POLLEN AND SPOROMORPHS

 Palynological analysis is used in many scientific fields:

• archaeology
• botany
• systematics of plants
• enables reconstruction of vegetation in the past
• provides data on climatic and paleogeographic changes

Analysis of pollen and sporomorphs has practical usage in:

• medicine
• allergology to study seasonal distribution of pollen in the atmosphere
• judiciary and crime detection
• apiculture and apitherapy to study pollen content in honey and its species composition

OFFER

• Preparation of rock material for palynological analysis – 2 types of macerations – if the rock contains no silica, samples are macerated in HCl (if calcareous), potassium hydroxide, heavy liquid, acetolysis mixture or in glycerine (final purification). If the rock contains silica, it requires additional maceration with hydrofluoric acid.
• Palynological analysis of pollen and sporomorphs

 

CONTACT

Warsaw

Paleogene and Neogene palynology
Barbara Słodkowska, Dr
Climate and Environment Change Program
tel. +48 22 45 92 271
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Quaternary palynology
Hanna Winter, Dr
Climate and Environment Change Program
tel. +48 22 45 92 312
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Preparation of rock material
Iza Matejko, MSc
Climate and Environment Change Program
tel. +48 22 45 92 317
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Kraków

Palynological analysis
Andrzej Szydło, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 382
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Paleogene and Neogene palynology
Małgorzata Garecka, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 347
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Quaternary palynology & Preparation of rock material
Wojciech Granoszewski, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 348
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Sosnowiec

Palynological analysis
Monika Jachowicz-Zdanowska, Dr
Upper Silesian Branch
tel. +48 32 266 20 36 ext. 141
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CONODONTS

 

We do not know exactly what conodonts are, but they can be used for multiple research and practical purposes, including exploration and study of hydrocarbon deposits:

• they are the most precise biostratigraphic tool (age determination) in differently aged rocks (from the Cambrian through the Triassic)
• they date geological and evolutionary events (e.g. the first TETRAPODS)
• they enable correlation of rock strata between different areas, including petroleum basins
• they permit reconstructions of marine environments and their paleogeographical interpretations, including source and reservoir rocks for natural gas and crude oil, as well as  formations intended for CO₂ storage
• they enable quick and inexpensive determination of thermal possibilities of hydrocarbon generation (e.g. in gas shales).

 

OFFER

Our experience allows us to select the most appropriate rocks for sampling, with a high chance of positive results (useful conodont material). We are able to obtain conodonts from various rocks using appropriate methods of maceration. We competently recognise individual elements of conodonts, determine their age, environmental conditions of their occurrence and thermal conditions which they have undergone from the time of sedimentation to the present day.

CONTACT

 

Warsaw

Katarzyna Narkiewicz, Dr
Climate and Environment Change Program
tel. +48 22 45 92 329
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Kraków

Małgorzta Jugowiec-Nazarkiewicz, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 348
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Sosnowiec

Paweł Woźniak, Msc
Upper Silesian Branch
tel. +48 32 266 20 36 ext. 151
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DIATOMS

Diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) are unicellular algae of silica frustules. They are abundant in freshwater, brackish and marine habitats. They live alone or in colonies as free-floating cells in the plankton or grow attached to surfaces. Diatoms inhabit soils, walls and wall plasters, rock, ice and snow surfaces, and cortex of trees. Diatoms are used extensively in environmental assessment. Diatom species are very particular about the water chemistry in which they live, especially pH, salinity, trophic and saproby conditions, and oxygen level in the environment. They are commonly used as bioindicators in monitoring the ecological parameters of the lake and river environments. Furthermore, because the silica cell walls are preserved in ancient sediments, diatom species can be used to interpret palaeoenvironmental conditions during sedimentation.

The offer of diatomological studies of Pomeranian Regional Branch Unit in Szczecin includes following services:

• Sampling of all types of water sedimentary environments (recent and fossil) by catchment or coring method;
• Aggressive chemical cleaning methods for sampled sediments, in order to obtain clean diatom material;
• Preparation of microscopic slides;
• Taxonomic diatom analysis under Nikon Optiphot-2 light microscope;
• Paleoreconstruction of Quaternary aqueous sedimentary environments, based on diatom analyses, including following factors:

• • habitat
  • salinity
  • pH of water
  • trophy
  • saproby
  • oxygen level

• calculation of Diatom Indexes for ecological evaluation of water bodies, according to the Water Framework Directive

 

CONTACT

 

Szczecin

Jan Seidler, MSc
Pomeranian Branch
tel. +48 91 43 23 434
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FORAMINIFERA

