Zdzislaw Belka

Adam Mickiewicz University | UAM · Laboratory of Isotopes

Spectacular Early Devonian carbonate buildups exposed in the eastern Anti-Atlas of southern Morocco and widely known as the Kess-Kess mounds constitute a classical example of deep-water mud mounds interpreted to be related to hydrothermal venting. They developed on the Hamar Laghdad elevation, located near Erfoud, created by a submarine volcanic er...

The neodymium isotope composition of micritic limestones from the Devonian–Carboniferous carbonate platform of the Greater Karatau (southern Kazakhstan) was investigated to test the ability of calcite micrite to archive Nd isotope signatures of seawater. The carbonate fraction that displays seawater-like rare earth element (REE + Y) signatures is o...

This study presents first isoscape maps of strontium isotope signatures and their spatial variation in Poland, based on ~900 samples of rocks, sediments, surface water, and flora. This dataset is supplemented by ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios predicted for several carbonate rock units. High, radiogenic Sr isotope ratios (>0.72), related to the Pleistocene glacia...

The Humboldt Current System along the Pacific coast of South America creates one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth. To trace the origin of the water masses in this area, we measured neodymium isotope compositions (ԑNd) in tooth enameloid of two genera of coastal sharks from latest Oligocene to early Pleistocene strata in the Pisco and Saca...

Over the past decades, neodymium (Nd) isotopes have received considerable attention in palaeoceanography as a tool for reconstructing past seawater circulation, local weathering inputs, and sea-level change. In this study, we have investigated the Nd isotope composition of a shallow-water Serpukhovian (Carboniferous) carbonate succession to explore...

European Bronze Age societies are generally characterised by increased mobility and the application of isotopic methods to archaeology has allowed the rate and range of human travels to be quantified. However, little is known about the mobility of the people inhabiting East-Central Europe in the late Early and Middle Bronze Age (1950-1250 BC) whose...

Over the past decade, the neodymium (Nd) isotope composition of mineral matter from peat cores has seen increasingly common use as a tracer of dust influx associated with major changes in the Holocene atmospheric circulation. However, the incomplete understanding of the local controls on the sources of the sediment supplied to peatlands remains a k...

Pochodzenie mieszkańców grodu w Grzybowie (Wielkopolska) na podstawie badań izotopów strontu abstrakt: Artykuł prezentuje wyniki badań składu izotopowego strontu kości z trzech grobów szkieletowych odsłoniętych w latach 2018-2019 podczas badań grodzi-ska w Grzybowie. Materiał badawczy stanowiły zęby ludzkie i zwierzęce, dla których określono skład...

The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in the medieval Middle Nile Valley are considered in this paper in the first such comprehensive research for the region. The main source of data are the nearly 10,300 animal remains. The archaeozoological analyses focused primarily on cattle morphology. St...

Despite much effort aimed to better constrain the fossil record of chemosynthesis-based communities, our understanding of their early evolution remains fragmentary. Until recently, a dominant perception was that, unlike the Cenozoic, bivalve-dominated chemosynthesis-based ecosystems, the Palaeozoic to mid-Mesozoic methane seeps and hydrothermal ven...

Late antique and medieval cotton and wool textiles found in the middle Nile Valley (Nubia, northern Sudan) were analysed for their technical characteristics and strontium (Sr) isotope composition. All wool textiles exhibit Sr isotope signatures consistent with the isotopic background of the region studied and are considered to be of local origin. H...

From 19 inhumation graves from the cemetery in Malbork-Wielbark (northern Poland) samples (teeth) were collected for the analysis of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes in order to try to determine the origin of the subjects. The chronological range of the analyzed statistical sample covers about 300 years of over 600 years of necropolis history, i. e....

Over the past decades, neodymium isotopes have received considerable attention in palaeoceanography as a tool for reconstructing past seawater circulation, local weathering inputs, and sea-level changes. In this study, we have investigated the Nd isotope composition of Serpukhovian (Carboniferous) carbonates of a shallow-water succession to test ic...

Middle Miocene crystals of sabre gypsum and subcrystal of giant gypsum intergrowth cropping out in southern Poland near Busko have been analysed for their Sr isotope composition. The new isotopic data revealed fluctuations in Sr/ Sr values within the primary gypsum crystals providing new insight into paleohydrological conditions during the Badenian...

