositioning.

• Modeling helps to distinguish true structures from artifacts in complex orogens.

 

AuthorsMarek Szczerba, Tanya S. Peretyazhko, Elizabeth B. Rampe, Thomas F. Bristow, Benjamin M. Tutolo, Douglas W. Ming, David T. Vaniman, Richard V. Morris, Silas J. Ralston, Nikole C. Haney, Bum Soo Kim, David F. Blake, Steve J. Chipera, Robert T. Downs, Robert M. Hazen, Shaunna M. Morrison, Allan H. Treiman, Albert S. Yen, Valerie M. Tu, Michael T. Thorpe, Cherie N. Achilles, David J. Des Marais, John P. Grotzinger, Nicholas Castle, Patricia C. Craig, Elisabeth M. Hausrath, Sarah L. Simpson
Year2026
TitleHematite is a mineralogical marker of ancient climate change on Mars
MagazineScience: Volume 392, Issue 6801, pages 966–971
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1126/science.adv5447

Ancient river channels on Mars demonstrate that it once had a wetter and warmer climate. The Curiosity rover has been investigating the sedimentary rocks in Gale crater, and a mineralogical marker could relate that stratigraphy to the ancient climate.

 

 

AuthorsWiesława Radmacher, Igor Niezgodzki, Vicente Gilabert, Gregor Knorr, David M. Buchs, José A. Arz, Ignacio Arenillas, Martin A. Pearce, Jarosław Tyszka, Mateusz Mikołajczak, Osmín J. Vásquez, Sarit Ashckenazi-Polivoda, Sigal Abramovich, Mariusz Niechwedowicz, Gunn Mangerud
Year2025
TytułOcean freshening near the end of the Mesozoic
MagazineNature Communications: Volume 16, Article 7238
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62189-9

Paleogeographic changes have significantly shaped ocean circulation and climate dynamics throughout Earth’s history. This study integrates geological proxies with climate simulations to assess how ocean gateway evolution influenced ocean salinity near the end of the Mesozoic (~66 Ma).

 

AuthorsŁukasz Słonka, Marcin Krajewski, Piotr Krzywiec
Year2025
TytułInternal structure of the Upper Jurassic subsurface carbonate buildups of the northern Tethys shelf in southern Poland – integration of seismic forward modeling and outcrop analogs
MagazineMarine and Petroleum Geology: Volume 177, Article 107367
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2025.107367

 

Highlights

 

 

AuthorsMałgorzata Ponikowska, Sergiy Stovba, Michał Malinowski, Quang Nguyen, Stanisław Mazur
Year2026
TytułDeep crustal structure of the southern Baltic Sea in the light of seismic and potential field data
MagazineSolid Earth: Volume 17, Issue 1, pages 85–112
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5194/se-17-85-2026

The southern Baltic Sea lies within a critical transitional zone between two major geological provinces of Europe: the Precambrian East European Platform and the Palaeozoic Platform of Western Europe. While the shallow expression of this boundary is generally marked by the Caledonian deformation front, the deeper crustal configuration remains contentious due to thick Phanerozoic cover. This study integrates seismic interpretation with 2-D gravity and magnetic modelling to investigate the deep crustal architecture beneath the southern Baltic Sea.

 

AuthorsStefano Giunti, Maciej J. Bojanowski
Year2025
TytułGlendonites as proxy for gas hydrate in paleoseeps: Evidence from the Outer Carpathians (Poland)
MagazineGSA Bulletin: Volume 137, Issue 7–8, pages 2999–3010
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1130/B37922.1

Gas hydrate represents a geological, environmental, and climatic hazard. The risks related to gas hydrate can be better evaluated with a well-constrained knowledge about its occurrence in Earth's history. However, the understanding of gas hydrate in the geological past is very limited due to the paucity of insights that this compound leaves in the rock record after its destabilization.

 

AuthorsWiktoria Gmochowska, Daniel Harlov, Ewa Słaby, David Chew, Rafał Juroszek, Veronica Peverelli, Gabriela A. Kozub-Budzyń
Year2026
TytułMultistage metasomatism during experimental reaction of axinite-(Fe) with F-, Cl-, OH-, Si-bearing fluids at 600 °C, 200 MPa and 800 °C, 500 MPa
MagazineMineralogy and Petrology: Online First
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-026-00999-5

Many studies have shown that geological processes, such as metamorphism and metasomatism, consist of multiple superimposed events developing over various timescales, with each stage overprinting the previous one and thus complicating reconstruction of the complete history. Here, we report the use of a natural calcium aluminum borosilicate mineral axinite-(Fe) [(Ca2Fe2+Al2BSi4O15(OH)], which occurs in skarn deposits, as a starting material in a series of experiments representing various metasomatic processes.

 

AuthorsAneta A. Anczkiewicz, Jan Środoń, István Dunkl
Year2026
TytułThermal History of the Ediacaran/Cambrian Sediments on the East European Craton Inferred From Low-Temperature Thermochronology
MagazineBasin Research: Volume 38, Issue 1, Article e70081
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/bre.70081

Organic maturation and clay mineral-based estimates of the maximum paleotemperatures experienced by the Precambrian/Cambrian sediments on the East European Craton (EEC) are in disagreement. To resolve this conflict and reconstruct thermal histories of these sedimentary rocks we used three low-temperature thermochronometers: zircon and apatite (U–Th)/He (ZHe, AHe) and apatite fission track (AFT) methods, complemented by AFT modelling of thermal histories.

 

 

AuthorsAndrzej Wiśniewski, Maciej T. Krajcarz, Piotr Moska, Adrian Marciszak, Adam Kobyłka, Magdalena Sudoł-Procyk, Lisa Schunk, Krzysztof Cyrek
Year2026
TytułThe earliest evidence of the Levallois technology in Central Europe: New data from Biśnik Cave, Poland
MagazineQuaternary Science Reviews: Volume 388, Article 110010
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.110010

 

Highlights

 

 

AuthorsMarek Śliwiński, Mirosław Jastrzębski, Jiří Sláma, Gabriela A. Kozub-Budzyń, Aleksandra Jaźwa
Year2025
Tytuł The Structure and P–T–t–d Evolution of the Saxothuringian/Brunovistulian Variscan Boundary Zone in the Bohemian Massif (Czech Republic, Poland)
MagazineJournal of Metamorphic Geology: Volume 43, Issue 5
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12813

The Variscan suture zone between the Saxothuringian and Brunovistulian terranes of the Bohemian Massif in Central Europe is characterized by a highly tectonized zone: the Stáre Město Belt (SMB). Despite extensive previous research, better understanding of some essential aspects regarding the metamorphic conditions and timing of the tectonic events within the SMB are needed to understand the structural architecture and the Variscan evolution of the Saxothuringian/Brunovistulian suture zone.

 

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