We carry out micropaleontological analysis of foraminiferal assemblages using smear slides or thin sections, with incident light illumination (stereo microscope) and transillumination (normal optical microscope), as well as using the scanning microscope which also involves preparation of photographic documentation. We specialize in analysis of rock samples from the Polish part of the Outer Carpathians (Late Jurassic to Early Miocene) and the Carpathian Foreland Basin (Miocene) together with border areas in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine. The analysis is carried out on flysch and molasse deposits, but also allochthonous rocks found in them as well as Mesozoic and Paleozoic (Devonian and Carboniferous) rocks underlying the strata of the Outer Carpathians and the Carpathian Foreland Basin. We also analyse marine sediments (Pliocene to Pleistocene).

WE OFFER:

• relative age assessments
• paleoecological and paleoenvironmental analysis of deposits based on taxonomic variability, population, preservation and distribution of fossil assemblages (taxonomy, morphogroups and taphonomy)
• paleogeographic reconstructions (foraminiferal origin)
• paleoclimatic analysis of marine environments
• dating and correlation of paleobiogeographic and paleoceanographic events
• fluctuations of sea level and CaCO₃ compensation depth (CCD)

CONTACT

Kraków

Foraminifera in smear slides and thin sections (Mesozoic and Neogene)
Barbara Olszewska, Prof. Dr hab. Eng.
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 367
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Foraminifera in smear slides: Jurassic to Neogene
Andrzej Szydło, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 382
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Foraminifera in thin sections: Devonian to Carboniferous
Anna Tomaś, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 384
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Preparation of rock samples, smear slides, thin sections
Ryszard Kaczmarski
Carpathian Branch
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RADIOLARIANS

Radiolarians are siliceous micro protozoan widely distributed in the oceans. They occur through the entire water column, from near surface to deep ocean. Radiolarians are very sensitive organisms for variable chemical-physical properties of the oceanic water such as temperature and their tests preserve well in the sediment. For this reason they are useful tools for paleoreconstructions, biostratigraphy and play very significant role in sea surface temperature estimations.

 

OFFER

• Laboratory sediment preparation for qualitative and quantitative radiolarian analysis,
  microscope slides preparation
• Determine of fossilized quaternary radiolarian species
• Qualitative and quantitative analysis of Arctic/Antarctic radiolarians
• Radiolarian summer sea surface paleotemperature reconstructions on the Antarctic Ocean base on the IKM or ANN method
• Reconstructions of oceanic frontal movements
• Biostartigraphy (approximate age model estimations for quaternary sediment cores)

 

CONTACT

Szczecin

Bartosz Kotrys, Msc
Pomeranian Branch
tel. +48 91 43 23 436
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CALCAREOUS NANOPLANKTON (Coccolithophores)

Coccolithophores are the most variable and widespread group of marine phytoplankton. They live in nearly all marine environments from deep marine to coastal, and even in fresh water. They are one of the most important primary producers in basins. Due to their large number and wide geographic distribution, they became a tool of biostratigraphy and are used for relative dating of marine sediments. They also play an important role in paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstructions, both at the local and regional scale. Thus, they are very useful in various fields of research ranging from stratigraphy, biology, geology and chemistry (geochemistry) to sedimentology and climatology.

 

Their distribution and productivity are governed by many factors, the most important ones being light intensity (photosynthesis), temperature of surface water, chemical composition (relation of Mg/Ca), salinity, availability of nutrients for building cells (nitrogen and phosphorus), amount of oxygen dissolved in water and the fluctuation of the sea level. Their key role in the contemporary carbon cycle is also emphasized (being photosynthesizing organisms, they use carbon for life processes). There is a hypothesis that phytoplankton may directly influence climatic changes.

 

Samples for testing can be taken from various types of sediments (as long as these are carbonate sediments), both from outcrops and rock core.

 

WE OFFER

• phytoplankton analysis using the Nikon optical microscope (quantitative and qualitative analysis, taxonomy)
• relative dating of sediments
• paleoenvironmental reconstructions (temperature, salinity, trophism and chemical composition)
• reconstructions of sea level changes (transgressive-regressive cycles) for correlation of sedimentary successions in basins
• climate fluctuations and changes

CONTACT

Kraków

Calcareous nanoplankton (Cretaceous-Neogene)
Małgorzata Garecka, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 347
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Calcareous nanoplankton (Jurassic-Cretaceous)
Małgorzata Jugowiec-Nazarkiewicz, Dr
Carpathian Branch
tel. +48 12 29 01 369
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