The Kraków Branch of the Polish Geological Society and the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences cordially invite you to a lecture by:
Karol Faehnrich
(Uppsala University)
entitled:
Tectonic Evolution of the Northern Margin of North America
The lecture will take place on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, at 2:00 PM, in the lecture hall of the IGS PAS Research Centre, 1 Senacka Street, Kraków.
Abstract + Bio:
As part of the scientific cooperation between the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IGS PAS) and the Geological Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (GI-BAS), Dr Anna Gumsley and Dr Wiktoria Gmochowska participated in the international workshop and field excursion “Late Proterozoic – Paleozoic Geodynamics and Variscan Metallogeny”, held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 4–10 October 2026.
The visit took place within the bilateral research exchange project “The Quest for Peri-Gondwanan Terranes in the Variscan Orogen, Eastern Bulgaria”, coordinated by Dr Anna Gumsley (IGS PAS) and Dr Anna Lazarova-Georgieva (GI-BAS).
Dr Anna Gumsley delivered an invited presentation alongside internationally renowned researchers, including Prof. Damian Nance, Prof. Brendan Murphy, and Prof. David Chew. The event provided an opportunity to exchange scientific knowledge and strengthen international research collaboration.
The visit was funded by the International Cooperation Office of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) under Agreement No. PAN.BFB.S.BWZ.265.022.2026.
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We kindly invite to the lecture by prof. Vladimir Frid in the IGS PAS Krakow Research Centre lecture hall (Senacka 1 Kraków) at 2:00 p.m. on 24th of August 2026
Hearing the lecture is also possible online by ZOOM (link: https://zoom.us/j/93432244039?pwd=UCw96NIJxAtDV9B6UtFIMaSCZxX7sd.1 ID: 934 3224 4039 Access code: 660440
We are proud to announce that Dr hab. Marek Szczerba, Professor at ING PAN—Head of the ING PAN Research Centre in Kraków and a member of the Clay Minerals Research Group at ING PAN—is the joint first author of an article published in the prestigious journal Science.
The publication, entitled “Hematite is a mineralogical marker of ancient climate change on Mars,” presents the results of research into climate changes that occurred on Mars in the past. The scientists analysed mineralogical data from 20 rock samples collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover at different elevations within Gale Crater.
The study demonstrated that the size and structure of hematite crystallites may provide a mineralogical record of the environmental conditions that once prevailed on Mars. The observed differences in hematite crystal size, together with the presence or absence of goethite, made it possible to reconstruct changes in temperature and water availability during successive stages of Gale Crater’s history.
The results indicate that warm groundwater may have persisted in deeper rock layers for approximately 4.7 million years, even as the climate at the Martian surface became increasingly cold and dry. This suggests that potentially habitable environments may have existed beneath the surface of the Red Planet for much longer than previously thought.
The publication contributes to research on the geological and climatic history of Mars and demonstrates how detailed mineral analysis can support the reconstruction of ancient planetary environments.
We warmly congratulate Dr hab. Marek Szczerba, Professor at ING PAN, and the entire research team on this outstanding achievement!
Publication:
M. Szczerba et al., “Hematite is a mineralogical marker of ancient climate change on Mars,” Science, 2026, Vol. 392, No. 6801, pp. 966–971.
This week at our Research Center in Krakow, the ClayLab team is running a world-famous workshop on clay mineralogy for students, early career academics, and industry professionals. Participants from as far as Japan came to learn about the fascinating world of clay minerals.
The workshop includes a mixture of lectures and hands-on exercises. All basic aspects of clay science are covered, such as clay fraction separation, chemical pretreatments, and interpretation of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric data for clay-rich materials.
We are grateful to David Bish (Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA), Georgios Chryssikos (Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, NHRF, Athens, Greece), Reiner Dohrmann (BGR Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hannover, Germany), Stephen Hillier (James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, UK), Micheal Plötze (ETH Zürich, Switzerland), and Michał Skiba (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland) for joining us this week to share their knowledge.
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