Middle Devonian (Eifelian/Givetian transition) brachiopod-hosted sclerobiont assemblage from Gondwana (Morocco, eastern Anti-Atlas, Mader Basin) has been studied for the first time. The analysis of hundreds of brachiopod shells revealed at least 26 sclerobiont taxa, making the studied palaeoecommunity one of the most diverse Middle Devonian sclerob...

Strontium isotopes have seen common use as a tracer of volcanic-influenced fluids at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps hosted by sedimented rifts. However, for some fluid emissions, no apparent contribution of volcanogenic Sr has been observed, despite geological or seismic evidence suggesting magmatic involvement in the fluid expulsion. Here, we e...

Archaeological sites at Affad (Sudan) are the only ones in northeastern Africa providing ostological remains of both African aurochs (Bos primigenius), dated to 50 kya, and domestic cattle, dated to 7–6 kya. The evidence enables studies of behavioral diversity between taurids. Strontium isotope analyses of the tooth enamel of both Pleistocene and H...

Studies on the involvement of intrusive magmatism in hydrocarbon generation within sedimentary basins have gained momentum owing to increasing appraisal of the role that such processes may play in controlling major global carbon cycle perturbations, and the exploration potential of the volcanic sedimentary basins. Nevertheless, for many areas the c...

The uppermost Eifelian Kostyukovichi Formation corresponds to a distinct marine transgressive-regressive cycle in predominantly continental to restricted-marine Middle Devonian succession of the intracratonic Belarusian Basin in a near-equatorial area of SE Euramerica. The presence of the conodont ensensis Zone points to the correlation with the gl...

Stratigraphic and structural constraints on the initiation and early evolution of the Cascadia convergent margin, following accretion of the igneous Siletzia terrane at 50−45 Ma, remain elusive. This study applies a novel approach based on the combination of Nd, Sr, C and O isotope analyses of the oldest-known methane-seep carbonates (Humptulips Fo...

The Late Viséan ammonoid genus Goniatites had a near-global distribution within the tropical seas but was rarely reported from Central Asia. New investigations of the Early Carboniferous sedimentary succession in the Greater Karatau of Kazakhstan revealed a species-poor new assemblage with Goniatites and assists in the biostratigraphic subdivision...

Stratigraphic and structural context of the early evolution of the Cascadia convergent margin, following major subduction reconfiguration associated with accretion of the igneous Siletzia terrane at 50−45 Ma, remains insufficiently understood. Here, we have applied a novel approach that uses combined Nd, Sr and stable isotope analyses of ancient me...

During the Final Eneolithic the Corded Ware Complex (CWC) emerges, chiefly identified by its specific burial rites. This complex spanned most of central Europe and exhibits demographic and cultural associations to the Yamnaya culture. To study the genetic structure and kin relations in CWC communities, we sequenced the genomes of 19 individuals loc...

Nephrites belonging to both the dolomite-related and serpentinite-related genetic types, from the Złoty Stok deposit, and Jordanów Śląski and Nasławice prospects in the Ślęża Ophiolite, respectively, were analyzed for Fe and Sr isotope compositions. These deposits in the Central Sudetes (SW Poland), are unusually situated relatively close to each o...

Two studied sections of the Frasnian-Famennian (F-F) boundary beds in western Thailand differ significantly in their depositional and geochemical characteristics. The highly condensed, monotonous Mae Sariang (MS) limestone succession generally corresponds to the event-chemostratigraphic pattern of the F-F biocrisis based primarily on German section...

The Ślęża Ophiolite (Central Sudetes, SW Poland) hosts abundant nephrite deposits. The chemical composition and Sr isotope ratios of these nephrites, and of selected wall-rocks, were measured in order to track the fluid history. The F, Sr and Nb contents of the nephrites are relatively constant (42-54 ppm F, 6.3-5.4 ppm Sr, <0.1 to 8.7 ppm Nb), wit...

