Małgorzata Mazurek

Variability of Water Chemistry in Tundra Lakes, Petuniabukta Coast, Central Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Samples of water from small tundra lakes located on raised marine terraces on the eastern coast of Petuniabukta (Ebbadalen, Central Spitsbergen) were examined to assess the changes in water chemistry that had occurred during the summer seasons of 2001–2003 and 2006. The unique environmental conditions of the study region include the predominance of sedimentary carbonate and sulphate rocks, low precipitation values, and an active permafrost layer with a maximum thickness of 1.2 m. The average specific electric conductivity (EC) values for the three summer seasons in the four lakes ranged from 242 to 398 μS cm−1. The highest EC values were observed when the air temperature decreased and an ice cover formed (cryochemical effects). The ion composition was dominated by calcium (50.7 to 86.6%), bicarbonates (39.5 to 86.4%), and sulphate anions. The high concentrations of HCO3 −, SO4 2−, and Ca2+ ions were attributed to the composition of the bedrock, which mainly consists of gypsum and anhydrite. The average proportion of marine components in the total load found in the Ebbadalen tundra lake waters was estimated to be 8.1%. Precipitation supplies sulphates (as much as 69–81%) and chlorides (14–36%) of nonsea origin. The chief source of these compounds may be contamination from the town of Longyearbyen. Most ions originate in the crust, the active layer of permafrost, but some are atmospheric in origin and are either transported or generated in biochemical processes. The concentrations of most components tend to increase during the summer months, reaching a maximum during freezing and partially precipitating onto the bottom sediments.

Multi-proxy evidence of Holocene climate variability in Volhynia Upland (SE Poland) recorded in spring-fed fen deposits from the Komarów site

Radiocarbon-dated spring-fed fen deposits from the Komarów site (Volhynia Upland, SE Poland) with its multi-proxy data (macrofossils, molluscs, geochemistry, pollen, stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon) enable us (1) to distinguish four main stages of fen evolution, which reflected a distinct variability of water supply conditions and (2) to reconstruct the Holocene humidity–temperature changes. The beginning of peat–tufa deposition took place in a Boreal phase, after a significant cool fluctuation of climate occurring ca. 9.4 ka cal. BP. We suggest that climate was the most important factor conditioning the development of the spring-fed fen. Permafrost degradation, and then wet periods, intensified the activity of ascending springs. The impact of humans was possible since the Neolithic period and increased during the Middle Ages: therefore, the anthropogenic influence could have partially overlapped with the regional tendencies of climate changes. Autogenic development of deposit succession in the studied fen was definitely conditioned by hydrological changes induced by climate. Based on the multi-proxy data, 12 cold events of different ranks were identified. They are also recorded in other Polish and European sites. A record of distinct variability of depositional conditions at ca. 9.4, 8.2, 5.9, 4.6, 2.8, 1.4 and 0.55 ka cal. BP corresponds to quasi-periodical global climate changes in the Holocene named the Bond events. The majority of the cold events recorded in δ13C and δ18O of carbonates can be correlated to the Greenland oxygen isotope curve.

Geodiversity and biodiversity of the postglacial landscape (Dębnica river catchment, Poland)

Abstract The preparation of a proper zoning plan or landscape-ecological plan requires taking into account recognition of the natural values of an area covered by the plan and evaluating its abiotic and biotic diversities. The aim of the paper is to present the new approach to the procedure of geodiversity and biodiversity assessment. This procedure is used to characterise abiotic and biotic heterogeneity of the postglacial landscape modified by a man, tested on Dębnica River catchment (Western Pomerania, Poland). This catchment is a representative example illustrating the landscape of Central European Plain. The analytical algorithm of the geodiversity assessment is based on appropriate selection of the evaluation criteria: lithological, relative heights, landform fragmentation, hydrographical elements and mesoclimatic conditions. Biodiversity was assessed on the basis of real vegetation, potential natural vegetation and the degree of anthropisation of the natural vegetation with respect to syngenesis of plant associations. Seven factor maps were obtained: five for the diversity of abiotic elements, and two for the diversity of biotic elements, which became the basis for the creation of total geodiversity and biodiversity maps. Maps produced in accordance with given methodology may find a wide range of applications.

