SELECTED GEOCHEMICAL CRITERIA IN MIRE PROFILES OF PORĘBY WOJSŁAWSKIE (SANDOMIERZ BASIN, POLAND SE)

The geochemical analysis of biogenic sediments was used to reconstruct environmental conditions and the impact of human activity from a small mire geo-system in the Sandomierz Basin (Poland SE). Changes in the nature of selected geochemical indicators show a significant impact on the transformation of the mire during the early stages of human activity. It is reflected in the geochemical record by means of a high proportion of heavy metals – cadmium, lead and copper. Evident variability of main geochemical components concentration is also visible in a vertical record of analysed cores. This is a consequence of the sedimentary basin asymmetric configuration and the ensuing variable biogenic sedimentary succession. Analizy geochemiczne stanową jedną z podstawowych metod badań osadów biogenicznych deponowanych w torfowiskach. W pracy wykorzystano analizę geochemiczną osadów biogenicznych z małego geosystemu torfowiskowego in the Sandomierz Basin (Poland SE) do odtworzenia warunków środowiskowych i wpływu działalności człowieka. Zmiany charakteru wybranych wskaźników geochemicznych zaznaczają znaczący wpływ na transformację torfowiska w najmłodszych fazach działalności człowieka. Rejestrowana jest ona w zapisie geochemicznym poprzez wysoki udział metali ciężkich – kadm, ołów i miedź. Zaznacza się także wyraźna zmienność koncentracji głównych składników geochemicznych w zapisie pionowym analizowanych rdzeni. Jest to konsekwencją asymetrycznej konfiguracji zbiornika sedymentacyjnego i wynikającej z niej zmiennej w czasie biogenicznej sukcesji osadowej

Environmental Conditions of Settlement of the Danubian Communities in the Northern Foreland of the Sandomierz Upland

The article raises the issue of the nature, intensity and environmental conditions of the settlement processes occurring on the borderline of the loessic Sandomierz Upland and the sandy-clay areas of the Iłża Foothills, between the end of 6th and the beginning of the 4th millennia BC. The results of previously conducted research confirm the high settlement activity in these areas, throughout the period of development of the Danubian cultural groups. The obtained data document the phenomenon of the formation and functioning of the early-agricultural settlement centres in upland areas, located outside the range of compact loess cover, i.e. within ecological and landscape zones that diverge from the basic preferences of the Danubian communities, inhabiting the upland areas of the upper Vistula basin

Physico-geographical mesoregions of Poland : verification and adjustment of boundaries on the basis of contemporary spatial data

The programme of identification, cataloguing and evaluation of Polish landscapes, part of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention, has caused an increase in interest in physico-geographical regionalisation over recent years. The commonly accepted regionalisation of Poland developed by J. Kondracki (Kondracki & Richling 1994) is sufficient for work at an overview scale (e.g. 1:500,000), whereas its spatial accuracy is too low to make use of it for the purpose of Polish landscape cataloguing. The aim of this article is to present a more up-to-date and detailed division of Poland into mesoregions, adjusted to the 1:50,000 scale. In comparison with older work, the number of mesoregions has increased from 316 to 344. In many cases, some far-reaching changes in meso- and macroregions were made. Nevertheless, in most cases the previous system of units was maintained, with more detailed adjustment of boundaries based on the latest geological and geomorphological data and the use of GIS tools for the DEM analysis. The division presented here is a creatively developing new work aligning the proposals of the majority of Polish researchers. At the same time, it is a regionalisation maintaining the idea of the work developed by J. Kondracki as well as his theoretical assumptions and the criteria used to distinguish units, which makes it a logical continuation of his regional division

“Ghost structures” in alkaline fen microrelief as a consequence of Late Glacial periglacial activity in chalklands : a case study from the Chełm Hills (East Poland)

On the basis of high-resolution LiDAR data, collected at the surface of alkaline fens in the Chełm Hills area (Lublin chalkland, East Poland), structures deviating from the natural paludification processes related to the development of fens (“ghost structures”) were identified. At each of the sites analysed, field verification by means of drillhole cores indicates an indirect relationship between the modern topography of the peatlands and the morphology of their substratum, related to periglacial processes. Three categories of periglacial structure were recognized in the chalk bedrock: (1) solifluction sheets, lobes and terraces; (2) pingo-type structures (ramparted depressions, lithalsas); and (3) relict cryogenic mounds. A conceptual model of the development of slope and peatland relief in the Lublin chalkland during the Late Glacial and Holocene was prepared on the basis of the results obtained. The results indicate the role of the periglacially transformed chalk substratum in the development of alkaline fens in the chalklands, which rarely was considered in previous studies

