Knowledge on the Eemian (MIS 5e) fauna of Poland is based on vertebrate remains from 16 open-air localities and 8 cave sites. Considering the short period of time covered by MIS 5e, the amount of data is surprisingly large. There is still an ongoing debate on whether the age of some assemblages is Eemian, latest Saalian or even earliest Weichselian. There are faunal assemblages or stratigraphically isolated finds with some disputable evidence. The full picture of the evolution of the Eemian vertebrate fauna in the present-day territory of Poland is still far from being complete. The finds of various groups of vertebrates (fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) from the Eemian Interglacial of Poland are analysed in terms of their environmental preferences. A number of thermophilic species or forms which preferred temperate climate conditions are known from this period. Among them, Clethrionomys glareolus, Glis glis, Meles meles, Martes martes, Lynx lynx, Felis silvestris, Sus scrofa, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, and Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis indicate a forest environment. The presence of species that preferred more open environments ( Cricetus cricetus, Mammuthus primigenius, Coelodonta antiquitatis, and Equus ferus) is also recorded for the Eemian Interglacial of Poland. Characteristic was the presence of the large broad-toothed and flat-headed Ursus arctos taubachensis, which additionally often outnumbered remains of Ursus spelaeus sensu lato in the contemporary layers. The Eemian vertebrate fauna of Poland consisted of about 150 species (representing 61 genera and 26 families), most of which were recorded earlier from other localities of this age in central and eastern Europe.

Due to the long sedimentation period (about 70 000 y.) and the unique quality of the lake deposits represented by very long, monotonous layers of lacustrine chalk, the sequence at Ossówka is exceptional. We conducted highly-resolved pollen and isotope analysis of the 27-m-long, upper part of the sequence of the lake sediments covering the final stage of the Holsteinian and the early phases of the Saalian Complex (Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 11–10). In the pollen profile three main forest interstadials (L PAZ O-3, O-5, O-7) and the intervening steppe – tundra stadials (L PAZ O-2, O-4, O-6, O-8) as well as numerous units of lower rank were identified. Interstadials were characterized mainly by the presence of well-established pine forest. Stadials in turn, represented steppe – tundra vegetation with very pronounced continental influences. Also, three clearly established phases of forest fires starting at the beginning of interstadials and gradually disappearing are interesting feature of the sequence. Fires of that scale are very rarely noted in the palynological spectra. The examined sequence is characterized by the high dynamics of changes in the post interglacial part of the profile. It provides, coupled with clear features of the Holsteinian succession and its duration, a reliable correlation with other terrestrial and marine archives.

A critical verification of the previous stratigraphic Quaternary subdivisions has updated the setting of the stratigraphic units in Poland. Inconsequently applied classification and terminology in the Polish Quaternary stratigraphy has been accompanied by arbitrary correlation with marine isotope stages. This has resulted in the creation of several stratigraphic units, occasionally with ambiguous stratigraphic setting and chronology, and usually devoid of the type sections. A record of most of the Early and Middle Pleistocene is full of sedimentary hiatuses. The detailed stratigraphic setting of 5 glaciations (Nidanian, Sanian 1, Sanian 2, Odranian and Vistulian) and 4 interglacials (Podlasian, Ferdynandovian, Mazovian and Eemian) has been established in the Pleistocene of Poland. The palaeomagnetic Brunhes/Matuyama boundary was determined within the Podlasian Interglacial and therefore, the oldest glaciation (Nidanian) has no equivalent anywhere in Europe. The stratigraphic units distinguished are correlated with those in Western Europe and with the marine isotope stages. The Quaternary stratigraphy in Poland is faced with the necessity of how to define regional stratotypes of the main stratigraphic units and boundaries. A crucial issue is to change the approach from a qualitative description of the stratigraphic units to one based also on selected quantitative criteria.

Based on geochemical and biological investigations of a 6-m-long sediment core, a reconstruction of the environmental conditions in Charzykowskie Lake (northern Poland) is presented. The analyzed sediments consist of fine calcareous detritus gyttja interbedded by lake marl. The results of palynological analysis document the vegetation development around and in the studied lake and confirm the middle and late Holocene age of the sedimentation of the deposits. The identification of 22 taxa of subfossil Cladocera shows the biodiversity of the fauna and reflects the changes in the trophic and water level. The concentrations of various chemical elements suggest the origin of the sediments. Geochemical, including isotope, and biological data, made it possible to reconstruct the environmental conditions, as well as traces of human influence over the last ca. 6,200 years. Four stages of human impact have been documented by the pollen data. The first traces of human groups in the vicinity of Charzykowskie Lake are preserved in sediments from about 4,000 years ago. The human activity is poorly recorded in the Cladocera and in the geochemical compositions of the lake sediments, probably due to the size and depth of the lake and its isolation.

The paper presents the potential of combining satellite radar data and neural networks for quasi-automatic detection of glacier grounding lines. The conducted research covered five years and was carried out in the area of the Amery Ice Shelf. It has a very complex shoreline, so its grounding-line location is uncertain. Thus, it has always been the subject of much research. The main objective of our work was to find out if Synthetic Aperture Radar data combined with a deep learning implementation would enable rapid detection of ice shelf grounding lines over large areas. For this purpose, 290 radar images from the Sentinel-1 satellite covering 46 000 km2 were used. Processed by the Differential Interferometry of Synthetic Aperture Radar four-pass method, the images formed a time-consistent series between 2017 and 2021. As a result of performed calculations, a total length of 1280 km of grounding line was determined. They were validated by comparing with other independent data sources based on manual measurements. It has been demonstrated that the combination of satellite radar data and automated data processing allows for obtaining high-precision results continuously in a very short time. Such an approach allows monitoring of grounding line position in the long term with intervals of less than one week. It enables analysis of the dynamics changes with unprecedented frequency and the identification of patterns.