In protected mountainous areas, groundwater surveys are usually restricted to studies of their recharge by springs and streams. In the case of fissured rocks, which represent a highly heterogeneous medium, classical hydrogeological methods may be supplemented by electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) techniques. The studies presented here were focused on explaining issues related to groundwater circulation and recharge in such a complex structure, based on the study of Gorczyński Ravine situated within the Pieniny Klippen Belt. The groundwater of that area is recharged by the Macelowy Stream and its spring. Electrical conductivity of water (EC) measurements have indicated the existence of a privileged groundwater recharge zone of the stream and a different groundwater recharge zone of the spring. ERT surveys were used to explain the observed EC measurements. The analysed rock massif is clearly heterogenic, as documented by the wide range of electrical resistivity values, from c. 50 Ωm to above 19 000 Ωm. Interpretation of the results was limited by the lack of documentation from wells, which would have allowed precise correlation between geoelectrical layers and geological units. Despite these restrictions, ERT surveys facilitated the explanation of the observed hydrogeological phenomena and supplied new data on the complex structure of this part of the Pieniny Klippen Belt.

The deposits of the Emsian to the Eifelian period in the Holy Cross Mountains are of interest due to the occurrence of the “ore-bearing horizon” composed of clays with nested iron ores at their outcrops. In boreholes drilled in the vicinity of sites of ore occurrence no ore is found at depth but only pyrite-bearing clay-mudstones. Exposures of these deposits in the dolomite quarry in Jurkowice have allowed the authors to study their sedimentological features and geochemical properties. There are present here deposits of the upper part of the Winna Formation: red sandy mudstones and hematite-bearing clays, followed by grey-black tuffitic mudstone with disseminated iron sulphide, overlaid by laminated heterolithic clayey and sandy sediments with intercalations of quarzitic sandstone. They are strongly convolute-folded, in their uppermost part and covered by quartz-dolomitic sandstone, followed by the carbonate rock series. Chemical analyses reveal a considerably elevated rare-earth elements content in the grey heteroliths. The convex-upwards MREE distribution pattern suggests their supply by hydrothermal mineralizing fluids. The hematite and iron sulphide-bearing rocks with signs of hydrothermal activity allow us to assume that the “ore-bearing horizon” at the Emsian-Eifelian boundary encompasses the upper part of the Winna Formation. The siderite appearing in the neighbouring limestones was a product of their alteration by iron sulphites produced during the weathering of iron sulphides.

The cirripede faunas from the Cretaceous (Campanian) of Skåne, southern Sweden, are reviewed and a total number of 31 species are recorded, the majority of which come from the upper lower Campanian (Belemnellocamax mammillatus Zone) of Ivö Klack, in the Kristianstad Basin. A number of new taxa are described, including the family Angulalepadidae and genus Angulalepas (type species Pollicipes nilssoni Steenstrup, 1839), as are Zeugmatolepas alifera sp. nov., Arcuatoscalpellum carlssoni sp. nov., Regioscalpellum ahlbergi sp. nov., and Epibrachylepas lineatum sp. nov. Pollicipes angelini Darwin, 1851, is placed in the genus Solidoscalpellum Gale, 2025, and Pollicipes undulatus Steenstrup, 1839 in the genus Arcuatoscalpellum Gale, 2015. The palaeoecology of the rocky shoreline cirripede fauna from Ivö Klack is discussed, and taxa are assigned to 6 microniche habitats, determined largely by the degree of turbulence and the nature of the substrates.

Rhizocaulon huberi H.-J. Gregor is redescribed based on new specimens from the type locality of Rátka (Miocene, Hungary). The material consists of rhizomes, roots, and leaves in physical connection. The roots branch from the rhizome from all sides and their primary cortex has radial strands of tissue separated by lacunae of schizogenic origin or resulting from tangential lysigeny. Tristichously arranged leaves that form a pseudostem are dorsiventral with internal aerenchyma. The type material of R. huberi is most probably heterogeneous. Poaceous affinities proposed formerly for R. huberi can be ruled out on account of phyllotaxis. Rhizocaulon huberi is probably a representative of the Cyperaceae, although this conclusion should not be uncritically extended to other representatives of this fossil-genus. The first valid publication of the genus Rhizocaulon was in 1885, so it should be cited as Rhizocaulon Saporta ex Schimp. et Schenk. Rhizocaulon brongniartii from the Oligocene of southern France is selected herein as the type species.

Exceptionally well-preserved asteroid specimens from the Cenomanian and Turonian coastal exposures in Seine-Maritime (north-west France) are described. These include a new genus, Crielaster (type species: C. annae sp. nov.), provisionally assigned to the family Chaetasteridae, a new species of the astropectinid genus Coulonia (C. fournoui sp. nov.), and a new species of stauranderasterid (Stauranderaster pustulosus sp. nov.). A superbly preserved specimen of Oreaster coronatus Forbes, 1848, showing the construction of the abactinal surface, supports subdivision of the genus Stauranderaster. Stauranderaster coronatus is designated as the type species of Coronataster gen. nov., and Squamataster gen. nov. is erected with Oreaster squamatus Forbes, 1848 as its type species.

