Polish Polar Research

This paper presents the results of geomorphological investigations in the area of Ebba Glacier. A granulometric characteristic is presented of some types of deposits localised both within the glacier and in its forefiels. Some complexes of glacial forms were distinguished, on the basis of which an attempt was made to establish the chronology of events responsible for the development of Ebba Valley. Their preliminary analysis permitted the hypothesis of the Wiirm glaciation of the valley and of the four — fold advancement of Holocene glaciers to be set.

On the basis of a year-long series of actinometric measurements performed in the vicinity of Polish Polar Station at Hornsund, this paper presents the characteristic of the value of solar radiation incoming at the active surface, of absorbed and net radiation. The maximum intensity of the direct solar radiation was 822 Wm-2, the annual sum total of total radiation was 2611 MJm-2, whereas the mean yearly albedo was 59%. The zero-crossing of the 24-hour sums of the net radiation towards negative values occurred at the turn of September and October.

In the summer of 1979, in South Spitsbergen investigations of the extreme temperatures of the ground surface were carried out. The investigations permitted the determination of the magnitude of the extreme temperatures of the ground surface and their relation to the air temperature. The spatial variability of the extreme temperatures of the ground surface was observed.

On the basis of the results of direct measurements, the conduction properties of the yearly behaviour of the halt flux conducted in the tundra soil (S) are determined. In general, the cooling period of the soil profile lasted from August to January, with highest intensity in October (S = —4.8 Wm-2). A rapid intensification of the heat exchange in the soil occurred in July (S = 7.4 Wm-2 ) . The 24-hour values of S were found to vary greatly (from 19 Wm-2 to 32 Wm-2). For chosen days, relationships were determined among the particular elements of the heat balance of the active layer.

Studies of the chemical composition of surface freshwaters of the Fugleberget drainage basin, Spitsbergen, were performed in the summer of 1979. It was found that activity of birds (little auk) is the main factor differentiating the chemical properties of waters of the drainage basin. The birds faeces cause the enrichment of waters with nutrients, fertilizing the environment. There is a dependence of the concentration of determined water chemistry parameters on the distance from the bird colony.

The present elaboration gives the results of investigations carried out by the VLF method in September. 1980. in Fuglebersletta, in the Hornsund Fiord area, Spitsbergen. The aim of the investigations was to localize precisely the ore-bearing veins and to trace their course.

The results and method of measurements of D, H and T carried out at Hornsund in the summer of 1979 are presented. The relative and absolute values of these elements are given in reduction to the Polish magnetic station at Hornsund. An initial evaluation of changes in the magnetic field from 1957 to 1979 is carried out.

This paper gives the daily values of chosen meteorological elements measured at the Polar Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences at Hornsund, during the Vlth Expedition of the Polish Academy of Sciences to Spitsbergen. The tables give average daily values of air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloud amount and wind speed, daily amounts of precipitation and bright sunshine, extreme temperature values, maximum instantaneous wind speed and snow cover thickness for all the days in the period under study.

Bunger Oasis (66° 15'S 100° 45'E), which lies in the deep interior of the Antarctic Continent, was the destination of the Polish Polar Expedition in 1978/1979. The area of Oasis which is free of ice, with a surface area of 1000 km2, its own hydrographic network and diversified relief of the terrain, has over the recent years been populated by live organisms, birds (cheek-bone and snow fulmar) and Wedell seal. In valleys and depressions of the terrain, traces of soil, mosses and lichens appear. The relief of the terrain of Oasis is undergoing continuous intensive change as a result of the natural effects of the Antarctic climate.

On the basis of 35 one-hour series of the measurement of the wind velocity, read out every two minutes, the wind structure at the Arctowski Station, situated on Admiralty Bay, King George Island, was analysed. Very strong turbulence was found with air flow directions from over the area of the Island (S, SW. W and NW) and laminarity with directions from SE, E, NE and partly N, i.e. when the air flows from Admiralty Bay or from over the open waters of Bransfield Strait. The qustiness coefficient, the relationship between the maximum and mean velocities and the intensity of turbulence were determined for the two flow types. Two extremely different cases, in terms of flow character, were considered, by determining for them the distributions of instantaneous velocities and those of oscillations.