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From a geological and palaeogeographical point of view, the area of the Adamów Graben in the vicinity of Turek ranks amongst the best known in central Poland, with several opencast mines located here where lignite was exploited for 57 years. These large-surface exposures provide a good opportunity for detailed geological studies of strata of Late Cretaceous to Holocene age. However, the present research focuses mainly on those deposits, forms and structures that have been most thoroughly examined and are best exposed. These are Cretaceous marls and gaizes, Paleogene ‘blue clays’ and the ‘Koźmin Gravels’, Neogene sandstones, as well as the Quaternary glacial ‘Lake Koźmin’, involutions and ‘Koźmin Las’. Some of these, e.g., the ‘Koźmin Gravels’ and ‘Koźmin Las’, are not known from other Polish territories. Furthermore, results obtained by the authors over a period of nearly 30 years also include data on palaeogeographical changes across some Cenozoic intervals, especially during the early Oligocene and late Weichselian.

The strong activation of human pressure on the natural environment dates back to 1950 and this date is often indicated as the beginning of the Anthropocene. In the field of Earth sciences, the Anthropocene is studied in various aspects, including anthropogenic geomorphological changes, which are particularly visible in areas of open-pit mining. Analysis of anthropogeomorphological forms was carried out in the post-mining area of the Adamów Lignite Mine located in the Warta River valley in the Koło Basin. Forms of the river valley, dunes and peatbogs, as well as small fragments of the plateau were destroyed, and in their place anthropogenic plains, dumping hills and artificial reservoirs were created. The result of such activities is the creation of a new geomorphological landscape as a determinant of the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the features of the geomorphological landscape dominated by sand covers and dunes within the inactive middle Warta River valley. Detailed geological and geomorphological mapping, sedimentological analysis and age determinations using 14C and OSL methods allowed their formation to be placed in the late Weichselian/early Holocene and the late Holocene. It was found that the nature of aeolian processes is the result of local aerodynamic conditions, the presence of alluvia and fluvioglacial deposits, and substrate moisture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Geographica Lodziensia is the property of Lodz Scientific Society / Lodzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Geographica Lodziensia is the property of Lodz Scientific Society / Lodzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An overview of palaeogeographical findings of the last glacial period (MIS 5d-MIS 2) has been given for the Łódź region. Processes which influenced the area outside of ice-sheet margin are presented with respect to space and time, as predominantly driven by different types of periglacial environment. Attention was paid to leading accumulative and erosional processes and resulting landforms, still well-pronounced in the landscape. Recently, the picture of the area discussed, during the Vistulian was completed and identified was the mechanism of the LGM ice-sheet advance onto the Płock lobe. Borderline location of the Łódź region offers comprehensive research on the time and processes and determines its significance on the geomorphological map of Poland.

In 2023, Acta Geographica Lodziensia will celebrate its 75th anniversary. The anniversary has been taken as an opportunity to present a historical account of how the journal's profile has changed over the years. Particular attention was paid to the last decade, when there were changes in the pattern of editorial work. They resulted in the need to adapt the publishing sequence to the development of online communication channels, indexation requirements and the journal's position as measured by its presence in reference databases, including the SCOPUS database. Recent years have seen a shift from the dominance of monographic volumes to collective ones, with topics that go beyond the regional framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The episode of cooling that ends the environmental transformation of the last cold Pleistocene period is expressed by clear, though subtle, changes in the abiotic sphere. The aim of the article is to draw attention to the variety of indicators showing changes in the environment during the Younger Dryas, and to the need to take into account the possibility of random changes. The area of Central Poland located in the extraglacial zone of the Vistulian glaciation was analysed. Those palaeogeographical markers that may or may not appear depending on local geological and geomorphological conditions have been defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study concerns small-scale features in the form of denivation structures, periglacial involutions, sharp-edged blocks, fragipan layers and frost fissures observed in various depositional environments of Central Poland. These are terrestrial evidence for the Vistulian (Weichselian) decline cool-climate intervals (Older Dryas and Younger Dryas). The structures developed in the presence of either permafrost or deep seasonal frost. In this study, the authors analyse their distinctive properties and origins, and their relations to the sedimentary successions and morphogenetic processes. The study demonstrates that the discussed features can be useful supplementary diagnostic markers for the comprehensive reconstruction of cold environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the use of a set of radiocarbon dates for the identification of the pace of changes in the natural palaeoenvironment of the Łódź region (Central Poland). Based on 175 dates covering a time interval between 18-11.5 ka cal BP, the probability density function was constructed, the fluctuations of which correspond to the chronology of morphogenetic processes. Three stages in the Late Vistulian history of the Łódź region were distinguished and the age of their boundaries was established. The onset of postglacial warming at ca. 18 ka cal BP has been confirmed. The proposed chronostratigraphic division was compared with independent environmental data - stratigraphy based on Greenland ice cores and interdisciplinary studies of lake sediments. The correlation of records indicates the usefulness of the method as a supplementary tool in palaeogeographical reconstructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents geological records preserved in deposits of the extensive peatbog developed in the Late Vistulian in the valley floor of the middle Warta River. At the bottom of the organic-mineral series, radiocarbon dated at the Alleröd decline and the Younger Dryas, deformation structures commonly were formed, represented by involutions and some frost fissures which characteristics provide basis to infer the permafrost reactivation. In the study area, the return of permafrost in response to the Younger Dryas cooling was determined not only thermally but to a large extend lithologically, controlled by differences in thermal conductivity of peat, depending on temperature conditions and material saturation. The cold easily penetrating deep during winters and isulation from heat during summers result in a deeper freezing in winters than thawing in summers. Based on the regularities of the evolution of the natural environment of the Łódź Region potential localities of permafrost reactivation were indicated, which allow to conclude about distribution of discontinuous permafrost during the Younger Dryas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidisciplinary investigations carried out at Koźmin Las have been analysed in the aspect of recognition of fast natural climate changes in geosystems during the Vistulian Late Glacial. A series of short events, reconstructed for the extensive valley of a large lowland river in the old morainic area of Central Poland, has been related to global changes. Features in accordance with the scheme for Greenland ice core records and with the stratotypes of terrestrial palaeoenvironment of Central Poland have been highlighted. Properties of deposits which contributed to the knowledge of evolution of the Łódź Region have been pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Koźmin Las site is located in the well recognized area during the geological and geomorphological studies conducted since 90s of the last century in the ocucrops of the Adamów JSC Lignite Mine in Central Poland. Since 2010 have been undertaken multiproxy investigations on the sediments with relicts of former riparian forest dated back at the Vistulian Lateglacial. Well-preserved tree trunks and in situ stamps from this period are rare on a European scale. Obtained results were the basis of palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographical conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focuses on investigations carried out in the Late Vistulian succession of the Warta River deposits (central Poland) in which a horizon of subfossil trees was excavated. Prelim-inary conclusions on time record and past environmental conditions of a forest existence determined from radiocarbon dating, pollen analyses and geological evidence appear promising with view of tree-ring chronologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]