Contents of POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 31 No. 2
Krzysztof BIRKENMAJER, Przemysław GEDL and Elżbieta WOROBIEC
Dinoflagellate cyst and spore-pollen spectra from the Lower Oligocene Krabbedalen Formation at Kap Brewster,
East Greenland 103
Wojciech DOBIŃSKI
Geophysical characteristics of permafrost in the Abisko area, northern Sweden 141
Oleksii REDCHENKO, Jiří KOŠNAR and Jan GLOSER
A contribution to lichen biota of the central part of Spitsbergen, Svalbard Archipelago 159
Krzysztof P. KRAJEWSKI, Nikolai A. GONZHUROV, Anatoly A. LAIBA
and Andrzej TATUR
Early diagenetic siderite in the Panorama Point Beds (Radok Conglomerate, Early to Middle Permian), Prince
Charles Mountains, East Antarctica 169
Katarzyna J. CHWEDORZEWSKA, Małgorzata KORCZAK, Piotr T. BEDNAREK
and Marta MARKOWSKA-POTOCKA
Low genetic differentiation between two morphotypes of the gastropod Nacella concinna from Admiralty Bay,
Antarctica 195
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 31 No. 2, pp. 103–140
Dinoflagellate cyst and spore-pollen spectra from the Lower Oligocene Krabbedalen Formation
at Kap Brewster, East Greenland
Krzysztof BIRKENMAJER1, Przemysław GEDL1 and Elżbieta WOROBIEC 2
1 Instytut Nauk Geologicznych PAN, Senacka 1, 31-002 Kraków, Poland
<ndbirken@cyf-kr.edu.pl> <ndgedl@cyf-kr.edu.pl>
2 Instytut Botaniki PAN, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland
<e.worobiec@botany.pl>
Abstract: Shallow-marine deposits of the Krabbedalen Formation (Kap Dalton Group) from Kap Brewster,
central East Greenland, yielded rich dinoflagellate cyst and pollen-spore assemblages. Previously, this formation
yielded also rich mollusc and foraminifer age-diagnostic assemblages. A Lower Oligocene age of the
Krabbedalen Formation seems to be supported by the dinoflagellate cyst assemblage analysis, while the pollenspore assemblages point to a wider stratigraphic age range within Oligocene–Middle Miocene.
Key words: Greenland, Kap Brewster, Early Oligocene, biostratigraphy, palynology, dinoflagellate cyst
assemblages.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 31 No. 2, pp. 141–158
Geophysical characteristics of permafrost in the Abisko area, northern Sweden
Wojciech DOBIŃSKI
Katedra Geomorfologii, Wydział Nauk o Ziemi, Uniwersytet Śląski, Bedzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
<dobin@wnoz.us.edu.pl>
Abstract: Research on permafrost in the Abisko area of northern Sweden date from the 1950s. A mean annual air
temperature of -3 °C in the Abisko mountains (i.e. 1000 m a.s.l.) and -1 °C beyond the mountain area at an
altitude of around 400 m suggests that both mountain and arctic permafrost occur there. Several geophysical
surveys were performed by means of resistivity tomography (ERT) and electromagnetic mapping (EM).
Wherever possible the geophysical survey results were calibrated by digging tests pits. The results show that
permafrost occurs extensively in the mountain areas, especially those above 900 m a.s.l. and also sporadically at
lower altitudes. At 400 m a.s.l. permafrost may be up to 30 m thick. Its thickness and extent are determined
largely by the very variable local rock and soil conditions. Fossil permafrost is also likely to occur in this area.
Key words: Arctic, Abisko, permafrost, geophysics.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 31 No. 2, pp. 159–168
A contribution to lichen biota of the central part of Spitsbergen, Svalbard Archipelago
Oleksii REDCHENKO1,2, Jiří KOŠNAR3 and Jan GLOSER4
1 Viddil lihenologii ta briologii, Institut botaniky im. M.G. Kholodnogo NAN Ukrainy,
vul. Tereshenkivska, 2, MSP-1, 01601, Kyiv, Ukraine
2 Úsek ekologie rostlin, Botanický ústav AV ČR, Dukelská 135, 379 82 Třeboň, Czech Republic
<alexey_redchenko@yahoo.com>
3 Katedra botaniky, Přírodovědecká fakulta, Jihočeská univerzita, Branišovská 31, CZ-370 05, České
Budějovice, Czech Republic
<jirikosnar@seznam.cz>
4 Ústav experimentální biologie, Přírodovědecká fakulta, Masarykova univerzita, Kotlářská 2, CZ-611 37, Brno,
Czech Republic
<jgloser@sci.muni.cz>
Abstract: The present contribution to lichen-forming and lichenicolous biota of northernmost Billefjorden
(Petuniabukta area, central Spitsbergen, Svalbard) contains 40 species of lichens. Four species: Arthonia
ligniariella, Candelariella lutella, Ochrolechia upsaliensis, Polyblastia pernigrata are new for the Svalbard
Archipelago.