The discovery of a well-preserved rostral cross-section of a platypterygiine ichthyosaur in Cenomanian deposits at Annopol, Poland, provides new insights into the anatomy, functional morphology, and ecological role of this group during the Late Cretaceous. The specimen, identified as Platypterygiinae indet., preserves articulated teeth, a visible interpremaxillary cavity, and neurovascular canal openings, enabling detailed anatomical and comparative analyses. The robust dentition, featuring blunt crowns and deep implantation, suggests adaptations for a hypercarnivorous diet focused on hard and bony prey, such as marine turtles, smaller ichthyosaurs and large actinopterygian fish. Comparative analysis reveals close affinities with other Platypterygiinae, such as Platypterygius australis and Pervushovisaurus spp., while highlighting distinctions from more generalist ophthalmosaurids. The ecological role of the Annopol ichthyosaur as an apex predator mirrors that of modern marine predators and reflects the productivity and complexity of Cenomanian marine ecosystems.

Applying new waste-derived soils to engineering causes challenges related to their specific properties. Colliery spoils and fluidized bed combustion ash used in embankments are particularly sensitive to variation in water content. Triaxial compression and bender element tests were carried out on compacted mixtures under confining stress. Results in total stress analysis indicate a large reduction in cohesion and initial shear modulus after water inundation, while effective stress analysis reveals a smaller impact. A simple numerical FEM simulation shows that the slope stability factor may decrease five-fold or two-fold, depending on the interpretation.

The varved clays formed during the Saalian Glaciation (MIS 6) between Dębe and Izbica (northern Mazovia, Central Poland) were subjected to rock magnetic investigation. The studied varved clays represent a record of 110 years. In addition to annual cyclicity, there are other long-term cycles. One lasts 7 years on average and is related to changes in water level within the ice-dammed lake and/or changes in the supply of terrigenous material. This cyclicity is similar in duration to that observed in modern measurements of some parameters of the Earth’s climate system and can be influenced by the internal dynamics of the Earth. Also, the investigated clays were deposited in two sedimentation zones of the lake, distal and proximal. During the first phase of clay sedimentation connected with the distal zone, the shoreline of the ice-dammed lake was in close proximity to the stagnant ice-sheet front, and the lake deepened. The ice-sheet front was to the north of Zakroczym and Dębe and to the north of the Bug valley (Zakroczym phase). Then, the ice-sheet front retreated towards Płońsk and Nasielsk (Nasielsk phase) and a higher amount of terrigenous material was delivered, leading to the deposition of clay in the shallower, proximal zone.

Based on well-preserved palynomorphs, a biostratigraphic assessment of the Miocene to Pleistocene succession in the NDO B-1 well, Nile Delta area, Egypt, is presented. Terrestrial pollen and spores are relatively more abundant and diverse in their spectra than the marine dinoflagellate cysts, which has enabled their semi-quantitative estimation. Dinoflagellate cysts are investigated on a qualitative basis. Two informal spore-pollen zones and seven informal zones based on dinoflagellate cysts are suggested and calibrated by planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton zones in the well; on a local scale they can be useful in the Nile Delta area. The results were compared with the Cenozoic palynomorph associations in the Mediterranean and Paratethyan realms. The dinoflagellate cyst taxa around the Messinian–Zanclean boundary in the well log lack characteristic brackish Paratethyan taxa, which is probably due to a disconnection or limited water circulation between the Paratethys and the eastern Mediterranean at the Messinian–Zanclean boundary or related to a stratigraphic bias.

In the vicinity of Wantopol (Western Polesie, E Poland), present-day depressions in the landscape (Wantopol sites A, D and E) contain limnic and peat sediments with palynologic spectra and local macrofossil assemblages diagnostic of the Mazovian (Holsteinian, MIS 11c) Interglacial. The palaeobasins were carved in glacial tills of the Sanian 2 (Elsterian, MIS 12) Glaciation covering the entire area. The sediments covering the interglacial deposits are mostly of dilluvial origin and correlated with the Vistulian (Weichselian) Glaciation. The palaeobasins were formed as a result of aerial deglaciation of the Sanian 2 (Elsterian, MIS 12) ice-sheet by melting of dead-ice blocks in a depression (Wantopol A) and a shallow post-glacial trough (Wantopol D and E). Moreover, further evidence for this type of deglaciation of the Sanian 2 ice-sheet is a kame located in the vicinity of the studied sites, composed mainly of sandy sediments topped with a gravel layer. Sediments building the kame were deposited in a crevasse within the melting ice-sheet. The presence of glacial tills and the geological context of the interglacial sediments overlying them are proof of the presence of the Sanian 2 ice-sheet and for this being the last one that occurred in the study area.