Graduation towers are structures that saturate the air with a brine aerosol, mimicking a coastal microclimate. They are increasingly attracting interest for both their therapeutic potential and recreational use. However, scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of inhalation therapy using brine graduation towers is limited, as are data on methods for determining the mineral composition of the brine aerosol. The aim of this study was to evaluate an analytical method for determining the chemical composition of aerosols generated by brine graduation towers, in which water-soluble ionic species are extracted using a gas washing bottle equipped with a sintered glass disc. Water-soluble components were collected by drawing air through the gas washing bottle filled with deionised water. The method parameters were first optimised in a purpose-built chamber generating a controlled aerosol stream. Following laboratory experiments, the procedure was validated under field conditions to determine the major ionic constituents of the air at a health resort brine graduation tower. Collected aerosol samples were analysed using high-performance ion chromatography (HPIC), flame photometry, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The mean concentrations were 5.2 mg/m³ for sodium, 9.4 mg/m³ for chloride, and 0.37 mg/m³ for calcium. Concentrations of potassium, magnesium, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead, antimony, sulphate(VI), nitrate(V), and phosphate(V) were below the detection limits.
Reducing methane emissions from hard coal mining and optimizing its utilization are currently key objectives in the Polish energy transition. This study aims to support these efforts by identifying methane accumulation zones and potential migration pathways and assessing the stability of the rock mass. We present an integrated petrophysical and geomechanical analysis based on geophysical wireline logs calibrated with laboratory measurements from six deep surface and underground boreholes in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB), one of Europe’s most important coal-bearing regions. The analysis includes the estimation of porosity, permeability, bulk density, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and compressive and tensile strength, with attention to lithological heterogeneity. Rock types were classified using cross-plotting and statistical tagging techniques, enabling the definition of five major rock types: coal, shale-coal, sandstone, shaly sandstones, and mudstone. Permeability was calculated from porosity using empirical formulas calibrated with core data. Elastic parameters were derived from acoustic and density logs, then corrected to static values using laboratory data. The results reveal that coal rock exhibits the highest permeability, despite having moderate porosity, while sandstones show low permeability due to compaction and cementation. This well log-scale parametric model forms the basis for spatial modeling to optimize methane drainage borehole trajectories and improve gas capture efficiency. The integrated methodology supports safer mining operations and more effective emission control, and informs future CO2 storage strategies in post-mining coal seams.
The article discusses the assessment of the impact of changes in mechanical parameters based on the example of the stability of a slope in Czerna, southern Poland. Stability analyses were performed on the basis of field and laboratory tests as well as numerical simulations. The article refers to studies conducted in 2010 after landslide movements following intense rainfall, and in 2018 after slope stabilisation. The results of the study show that in the case of landslide stability analysis, the use of an individual approach to determining the strength parameters of the soil, based on the mapping of soil conditions, enables the researcher to obtain reliable test results. They showed that the testing methodology for cohesion and angle of internal friction according to Eurocode 7, which is based on the determination of effective strength parameters, may return falsely high values and thus result in excessive values of the factor of safety Fs.
Miedzianka-Ciechanowice is a hydrothermal vein-type quartz, quartz-carbonate, and baryte-sulfide deposit in the eastern metamorphic cover of the Karkonosze granite of the Sudetes. A polymetallic Cu-Zn-Pb-As-Sn±Bi±Ag mineralization has been identified. The main ore minerals include chalcopyrite, bornite, sphalerite, members of the tetrahedrite group, galena, chalcocite, pyrite, arsenopyrite, mawsonite, and stannoidite. Several previously unknown mineral phases from this deposit have also been discovered. Miedzianka-Ciechanowice is the second location in Poland where the presence of Bi-rich tennantite-(Zn) has been confirmed. Furthermore, a few analyses of Bi-dominated tetrahedrite group minerals have indicated the presence of annivite (not officially approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification). Various silver minerals are also found in the study area, including hessite, cervelleite, native silver, stromeyerite, acanthite, mckinstryite, proustite, selenojalpaite, and naumannite within baryte veins. The association of both Bi-rich tetrahedrite-group minerals and silver minerals hosted by baryte veins is very rare in the Sudetes. The aim of this study is to provide compositional data on the dominant mineral paragenesis in the deposit, represented by the Cu-Zn-Pb-Sn±Bi±Ag assemblage.
The Danube floodplain forests near Bratislava (Slovakia) represent dynamic fluvial systems currently threatened by climate change-induced alterations in hydrological regimes and soil moisture availability. This study investigates the response of the invasive species Impatiens parviflora DC. to declining soil moisture, focusing on its role as a biological indicator of environmental shifts in Calcaric Pantofluvic Fluvisol (Ochric). We analyzed soil moisture dynamics and leaf functional traits – specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and leaf water content (LWC) – across six sites during a transition from wet (June) to dry (July) periods. Student’s t-tests confirmed statistically significant differences in soil moisture (p < 0.01) and leaf traits between the monitored months. Our results demonstrate a strong negative correlation between SLA and LDMC (r ≈ −0.95), reflecting a functional shift from an acquisitive to a conservative resource strategy under water deficit. These findings highlight the high phenotypic plasticity of I. parviflora, which allows it to thrive in anthropogenically and climatically altered floodplain soils where native vegetation declines, further accelerating biodiversity loss in these protected fluvial habitats.