The third millennium BCE was a period of major cultural and demographic changes in Europe that signaled the beginning of the Bronze Age. People from the Pontic steppe expanded westward, leading to the formation of the Corded Ware complex and transforming the genetic landscape of Europe. At the time, the Globular Amphora culture (3300–2700 BCE) exis...

The carbonates forming at deep-sea hydrocarbon seeps provide an archive for the source and migration pathways of the seeping fluids. Interpretation of the archived isotopic and elemental signatures is, however, not straightforward because of mixing between the signals of fluids and ambient seawater, limited understanding of subseafloor fluid circul...

The Shotori Range of east-central Iran (east of Tabas) has yielded Famennian ammonoid assemblages dominated by the family Sporadoceratidae. Four genera Maeneceras Hyatt, 1884, Iranoceras Walliser, 1966, Sporadoceras Hyatt, 1884 and Erfoudites Korn, 1999 are represented. The conodont assemblage of one sample containing Iranoceras revealed an Upper m...

We present the first comprehensive multi-isotopic data on human and animal remains from the Final Neolithic Corded Ware culture (ca. 2900-2300 cal. BC) in southeastern Poland. The study focused on communities of two settlement areas located in the Małopolska Upland and in the Subcarpathian region. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes of bone collagen were...

Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) were applied to investigate provenance and mobility amongst the Early Bronze Age population at Dobkowice in the Rzeszów Foothills, south- eastern Poland. The study used 9 human enamel samples collected in the settlements at Dobkowice and in the adjacent archaeological sites of the Mierzanowice culture at Mirocin...

Owing to a relatively short residence time of Nd in seawater, Nd isotope ratios are among the most widely used tools of reconstructing circulation patterns in modern and past oceans. The temporal and spatial changes in Nd isotopic composition of the fluid reflect interactions between water and various mineral phases, which differ in their εNd value...

This study uses Sr isotope composition (87Sr/86Sr) and Sr content of waters of the Oder, one of the largest rivers in central Europe, to fingerprint natural and anthropogenic contributions to its Sr budget and to evaluate water mixing processes in its hydrological system. It also demonstrates a simple method of quantifying natural and anthropogenic...

Strontium isotope ratios ( ⁸⁷ Sr/ ⁸⁶ Sr) were applied to investigate provenance amongst the Final Eneolithic population at Święte (sites 11, 15 and 20) in the Subcarpathian region, south-eastern Poland. The study used 11 human enamel samples collected from the niche graves of the Corded Ware culture. To obtain base-line information on the local Sr...

The sensitivity of the strontium isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr) as a versatile tracer for identification of water mixing processes and fingerprinting of natural and anthropogenic inputs of Sr into a river system was investigated in the Oder River basin. The Oder, a middle-size river in central Europe, is characterized by the lowest outflow to pre...

Supplementary material for the article: Jakubowicz M., Berkowski B., Belka Z. Cryptic coral-crinoid "hanging gardens" from the Middle Devonian of southern Morocco, Geology, 42(2), 119-122, doi:10.1130/G35217.1

Full text of the article: Jakubowicz M., Berkowski B., Belka Z. 2014. Cryptic coral-crinoid "hanging gardens" from the Middle Devonian of southern Morocco, Geology, 42(2), 119-122, doi:10.1130/G35217.1

One of the most striking features of modern chemosynthesis-based ecosystems surrounding methane seeps is the presence of abundant chemosymbiotic bivalves. However, such accumulations have rarely been reported from Palaeozoic to mid-Mesozoic seeps, and it is widely thought that general trends in the evolution of chemosynthetic communities paralleled...

The Variscan orogenic belt in central Europe contains rock formations which document Early Palaeozoic fragmentation of the NE Gondwana margin and the opening of the Rheic Ocean. Numerous bimodal metavolcanites are distributed in the northern part of the Bohemian Massif. In Sudetes, the supracrustal cover of the Orlica-Śnieżnik Dome (OSD) includes s...

The Sr isotope composition (87Sr/86Sr) and Sr content of waters of the Warta River (central-western Poland) and its tributaries were used to fingerprint water sources and their interactions in space and time. Dissolved Sr in river water of the Warta is characterized by a relatively narrow range of the 87Sr/86Sr values, from 0.7090 to 0.7105, which...

