V. Suchy

• Ing., CSc.
• Manager at Technology Centre ASCR

Dating organic inclusions in mortars such as charcoals is a useful alternative or complementary method to dating mortars themselves, helping to estimate the building age. To assess the limitations of this dating approach, organic inclusions were searched for in surface mortar layers of six early to late medieval buildings in the Czech Republic with...

The authors regret the missing affiliation to Faculty of Nuclear Sciencesand Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Břehová 7 115 19 Praha, Czech Republic in the original article. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Rýzmburk Castle is one of the largest and most important medieval castles in Bohemia, documented since 1250 AD. Its North tower is assumed to be built in 1260–1300 AD. To test this assumption, the surface layers of mortar were inspected for the presence of charcoals suitable for radiocarbon dating, and 10 charcoals were found. The charcoals probabl...

Radiocarbon dating of charcoals and small pieces of wood collected from mortar in the torso of bergfried and buttress of the medieval Pyšolec castle was performed using accelerator mass spectrometers. Altogether, 37 samples were collected, of which 33 samples passed pre-processing criteria and chemical treatment and were dated. Two of them were Pal...

Coal petrology data and vitrinite reflectance modelling were combined with micro-geochemical and fluid inclusion analyses of coal mineralization and apatite fission track analysis (AFTA) of coal-bearing sediments to constrain the thermal history of the Blanice Graben, a narrow, nearly 150-km long, late-Variscan strike-slip basin filled with Permo-C...

Organic inclusions in lime binders provide useful samples for radiocarbon dating of historical objects. Two Czech castles Týřov and Pyšolec from Late Middle Ages were explored, and tens of charcoals were found in their walls. The radiocarbon content of the charcoals was measured with accelerator mass spectrometry. The dating results showed that non...

Twenty-five samples of ivory artefacts were analysed using a radiocarbon dating method. These artefacts were part of a collection of 77 items seized during a wildlife law enforcement operation targeting online illegal ivory trade. Based on the opinion of a qualified expert, 14 of the 25 samples were declared antique, meaning their presumed origin i...

Australasian tektites represent the largest group of tektites on Earth, and their strewn field covers up to one sixth of Earth’s surface. After several decades of fruitless quest for a parent crater for Australasian tektites, mostly in the main part of the strewn field in Indochina, the crater remains undiscovered. We elaborate upon a recently sugg...

Gothic arch calcite, a specific crystallographic variety of calcite known from some hot springs and tufa streams, has been newly recognized in the Koněprusy Caves. The gothic-arch calcite occurs on the exteriors of exotic coralloid speleothems where it coexists with scalenohedral (dogtooth) spar crystals. The crystals exhibit microscopic ultrastruc...

The overmature Precambrian to Lower Paleozoic marine shales from China contain relatively simple organic matter (OM) composition, which is dominated by in-source solid bitumen (i.e., solid bitumen in the hydrocarbon source rocks). The thermal evolution behavior of the original OM and the determination of thermal maturity in the Precambrian to Cambr...

Exotic carbonate – siliceous coralloid speleothems of the Koněprusy Caves, which consist of dominant aggregates of feather‐like, radial fibrous, dogtooth and gothic‐arch calcite crystals, contain a diversity of petrified fossil microbes entombed in siliceous parts of the speleothems. Although a complete diagenetic continuum of SiO2 polymorphs, rang...

The thermal maturity of lower Paleozoic graptolite-bearing marine sediments, which host many hydrocarbon deposits worldwide, has long been difficult to determine due to the absence of wood-derived vitrinite particles for conventional vitrinite reflectance. In 1976, graptolite reflectance was introduced as a new indicator for organic maturity of the...

The tufas of the presently shallow Chlupáčova sluj Cave document an unusual history of deeper to shallower hydrologic processes in cave evolution. The wider geological context of the cave, along with fluid inclusion and stable isotope (C and O) analyses of calcite from tectonic veins cutting through its wallrock, are evidence of the origin of the c...

Fosilní pramenné vápence z vrcholu Zlatého koně u Koněprus (Český kras): předběžná nálezová zpráva V mělkém příležitostném odkryvu vyhloubeném patrně sběrači zkamenělin při hraně západního omezení vrcholu Zlatého koně nad strmou lomovou stěnou západního sektoru velkolomu Čertovy schody jsem v průběhu března a dubna 2018 postupně nasbíral v půdní su...

