Oddział Świętokrzyski Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego – historia, ludzie i ich dokonania naukowe

Abstract

The Holy Cross Branch of the Polish Geological Institute: history, people and their scientific achievements.A b s t r a c t. Kielce is a city situated in the centre of the Holy Cross Mountains, one of the most interesting geological areas in Europe. For this reason, institutions related to mining and geology have been operating here for over 200 years. After the establishment of the Polish Geological Institute in 1919 in Warsaw, one of its founders, Jan Czarnocki, took steps to establish a regional branch of the Institute in Kielce, whose aim was to conduct scientific and exploratory research in the Holy Cross Mountains area. These activities were successfully completed in 1937, and since then, with a short break due to the Second World War, a branch of the Polish Geological Institute has been operating in Kielce. Since 1961, its headquarters have been located in a modern building, designed entirely for its needs, which has recently been modernized and expanded. Several dozen people employed in the Holy Cross Branch of the PGI-NRI carry out tasks in the field of applied geology and scientific research, focused on the study of an almost complete succession of Phanerozoic rocks in this region – from the Cambrian to the Quaternary. The aim of this article is to provide a brief introduction to the history of the Holy Cross Branch of the PGI-NRI, and to present the most important data related to the research and accomplishments of the geologists working in Kielce.