Neodymium and strontium isotope compositions of clastic material in Lower Paleozoic rocks, in addition to detrital zircon and mica geochronology and faunal data are used to constrain the geotectonic provenance of the Małopolska and Łysogóry terranes in southern Poland. Being characterized by markedly different geological histories during Early Pale...

A fauna of bivalve molluscs is described from methane seep carbonates of the Middle Devonian (c. 390 Ma) Hollard Mound in the eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco. We describe a new modiomorphid genus Ataviaconcha gen. nov. with the type species Ataviaconcha wendti sp. nov. This is a very large, semi-infaunal species occurring in large colonies similar to t...

Owing to a relatively short residence time of Nd in seawater, Nd isotope ratios are one of the most widely used tools of reconstructing water circulation patterns in both modern and past oceans. The temporal and spatial changes in Nd isotopic composition of the fluid phase reflect interactions be-tween water and various mineral phases, which may di...

Analyses of the Nd isotope composition of conodonts from the Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the Montagne Noire (France) and the Rhenohercynian domain (Germany) provide insight into the temporal and lateral variations in seawater geochemistry in the western part of the Variscan Sea during the Late Devonian. Most of the isotopic excursions accurately record c...

Nd and Sr isotope data were used to characterize the sources of the Upper Triassic (Keuper) siliciclastic rocks of Silesia in southern Poland. This continental succession, consisting predominantly of fine-grained mudstones and siltstones, yields a remarkably uniform Nd isotopic composition. Nd model ages T2DM vary from 1.56 to 1.69 Ga and eNd value...

The Bolshoi Karatau, a small mountain chain in southern Kazakhstan, represents a wide carbonate platform which developed on the western side of the palaeocontinent Kazakhstania during Devonian and Carboniferous times. The seaward margin of this platform was structurally controlled by the rifted edges of a passive continental margin and its overall...

Strontium isotopes as environmental tracers for identification of groundwater circulation in multi-layered aquifer systems. A b s t r a c t. The results of the research concerning measures of strontium isotopes and concentrations, were presented in this article. This environmental tracers occuring in groundwater and surface water allowed for the pr...

The results of the research concerning measures of strontium isotopes and concentrations, were presented in this article. This environmental tracers occuring in groundwater and surface water allowed for the preliminary identification of groundwater circulation in the multi-layered aquifer system. The study area concerned Żarnowiecka Upland and Vall...

This study investigates stable isotope signatures of five species of Silurian and Devonian deep-water, ahermatypic rugose corals, providing new insights into isotopic fractionation effects exhibited by Palaeozoic rugosans, and possible role of diagenetic processes in modifying their original isotopic signals. To minimize the influence of intraskele...

Peculiar palaeontological, petrological and geochemical characteristics of seep and vent deposits make their identification relatively straightforward. Nevertheless, predominantly subseafloor mode of seep carbonate precipitation renders our understanding of complex processes controlling this process fragmentary. This encourages seeking additional i...

Devonian carbonate buildups exposed in the eastern Anti-Atlas of southern Morocco and widely known as the Kess-Kess mounds constitute a classical example of deep-water mud mounds related to hydrothermal venting. They developed on the Hamar Laghdad elevation, located near Erfoud, which was created by an Early Devonian submarine volcanic eruption. Hy...

Analyses of the Nd isotope composition of conodonts from the Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the Montagne Noire (France) and the Rhenohercynian domain (Germany) provide insight into the temporal and lateral variations in seawater geochemistry in the western part of the Variscan Sea during the Late Devonian. Most of the isotopic excursions accurately record c...

For the first time, Nd isotope signatures combined with rare earth element (REE) concentrations were used in investigations of ancient seep carbonates. The study was performed on the fossil hydrocarbon seep deposit of the Middle Devonian Hollard Mound (eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco), where Nd isotopes, REE concentrations, and carbon and oxygen isotop...

The Devonian reef limestone complex of Rösenbeck near Brilon (Rhenish Mountains) shows numerous neptunian dykes and other hollows which have been filled with Carboniferous siliciclastic as well as fossil-rich carbonate sediments with ammonoids, conodonts, and chondrichthyan fish. While the shales of the infill can be interpreted as autochthonous se...