In the last week of October, Professor Monika A. Kusiak together with Marcin Mieszczak, Tanmay Keluskar and Marcin Ruszczak, travelled to the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) in Ochang, South Korea.

The main purpose of the trip was to perform U-Th-Pb isotopic analyses on zircons from the Aasivik terrane in Greenland and the Saglek Block on the Labrador Peninsula in Canada.
         During the first few days at KBSI, mounts with grains of zircon were prepared and photographic documentation was made with an electron microscope (SEM). Subsequently, U-Th-Pb isotopic analyses were performed using the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP).
          These analyses were carried out within the framework of the PAAN Poles Together project, which aims to expand knowledge of the "early Earth” - the oldest history of our planet. The isotopic analyses performed will provide information about the age of the rocks and the geological events that shaped the study area. 
           While in Korea, Professor Monika Kusiak and Marcin Ruszczak also visited the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) in Incheon, where they met with representatives of the institution and discussed opportunities for cooperation in Antarctica.
           Of the four representatives of IGF PAN, Marcin Mieszczak will stay in Korea for the next three weeks; he will be a guest at KBSI as an intern. The internship is awarded by the NAWA PROM grant he received to carry out a project entitled Radiogenic geochemistry: U-Pb zircon dating of the Archean crust. He will perform further oxygen and U-Th-Pb isotopic analyses on new samples during this time.