This article deals with some debatable issues in the field of geology that can be resolved within the framework of the expanding and pulsating Earth hypothesis. It is assumed that cosmic factors, including the rotation of the Solar System around the center of the Galaxy, may cause periodic fluctuations in some parameters of the Earth, including its size. As proof of the concept of rhythmic pulsations of the Earth, statistical evidence is given for the confinement of various mineral deposits to different intervals of the planet’s history. Pulsations in the size of the Earth are a secondary phenomenon in relation to its general expansion, which can be evidenced by both geological and paleontological data. The concept of the expansion and pulsations of the planet is proposed as the basis of a new geotectonic theory, in which certain provisions of all the previously proposed hypotheses of the evolution of the Earth will also find a place.

An analysis of the stratigraphic schemes of the Vendian of Belarus and the European part of Russia revealed contradictions in the use of local units of the Kotlin horizon. In order to overcome the existing discrepancies, instead of the name «Kotlin suite», which is invalid on the territory of Belarus, a new name «Rossony suite» is proposed. It is recommended to take the section of the Kotlin horizon in the 1P North Polotsk well drilled in the south of the Latvian saddle in 2019 as the stratotype of the suite. The Kotlin age of the Rossony suite is confirmed by finds of micro- and macroscopic fossils (associations: II with Leiosphaeridia minutissima – Leiosphaeridia tenuissima, III with Aataenia reticularis – Primoflagella speciosa – Vendotaenia antiqua, and IV with Aataenia reticularis – Bicuspidata fusiformis). The Rossony suite is distributed in the north, northwest and southwest of Belarus. The most stratigraphically complete and thick sections of the suite are found in the north of the Orsha depression and in the south of the Latvian saddle. It is proposed to include the Rossony suite in the stratigraphic scheme of the Vendian deposits of Belarus.

The paper presents the results of a palaeoichthyological study of the Přidolian age rocks exposed in the Komarovka 93з/10 and Rataichitsy 12k boreholes located within the territory of the Volyn Monocline and Podlasie-Brest Depression in Belarus. The presented information makes it possible to clarify and supplement the ichthyofauna taxonomic composition in the above-mentioned deposits within the boundaries of the above-named tectonic structures, as well as to use it to determine the age of the rocks, their subdivision and correlation. In addition, the paper gives a description of a new acanthodian species based on some isolated scales and a brief taphonomic description of the skeletal remains of the Přidolian ichthyofauna. The data obtained supplement the information of the ichthyofauna stratigraphic and geographical distribution.

The article presents the results of stratigraphic subdivision of the Visean deposits of the south-east of Belarus in the sections of four wells, drilled on the structures adjacent to the Pripyat trough: Yastrebovka 3-k and Abakumy 9-k (Bragin-Loev structural bridge), Poddobryanka 37-k (southwestern slope of the Voronezh anteclise) and Chernigov 1-r (Dnieper-Donets trough). The identified stratigraphic units were correlated with the stratotypes of the Donbas, Moscow syneclise, Dnieper and Pripyat troughs. In the stratigraphic chart of the Carboniferous system of Belarus, there are two substages in the Visean stage: Lower and Upper. In the studied borehole sections, the Lower Visean substage was identified only in the key well Chernigov 1-r; it is represented by a thin kaolin rock member corresponding to the lower part of the Gostov horizon by the spore complex. The Upper Visean substage, subdivided into the Tula, Aleksin, Mikhailov and Venev horizons, was determined in the section of the well Chernigov 1-r. Deposits of the Venev horizon are missing in the other three studied sections. The obtained data made it possible to clarify the paleotectonics of southeastern Belarus in the Early Carboniferous.

The paper presents the modern geological and genetic model of amber-bearing deposits of Poland, Belarus and Ukraine in combination with the concept of the prognostic and prospecting system of amber. It is determined that this system depends on the modern ideas about the genesis of fossil resins and actual data on the development of the investigated territory in the Paleogene, which has a fundamental influence on the methodological basis of forecasting and searching for new deposits. The results of the field and desk studies of 1991–2020 allowed us to detail the stratigraphic features of amber-bearing deposits and to revise the key sites and reference sections within the study area, to perform correlation analysis of the stratigraphic confinement, geological settings and preconditions of amber deposits formation in the Paleogene deposits.

The results of long-term palynological studies of the sediments of the Borkovian subhorizon (Belovezhian horizon, Pleistocene of Belarus) and underlying deposits of upper part of the Narevian horizon are summarized. A detailed description of the regional pollen zones identified in the considered sediments is given. Vegetation and paleotemperature parameters were reconstructed for the corresponding time intervals.

The article deals with the taxonomy of ecological-geological systems of the territory of Belarus based on the analysis of the relationship between their abiotic (lithotope, edaphotope, technical subsystems) and biotic (microbocenosis, phytocenosis, zoocenosis) components and their features. A classification of lithotopes in the territory of Belarus, considered as a lithogenic basis for ecosystems, is proposed. Approaches and classifications of both natural and technogenic (techno-natural, naturaltechnogenic and anthropogenic) ecological-geological systems of Belarus have been developed. The above classifications can serve as a basis for studying and characterizing the ecological and geological systems of Belarus in solving various environmental problems, as well as in engineering and environmental studies and surveys.

The paper contains the results of isotope-geochemical study of clay-carbonate and carbonate-argillaceous deposits of the Gorodok horizon (Middle Eifelian) on the territory of Belarus in geological sections of five boreholes. These boreholes are the North-Polotsk (south-east of the Latvian Saddle), Bykhov (the conjugation zone of the Orsha Depression and Zhlobin Saddle), Korma (Zhlobin Saddle), Privolje (the North Shoulder of the Pripyat Trough) and GGK-1 (south-west edge of the Voronezh Anteclise). Carbon isotope signals of normal marine sedimentation, increase of the continental water role, influence of organic matter oxidation in sediment were revealed. The δ18О values typical for the Eifelian marine carbonates and somewhat higher ones dominate in all sections. The latter values, are, probably, caused by seawater evaporation. The narrow interval of the GGK 1 section represented by free from clay impurities, cavernous-porous and fissured dolomite is characterized by a negative δ18О shift which is conditioned by the rock catagenetic recrystallization in the infiltration subsurface water environment.

For the first time, a hydrochemical method for assessing the dilution of associated water when using it as hydromineral raw material has been developed for the Belarusian oil fields. The method is based on the prognosis of changes in the concentrations of the industrially valuable chemical elements in the water extracted with oil due to changes in participating stake of formation brines calculated for certain deposits during the flooding of productive layers and due to dilution of water, previously injected into the reservoir, with return water. The approbation of the proposed method is considered on the example of the largest inter-salt oil deposit of the Ostashkovichi field in Belarus. The article supplies a prognosis for a ten-year period (2021–2030 y.) of changes of the iodine and bromine contents in associated water during the extraction of these elements and injection of return water back into injection wells.

The article describes the characteristics of geological objects located on the territory of the Zhlobin region, which, when combined into geological routes, are offered for study during one-day excursions and multi-day expeditions of students in order to familiarize them with the geological structure of their native land.