Existing and proposed urban geosites values resulting from geodiversity of Poznań City

Abstract Poznań, a city in central-western Poland, is located in the lowland region but has no less attractive geomorphological and human history. It was here that Poland was born at the end of the tenth century. The city’s location is connected with the meridian course of the Warta River valley. In contrast, in the northern part of the city, there is a vast area of the frontal moraines of the Poznań Phase of the Weichselian Glaciation. Against the backdrop of the geomorphological development of the city, the article presents the existing geosites, classified as urban geosites. The present geosites include three lapidaries with Scandinavian postglacial erratics, one of them also with stoneware, a fragment of a frontal push moraine and impact craters. Besides, three locations of proposed geosites with rich geomorphological and/or human history were identified. These are as follows: the peat bog located in the northern part of the city, defence ramparts as exhumed anthropogenic forms, and the Warta River valley. The existing and proposed geosites in Poznań were evaluated in three ways. In general, it should be assumed that the proposed new geosites are higher ranked than the current ones.

Anthropogeomorphological Metamorphosis of an Urban Area in the Postglacial Landscape: A Case Study of Poznań City

Abstract The aim of this chapter is to assess the geological and morphological characteristics of areas created by chronologically and spatially overlapping geomorphic and morphogenetic processes, mainly during the last glaciation, and—against such background— to present the major landform transformation of the city of Poznan from the Middle Ages to the present day. The characteristic feature of Poznan is its location on the river, that is the Warta River. The chapter presents Poznan’s geological, sedimentological, and geomorphological setting, with the final shape of landforms in Poznan being a product of the last Scandinavian glaciation, including features, such as a moraine plateau, outwash plains, and crevasse forms. The most important and largest form of the meridional course, however, is the Warta River and how it divides Poznan between western and eastern parts, with morphological changes occurring in different places of the city throughout the centuries. The largest areas among the anthropogenic forms occupy the leveled plains of residential areas. These features are expounded upon by proposing locations for various geosites.

Spatial Variability of Physical and Chemical Properties of River Water in the Upper Parsęta Catchment During Rising Spring Flows

The paper discusses the spatial variability of the physical and chemical properties of river water in the upper Parseta catchment (West Pomerania, Poland) during rising spring flows. Making use of data generated by 6 hydrochemical surveys, the studied waters were classified based on so-called fuzzy clustering methodology and attempts were made to interpret their spatial distribution. The obtained results show that during spring rising flows meteorological and hydrological conditions present in the period prior to sampling have a major impact on the water chemistry of the upper Parseta catchment. These prior conditions significantly weaken the spatial variability of lithological and hydrogeological characteristics which is clearly perceptible in the case of low outflows.

Geomorphological processes in channel heads initiated by groundwater outflows (The Parseta catchment, North-Western Poland)

Geomorphological processes in channel heads initiated by groundwater outflows (The Parsęta catchment, north-western Poland) Channel initiation is caused by a combination of various hydrogeomorphic processes. In the humid temperate zone of the Polish Plain, in areas with permeable deposits, seepage erosion is the primary mechanism of stream channel initiation. In the 24 channel heads selected in the southern part of the Parsęta catchment (NW Poland), the zones of occurrence of the following processes were identified: (1) seepage erosion; (2) falls, dry ravel events and slides; (3) creep, solifluction, surface runoff and erosion; (4) channel processes; and (5) landforms created under the impact of plants and animals. The co-occurrence of various morphogenetic processes produces variations in the accumulation conditions, and as a result, a diversity of deposits. Channel heads morphology shows the effect of the topography of the zero-discharge catchment, the type and magnitude of groundwater outflows, the variability of the geological structure, and the possibility of material being removed from the alcoves.