Moganite, a metastable polymorph of SiO2 has been identified in carbonate-siliceous speleothems of the Koněpruské jeskyně Cave, the Bohemian Karst. Moganite was detected by means of Micro-Raman spectroscopy in partially silicified corraloid speleothems (so called Koněprusy rosettes) the carbonate matrix of which consists of exotic calcite crystals...

Two successive generations of small 0.05-3 cm long quartz crystals precipitated in tectonic fissures in lower Palaeozoic limestones and shales in the Barrandian Basin. Based on microscopic observations of more than 1500 individual crystals from nine localities across the basin, I describe the relationship between quartz crystal habits and the diage...

Concave and cavernous forms including rising wall channels, rising sets of coalesced copula, ceiling half-tube channels, separate ceiling copula, ceiling chimneys, and half-spherical upward-convex arches locally occur in surface outcrops of Carboniferous arkose sandstones in central and western Bohemia. Many of these negative forms conventionally d...

Arkose sandstones that crop out along southern erosive margins of the Carboniferous basins in central and western part of the Czech Republic display a variety of concave and cavernous cavities somewhat similar in appearance to tafoni and honeycomb weathering. These features, however, differ in that they include combinations of spectacular rising wa...

Upper Carboniferous arkose sandstones in the central and western Bohemia locally display abundant pseudokarst caves and a variety of other small-scale erosional forms that have been long regarded as complex products of weathering and/or fluvial erosion processes. I argue that many of these features particularly rising wall channels, rising sets of...

Nepublikovaná zpráva z r. 2007, shrnující status quo poznatků o geochemii a tepelné zralosti (optické odraznosti a optické anisotropii) barrandienských bitumenů. Zpráva obsahuje kompilaci mnoha převážně dosud nepublikovaných dat různých autorů vztahujících se k těmto otázkám.

The diagenetic grade of a 2.7 km thick sequence of lower Palaeozoic marine sediments in the Tobolka 1 deep exploration borehole was investigated by analysing organic and mineral components and fluid inclusions embedded in vein minerals.

The survey of 150 Czech mostly innovative product-oriented small and medium enterprises in five industries (machinery, electronics, automotive, aircraft and railway industry, so called "now technologies", ICT) revealed that firms most frequently apply utility models, patents and trade-marks, complemented with non-statutory mechanisms including lead...

Post-Variscan calcite veins that cut through the lower Palaeozoic carbonate sequences of the Barrandian area, crystallized from hot (about 40-115°C) aqueous solutions of variable salinity (from about 0.4 to 22 wt. % NaCl equiv.). We document the presence of exotic intraclasts embedded within the vein calcite, notably the fragments of ancient terra...

We document that the early generations of carbonate cave sinters of the Bohemian Karts contain layers of bizzare calcite crystals (gothic-arch and feathery-like calcite), calcite pseudomorphs after aragonite (square-eneded crystals and needle botryoids), and siliceous cores of the speleothems. These features may collectively indicate sinter deposit...

Purpose of the article: is to reveal appropriability mechanisms the Czech product-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Methods: of the research were based on on-line questionnaires distributed to a sample of 208 mainly manufacturing, innovative firms during 2011–2012. Scientific aim: was to explore how Czech firms value their IP and...

Carbonate reef talus facies of the Koněprusy Limestone (Pragian, Lower Devonian, Barrandian) locally exhibit widespread impregnation by organic matter resulting in a partial to complete blackening of the limestones. Two contrasting types of impregnation are recognized: blackening of individual carbonate fossils and bioclastic layers within the lime...

In-depth research of 56 Czech SMEs participating in projects funded under the thematic programmes of FP6 and FP7 was carried out in order to reveal the level of their involvement, the exploitation of research results and thus the benefits they gain from participation. Many SMEs cite indirect benefits, particularly networking with potential partners...

The petroleum charge history of the Barrandian basin was investigated by analysing quartz and calcite and organic phases that occur in veins and fractures cutting dolerite sills within the Liteň Formation (Silurian). The geochemical characteristics of fluid inclusions trapped in vein quartz and calcite, vein bitumens and adjacent potential source r...

The incompletely combusted particles from power plants, local heating installations and traffic and plant remnants were studied in dusts and fluvial sediments in exposed areas of downtown Prague by optical and electron microscopy, and chemical analysis. Structural characterization of carbonaceous particles was done by GC/MS and Py-GC/MS. Total orga...

