Volume 17 (2011): Issue 1 (April 2011)

Examples of geoengineering methods (static and dynamic probings) that can be applied to analyses of geological environments are presented. The potential is shown by the results of the determination of the values of the soil-density index (I_D), the soil-behaviour index (I_c), the constrained modulus (M), the overconsolidation ratio (OCR) and their vertical changes. The values obtained for I_D and I_c facilitate the determination of layers with a specific character. This is demonstrated for several aeolian and glacial deposits in Poland. The application of static probings to the analyses of changes in OCR and M made it possible to identify several depositional phases and the effect of postdepositional processes. Usages of the probings can significantly contribute to the interpretation of palaeo-environments (e.g. in the context of geostatistical models), but the results obtained should be handled cautiously.

The maximum ice-sheet extent of a glaciation or glacial phase is in most cases indicated by the position of end moraines. In some cases, however, the maximum extent of the ice sheet is indicated by a fan which represents the transitional zone between the end moraine and the proximal outwash plain (sandur). Such a fan from the Pomeranian phase near Charlottenthal in NE Germany has been investigated for its lithofacies, and the depositional mechanisms of the two sedimentary environments (end moraine and outwash plain) are reconstructed. The Charlottenthal profle is not characteristic in a sedimentological sense of a typical marginal end moraine or a sandur. The deposits represent subaerial debris flows, sheet floods and channelized currents, which are typically processes for transitional fan.

Gravel samples from the till complex show typical Weichselian till compositions. These till compositions indicate a general transport direction from North to South, which is consistent with the known movement of the ice sheet during the Pomeranian phase of the Weichselian.

Interregional tracing of trends and events in the biotic evolution is an important task of modern palaeobiology. In Soviet times (1917-1991), numerous palaeontological data have collected for the territory of Russia and neighbouring U. S. S. R. countries. Later, these data were compiled and published in a series of reference volumes. Although this information cannot be updated in a conventional way, it remains valuable for quantitative analyses, particularly because of its comprehensive and unique character. Assessment of the previously collected data on the stratigraphic distribution of Middle Devonian-Mississippian marine invertebrates in three regions of central Asia (central Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) reveals some general patterns of biodiversity dynamics. The total number of genera generally declined during the Givetian-Famennian, whereas a remarkable diversity peak occurred in the Visean. This is consistent with the global pattern and, thus, permits to hypothesize a regional signature of the global trends. Changes in the extinction rate differ, however, between central Asia and the Earth in its entirety, which may be explained particularly by biases in either the regional or the global records. Evidence of the Givetian and Frasnian/Famennian mass extinctions is found in the three regions under study. Results of this tentative study indicate important directions for further research and suggest that central Asia is a highly important domain for studies of mid-Palaeozoic biodiversity dynamics.

Samples collected from Late Pleistocene varved clays of the Vistulian (Weichselian) glaciation exposed at Lębork and Złocieniec (Gardno and Pomeranian phases, respectively) yielded palynological contents that are related to the different lithologies composing the varves. The dark-coloured clay units contain very small amounts of palynological material. The lighter-coloured, much thicker coarser units yielded large amounts of organic particles consisting of predominantly palynodebris of terrestrial plants, sporomorphs and aquatic palynomorphs. The latter include fresh-water and marine phytoplankton.

All particles were presumably washed out from the pre-Quaternary basement or from erratic material. This is indicated by the dinoflagellate-cyst assemblages, which represent Cretaceous and Palaeogene taxa. The large amounts of organic particles in the light-coloured layers indicate high-energy meltwaters streams, which washed them out, transported them and deposited them in ice-dammed lakes. The barren layers and those with lower amounts of organic particles were deposited during calm, presumably winter, periods, when the energy of the meltwater streams was much lower.