Key words: Arctic, Spitsbergen, lichenized fungi, species distribution.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 31 No. 2, pp. 169–194
Early diagenetic siderite in the Panorama Point Beds (Radok Conglomerate, Early to Middle Permian),
Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica
Krzysztof P. KRAJEWSKI 1,3*, Nikolai A. GONZHUROV 2, Anatoly A. LAIBA2
and Andrzej TATUR3
1 Instytut Nauk Geologicznych PAN, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland
<kpkraj@twarda.pan.pl> *corresponding author
2 Polar Marine Geological Research Expedition, Pobedy 24, 198412 St. Petersburg, Russia
3 Zakład Biologii Antarktyki PAN, Ustrzycka 10/12, 02-141 Warszawa, Poland
Abstract: The Panorama Point Beds represent a subfacies of the Early to Middle Permian Radok Conglomerate,
which is the oldest known sedimentary unit in the Prince Charles Mountains, MacRobertson Land, East
Antarctica. This unit records clastic sedimentation in fresh-water depositional system during the early stages of
development of the Lambert Graben, a major structural valley surrounded by crystalline highlands in the
southern part of Gondwana. It contains common siderite precipitated through early diagenetic processes in the
swamp, stagnant water, and stream-flow environments. There are two types of siderite in the Panorama Point
Beds: (1) disseminated cement that occurs throughout the sedimentary succession; and (2) concretions that occur
at recurrent horizons in fine-grained sediments. The cement is composed of Fe-depleted siderite (less than 90
mol % FeCO3) with an elevated content of magnesium, and trace and rare earth elements. It has negative
d13CVPDB values (-4.5 to -1.5‰). The concretions are dominated by Fe-rich siderite (more than 90 mol %
FeCO3), with positive d13CVPDB values (+1 to +8‰). There are no noticeable differences in the oxygen
(d18OVPDB between -20 and -15‰) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr between 0.7271 and 0.7281) isotopic
compositions between the siderite types. The cement and concretions developed in the nearsurface to subsurface
environment dominated by suboxic and anoxic methanic degradation of organic matter, respectively. The
common presence of siderite in the Panorama Point Beds suggests that fresh-water environments of the Lambert
Graben were covered by vegetation, starting from the early history of its development in the Early Permian.
Key words: Antarctica, Prince Charles Mts, Radok Conglomerate, Permian, siderite, fresh-water environment.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 31 No. 2, pp. 195–200
Low genetic differentiation between two morphotypes of the gastropod Nacella concinna from Admiralty
Bay, Antarctica
Katarzyna J. CHWEDORZEWSKA1, Małgorzata KORCZAK1, Piotr T. BEDNAREK2 and Marta
MARKOWSKA-POTOCKA1
1 Zakład Biologii Antarktyki PAN, Ustrzycka 10/12, 02-141 Warszawa, Poland
<kchwedorzewska@go2.pl>
2 Instytut Hodowli i Aklimatyzacji Roślin, 05-870 Warszawa – Radzików, Poland
Abstract: During laboratory and field experiments on Nacella concinna on the west coast of Admiralty Bay,
King George Island (Antarctica) clear morphological and behavioural differences between two limpet forms (N.
concinna polaris and N. concinna concinna) were found. They suggested presence of genetic divergence. AFLP
(amplified fragment length polymorphism) profiling of N. concinna individuals representing the two forms
revealed nearly 32% of polymorphic bands; only 2% of them differed between the forms. Our results suggest
that the observed phenotypic variation seems to be a result of adaptation to environmental conditions and not of
any genetic divergence.
Key words: Antarctica, Nacella concinna, genetic diversity, AFLP.