Metamorphic grade, palaeothermal history and the influence of tectonic strain on clay minerals and organic matter transformation were studied in the eastern part of the Teplá-Barrandian unit in the Czech Republic. The metamorphic grade of pelitic sediments ranges from the lower anchizone (IC ~0.30–0.36Δº2θ) to the lowermost epizone (IC ~0.24–0.26Δº...

Evidence is provided that many, in not most, small-scale hydrocarbon occurrences in the Bohemian Massif, both newly described and already known, are concentrated within five distinctive north-south - trending zones, 20-40 km wide, which cut through various geological units. These linear structures provided long-lived and periodically reactivated co...

We describe a number of new small-scale hydrocarbon occurrences ranging from pristine petroleum and gas shows to degraded bitumens that come from various locations in the central part of the Bohemian Massif. We further argue that many if not most of hydrocarbon occurrenecs in that area, both newly described and already known, are in fact concentrat...

We present very first results of a pioneering long-term observations on natural gas emissions realized in the Czech Republic. The continual monitoring of CH4, CO2, Ra and H2S concentrations in the air emanating from an abandoned iron ore mine at Krušná Hora (Beroun County, NW of Prague) was made during several prolonged periods in 2001 - 2003. Base...

Organic-rich shales of the Liteň Formation (Silurian) were intruded by a series of several-meter thick doleritic basalt sills soon after their de-position. The effect of rapid thermal stress on organic and mineral diagenesis of shales around a representative 4 m thick sill has been studied using optical microscopy, Fourier-Transform infrared (FT-IR...

Close scrutiny of apatite fission-track data from Barrandian Lower Paleozoic rocks shows that previous interpretations involving a late Carboniferous to Permian heating stage and the extensive development of pre-Westphalia thust tectonics are largely speculative. An alternative time-temperature path for the Barrandian sequence based on firmy establ...

Magnetic susceptibility, organic matter content, and grain size were measured on a loess/palaeosol sequence deposited since the last interglacial at the Dolni Vestonice section in the Czech Republic. High values in magnetic susceptibility and organic matter content in palaeosols PK0, PK2, and PK3 indicate that they were strongly influenced by long-...

The project was aimed to investigate the present-day and ancient geothermal conditions in major sedimentary basins of the Czech Republic and establish a link between its geothermal history and tectonic development. The studies involving illite crystallinity, optical reflectance of organic matter, apatite fission-track analysis, gas chromatography-m...

Projekt GA ČR č. A 3012703 byl zaměřen na prozkoumání současných a fosilních teplotních poměrů ve významných sedimentárních pánvích České republiky a na zjištění souvislostí mezi jejich geotermálním a tektonickým vývojem. Na základě výsledků stanovení stupně krystalinity illitu, optické odraznosti organické hmoty, analýzy stop štěpení uranu v apati...

Although no commercial oil or gas occurrences have been found in the Barrandian Basin, residual oils and petroleum inclusions give evidence about the petroleum history of this Lower Palaeozoic Basin. Petroleum inclusions are hosted in six generations of calcite and quartz cements that can be attributed to different stages of a basinal cycle and ass...

Samples of lower Silurian (Liten and Kopanina formations) dark shales from the Barrandian basin, Czech Republic, were examined using reflected light microscopy, Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The samples contained uniform assemblage of organic material that included dominant graptol...

The interplay between fracture propagation and fluid composition and circulation has been examined by deciphering vein sequences in Silurian and Devonian limestones and shales at Kosov quarry in the Barrandian Basin. Three successive vein generations were recognised that can be attributed to different stages of a basinal cycle. Almost all generatio...

Relatively few and rather controversial data exist on the effects of tectonic shear strain on phyllosilicate properties under conditions of incipient metamorphism. In the present paper, X-ray powder diffractometric illite and chlorite "crystallinity", apparent mean crystallite thickness and lattice strain data are provided from a shale-slate- mylon...

So-called "white beds"- a snowy white to rusty yellow, sandy to chalky weathered carbonate alteration horizons locally developed over the lower Paleozoic limestones-are interpreted in terms of fossil carbonate soil (caliche, calcrete). A typical caliche sequence affects as much as 6-8 meters of the limestone host and develops gradually from a trans...

Multiple rock-magnetic and non-magnetic techniques were employed to identify iron sulfides in late Pleistocene Czech loess deposits. The results indicate that iron sulfides in the loess at Znojmo section are mainly pyrrhotite and pyrite, with stoichiometry ranging from Fe10S11 to FeS2. Although early pedogenic origin of fine sulfide fraction can no...