Jacek Misztal, Związek Akademicki Młodzież Wszechpolska 1922–1939, Krzeszowice 2012

Recenzj

Geochemistry of deposits from spring-fed fens in West Pomerania (Poland) and its significance for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction

The cupolas of the spring-fed fens at Bobolice and Ogartowo (West Pomerania, Northern Poland) are composed of alternating peat and calcareous tufa layers. The geology of those two fens, together with the geochemistry of their deposits and radiocarbon dating results, made it possible: (1) to determine the source of water and mineral matter, and (2) to reconstruct the main stages in their development. The distinguished five main stages of development of the fens (four at Ogartowo) reflected varying depositional environments resulting, among other things, from the proportion of groundwater supply and its physico-chemical properties. On the basis of principal components analysis, the sources supplying elements of the peat-tufa rhythmite were found to be chemical denudation and sedentation of peat deposits, while mechanical denudation and atmospheric supply were considerably less important. The geochemistry of deposits was also influenced by local conditions of the geochemical environment, such as its pH, redox potential, CO2 content in water, and the occurrence of organic matter.Les dômes formés par les tourbières de source de Bobolice et d'Ogartowo (Ouest de la Poméranie, Pologne du nord), sont composés de niveaux alternés de tourbes et de tuf calcaires. L'étude géologique de deux d'entre elles, à laquelle s'ajoute une analyse géochimique des sédiments et des datations radiocarbone, a permis d'identifier (1) les sources de l'approvisionnement en eau et en matière minérale, (2) les phases principales du développement des tourbières. On a identifié cinq phases principales de développement (quatre à Ogartowo) qui reflètent différents milieux de sédimentation résultant, entre autres, de l'importance des apports en eaux souterraines et de leurs propriétés physico-chimiques. Sur la base d'une analyse factorielle (ACP), l'étude montre que les sources d'approvisionnement des séquences tourbe/tuf résultent de processus d'altération chimique et du dépôt des sédiments tourbeux, et, dans une moindre mesure, de la dénudation mécanique et des apports atmosphériques. La géochimie des sédiments dépend également de l'influence des conditions locales de l'environnement chimique, comme le pH, le potentiel d'oxydo-réduction, le contenu de l'eau en CO2 et la présence de matière organique

Geoarchaeological record of human activity during the Neoholocene in the south-eastern Iłża Foothills (Central Poland))

W artykule zaprezentowano wyniki geoarcheologicznych badań przeprowadzonych w obrębie oraz otoczeniu dwóch wielokulturowych stanowisk archeologicznych w Tominach i Zawadzie (południowo-wschodnia część Przedgórza Iłżeckiego), w bezpośrednim sąsiedztwie północnej krawędzi pokrywy lessowej Wyżyny Sandomierskiej. Ich zasadniczych celem była kompleksowa rekonstrukcja osadniczej i gospodarczej aktywności człowieka w analizowanym obszarze w okresie ostatnich około 5 tysięcy lat, wraz z identyfikacją wszelkich jej uwarunkowań, zarówno na poziomie chronologiczno-kulturowym, jak i środowiskowym. Uzyskane wyniki pozwoliły na określenie przebiegu i skali lokalnych zjawisk kulturowych oraz związanych z nimi procesów osadniczych między późnym neolitem a czasami współczesnymi. Na podstawie uchwyconych śladów eksploatacji oraz przekształceń środowiska naturalnego podjęta została również próba określenia charakteru i stopnia lokalnej antropopresji w neoholocenie.The article presents the results of geoarchaeological research carried out within and around two multicultural archaeological sites in Tominy and Zawada (south-eastern Iłża Foothills), in the immediate vicinity of the northern edge of the loess cover of the Sandomierz Upland. The main objective of the research was to comprehensively reconstruct human settlement and economic activity in the study area in the last ca. 5,000 years, along with identifying its conditions, both at the chronologicalcultural and the environmental level. The results allowed a determination of the course and scale of local cultural phenomena and related settlement processes between the late Neolithic and modern times. On the basis of traces of exploitation and transformation of the natural environment, an attempt was made to determine the nature and extent of local anthropopressure in the Neoholocene