The new boreholes drilled between 2009 and 2012 enabled a detailed exploration of the profile of the Kraków sandstone series in the Dąb area between the “Sobieski” and “Janina” mining plants, USCB (Upper Silesian Coal Basin). The core from the No. 111. bituminous coal seam was selected for further analysis. 30 intervals corresponding to the defined lithotypes were separated in the seam with a thickness of 116.8 cm. The thickness of lithotypes ranges from 10 mm to 89 mm. A microprofile of the examined seam was made using the modified method of determining microlithotypes. A quantitative determination of the maceral composition was performed for each interval corresponding to the separated lithotypes. This allowed petrographic and facies characteristics of the seam to be determined. Its lower part is dominated by lithotypes with a large share of bright coal – vitrain coal. This section of the profile was formed under conditions of a strongly flooded wet forest swamp. In the upper section of the seam, a higher macroscopic share of dull coal – durain was observed. The microscopic analysis has shown that the conditions dominant during the formation of this section were typical for swamp forest peats. New technologies also require expanding knowledge about the structure of coal seams. This is only possible with a detailed profiling of the coal seam on a macro scale combined with micro-profiling and a detailed petrographic description of the isolated lithotypes. This methodology is also useful in the facies analysis of bituminous coal seams.

The research was conducted at the Kwiatków site,1 in the Koło Basin (Central Poland). It included a fragment of a low terrace and the valley floor of the Warta river valley. The archaeological investigation documented over 100 wells that archaeological material indicates are associated with the Przeworsk culture. Geomorphological, lithological and geochemical studies were carried out at the archaeological sites and their surroundings. Selected for the presentation were two wells whose fillings were carefully tested and subjected to geochemical and lithological analyses. The wells showed a slightly different content of artifacts, as well as differences in their grain-size distributions, the structure of their filling deposits, and their geochemistry. This allows us to conclude that the two wells were used differently, but also probably about a different course for how each well was filled after the end of its operation.

This study discriminates different lithological units of the Dokan Area, Kurdistan Region, NE-Iraq, using rapid-eye satellite data by image enhancement techniques, namely the false colour composite (FCC), optimum index factor (OIF), minimum noise fraction (MNF), principal component analysis (PCA) and band ratio (BR). Results of analyses show that the FCC (R: 5; G: 4: B: 1); MNF (R: 2, G: 3, B: 5); PCA (R: 5, G: 2, B: 1), and band ratio (R: 5/4, G: 2/1, B: 5/3) are the best to different geological formations. The results are confirmed in the field support with the geological maps available for the area. Geological formations appeared as a result of the collision process between the Arabian plate and the Iranian plate. In general, the study area is mountainous, which is usually represented by anticline folds with the main NW – SE trend in the study area, with very a rugged relief mainly due to the continuous collision between the Arabian plate and Iranian plate. The digital image processing of satellite data has demonstrated the sensor’s capability and efficiency of the image processing methods in identifying and mapping geological units in the study area.