Detailed rock magnetic investigations and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were carried out on loess-paleosol sequences of the last interglacial-glacial at Znojmo section in Czech Republic. The results indicate that pedogenesis causes susceptibility enhancement in the paleosols, which is similar to that observed in the Chinese Loess Plateau.κ-T curves, IRM,...

Radiocarbon and U/Th dating methods have been applied to the samples of cave sinters from the Koněpruské jeskyně Cave, the Bohemian Karst. The radiocarbon dating shows that most, if not all, sinters are generally older than 21 000 years. Based on the U/Th method, the age of the youngest massive laminated flowstone is only about 72 000 years. Strati...

An extensive system of equidistant, N–S-trending linear zones has been identified to cut across crystalline and sedimentary units of the Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic and peripheral parts of the Alpine-Carpathian chain in Austria and Slovakia. The system represents the lines of weakness that were periodically reactivated and provided conduits for...

The analysis of petroleum inclusions (PI) in parallel to residual oils (=bitumens) provided specific constraints for petroleum migration processes in the Prague Basin. Whereas organic geochemical information from bitumens is limited due to alteration, additional high quality information was obtained from C1–14-range compounds inside crystals. This...

Carbonate fracture cements in limestones have been investigated by fluid inclusion and stable isotope analysis to provide insight into fluid evolution and deformation conditions of the Barrandian Basin (Silurian–Devonian) of the Czech Republic. The fractures strike generally north–south and appear to postdate major Variscan deformation.The most com...

An investigation of the rock magnetic properties using stepwise isothermal remanence (IRM) acquisition, thermomagnetic analysis and temperature-dependent susceptibility history, identifies magnetite as the carrier of the main fraction of the remanence, associated with maghemite and hematite in Malan loess (L1), Holocene soil (S0) and last-glacial p...

(Pre)-Cretaceous sediments that fill extensive hydrothermal dissolution cavities in Devonian limestones in the Čertovy schody Quarry contain locally abundant halloysite clays. In most samples halloysite coexists with metahalloysite and kaolinite that form snowy-white and blue-green masses intimately intergrown with manganese oxides. The determinat...

The Riphean to Vendian-Cambrian carbonate and carbonate-evaporite sequences of the Siberian Platform are host rocks for major hydrocabron deposits. The systematic research on these sedimentary series has been executed using both sedimentological and petroleum geology approaches, with special reference to aspects of paleogeography and paleogeomorpho...

Vitrinite reflectance (VR) is an important indicator of incipient metamorphism and it is generally assumed that temperature and, to a lesser degree, time, are the two main variables. The role of stress in VR is controversial and will be addressed in this study. In the Kandersteg area, north of Lake Oeschinen, four different Helvetic tectonic units...

Impressive, 2-2.5 m thick, bedding-normal, northsouth-striking calcite vein crosscutting Devonian carbonate sequences was exposed during mining operations in the eastern sector of the Čertovy schody Quarry, the Beroun District. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope data provide an evidence that the vein calcite precipitated at 55-84°C, from saline bri...

A spectacular system of fossil hydrothermal karst has been exhumed in the Čertovy schody Quarry, Beroun County, including impressive hydrothermal calcite veins and associated deep cavities in the Devonian limestones filled with exotic Tertiary and Cretaceous sediments. This unpublished report summarizes the results of an early stage (1994-1997) of...

A spectacular system of fossil hydrothermal karst has been exhumed in the Čertovy schody Quarry, Beroun County, including impressive hydrothermal calcite veins and associated deep cavities in the Devonian limestones filled with exotic Tertiary and Cretaceous sediments. This unpublished report summarizes the results of an early stage (1994-1997) of...

Stratabound epigenetic dolomite occurs in carbonate facies of the Barrandian basin (Silurian and Devonian), Czech Republic. The most intense dolomitization is developed in bioclastic calcarenites within the transition between micritic limestone and shale-dominated Přídolí and Lochkov formations deposited on a carbonate slope. Medium-crystalline (10...

In this provocative paper written more than 20 years ago, I attempted to interpret the Teplá-Barrandian unit in terms of the plate-tectonic concept, as elements of an ancient active continental margin. Although subsequent research has resulted in more sophisticated up-to-date models, the key ideas outlined in this early account still remain valid....

The Vendian-Cambrian interval on the Siberian Platform contains thick carbonate and evaporite sequences formed in extensive shallow-water basins. The carbonate sequences are characterized by a cyclic composition. Finegrained dolomites, undulated algal dolomites, flat pebble conglomerates, storm breccias and solution-collapse breccias form the base...