Polish Polar Research

Recent foraminifera represented by 24 species belonging to 20 genera are recognized in marine and/or glacio-marine sediment samples collected at water depths of up to 75 m in Goulden Cove (Admiralty Bay) on King George Island, West Antarctica. The foraminifer assemblages are dominated by benthic taxa, such as Globocassidulina biora and Miliammina arenacea, the two most abundant species in the studied biocenosis.

An isolated, deciduous incisor of an archaic whale found in the upper part of the La Meseta Formation (Telm7) is tentatively assigned to the Archaeoceti. The strata from which the tooth was recovered are of Late Eocene (Priabonian) age, and previous reports indicate that they contain the remains of Dorudontinae (Archaeoceti) and Llanocetidae (Mysticeti). The tooth is similar in shape, size and ornamentation to the milk teeth of Zygorhiza. The enamel is mostly prismatic, with prism sheats generally open, except for the outermost layer, which is aprismatic. The Schmelzmuster consists of radial and decussating enamel types. The decussating zone has distinct Hunter-Schreger bands (HSB), usually consisting of 10–12 prisms. It is bordered by an external zone built of radial enamel extending for 22% of the enamel thickness and an internal, starting zone, with less developed HSB, occupying 9% of the enamel thickness. The interprismatic matrix is parallel to the prism direction. An archaeocete origin of the tooth is suggested by its enamel features, typical for the group. However, additional study of the Llanocetidae enamel structure is needed for final identification.

Until now Eocene chimeroid holocephalians of Antarctica have been known from only a few specimens attributed to two species from the Eocene of Seymour Island. New material collected by Polish and English field parties includes numerous tooth plates and fin spine fragments from the Eocene La Meseta Formation. We describe a new species, Callorhinchus stahli, based on two mandibular and a single fragmentary palatine tooth plate. In addition, the stratigraphic distribution and diversity of Eocene Antarctic chimeroids is discussed. The chimeroid Ischyodus shows the greatest stratigraphic distribution with its greatest abundance in the middle parts of the La Meseta Formation while Chimaera and Callorhinchus are restricted to the lower ones. Changes in the environment and habitat availability most probably triggered the distributional pattern and the disappearance of chimeroids.

A topographic map 1:12,500 scale of the SSSI No. 8 and the Arctowski Station region was prepared during the XXV Polish Polar Expedition (2000/2001) organized by the Department of Antarctic Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences. The map documents geomorphological changes which took place during the last 20 years. Several new place names have been introduced for the SSSI No. 8 area.

The Lidfjellet thrust is the most prominent tectonic structure in the Lidfjellet-Řyrlandsodden fold zone, which stretches NNW-SSE along the western coast of Sřrkapp Land in Spitsbergen. This paper provides a reinterpretation of the Lidfjellet structure, with particular reference to lithostratigraphy of the autochthonous and overthrust sequences involved, and to the position of the thrust surface. Geological and palynologicalal data indicate that the sequence attributed previously to the Lower Cretaceous Helvetiafjellet Formation of the autochthonous cover represents in fact the Carboniferous (Viséan) Sergeijevfjellet Formation forming the lower part of the overthrust unit. The youngest deposits involved in tectonic structures of the Lidfjellet-Řyrlandsodden fold zone are of Upper Jurassic age.

Soft bottom fauna have been sampled along the Spitsbergen fjord depression entering shelf, slope and Greenland Sea Ocean Basin at 200, 300, 500, 1500, 2000 and 3000 m depths. From 19 samples covering 1.9 m2, 4295 individuals of 194 macrofauna species have been sorted. Density decreased markedly from over 6000 ind/m2 in shelf stations to some 600 ind/m2 below 1500 m depth. Only two taxa (Chaetozone group and Lumbrineris sp. A) occurred in more than 75% of samples, 55 taxa (28% of the total) were represented by single specimens only. The highest number of species per sample (65 taxa in 0.1 m2) was noted at 525 depth. There were 14 eurybathic species and the same number of taxa were found exclusively below 2000 m depth, while 117 species were found only shallower than 300 m depth.