Contents of POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 25 No. 1
Krzysztof BIRKENMAJER
Caledonian basement in NW Wedel Jarlsberg Land south of Bellsund, Spitsbergen 3
Krzysztof P. KRAJEWSKI
Carbon and oxygen isotopic survey of diagenetic carbonate deposits in the Agardhfjellet Formation (Upper
Jurassic), Spitsbergen: preliminary results 27
Anna STYSZYŃSKA
The origin of coreless winters in the South Shetlands area (Antarctica) 45
Jacek SICIŃSKI
Polychaetes of Antarctic sublittoral in the proglacial zone (King George Island, South Shetland Islands) 67
Wojciech MAJEWSKI
27th Polish Antarctic Expedition to Arctowski Station (King George Island, Antarctica), 2002/2003 97
Book Review
Ryszard OCHYRA: Illustrated Flora of the Nordic liverworts and hornworts by K. Damsholt 103
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 25 No. 1, pp. 3–26
Krzysztof BIRKENMAJER
Caledonian basement in NW Wedel Jarlsberg Land south of Bellsund, Spitsbergen
Instytut Nauk Geologicznych, Polska Akademia Nauk, Ośrodek Badawczy w Krakowie, ul. Senacka 1/3, 31-002
Kraków, Poland <e-mail: ndbirken@cyf-kr.edu.pl>
ABSTRACT: The area of NW Wedel Jarlsberg Land south of Bellsund (Spitsbergen), between Dunderbukta in
the west and the Berzeliustinden mountain group in the east, consists of five fault-bounded blocks: (1) the
Renardbreen Block (Middle–Late Proterozoic basement rocks), (2) the Chamberlindalen Block (Late Proterozoic
basement rocks), (3) the Martinfjella Block (Late Proterozoic through Early Ordovician basement rocks), (4) the
Berzeliustinden Block (Late Proterozoic and Early Ordovician basement rocks covered by Late Palaeozoic–
Tertiary platform deposits), (5) the Reinodden Block (Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks). The paper presents
an outline of lithostratigraphy (Middle/Upper Proterozoic–Lower Ordovician: Hecla Hoek Succession) and
architecture of the Caledonian basement in which several thrust-sheets and thrust-folds have been recognized. It
also discusses some aspects of Tertiary overthrusting, faulting and rotation with affected the basement rocks and
remodelled its Caledonian architecture.
Key words: Arctic, Spitsbergen, Middle/Upper Proterozoic, Cambrian, Ordovician, Caledonian basement,
lithostratigraphy, tectonics.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 25 No. 1, pp. 27–43
Krzysztof P. KRAJEWSKI
Carbon and oxygen isotopic survey of diagenetic carbonate deposits in the Agardhfjellet Formation
(Upper Jurassic), Spitsbergen: preliminary results
Instytut Nauk Geologicznych PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland <kpkraj@twarda.pan.pl>
ABSTRACT: Diagenetic carbonate deposits (concretions, cementation bodies and cementstone bands)
commonly occur in organic carbon-rich sequence of the Agardhfjellet Formation (Upper Jurassic) in
Spitsbergen. They are dominated by dolomite/ankerite and siderite. These deposits originated as a result of
displacive cementation of host sediment in a range of post-depositional environments, from shallow subsurface
to deep-burial ones. Preliminary results of the carbon and oxygen isotopic survey of these deposits in southern
Spitsbergen (Lĺgkollane, Ingebrigtsenbukta, Reinodden, and Lidfjellet sections) show the δ 13C values ranging
between –13.0‰ and –1.8‰ VPDB, and the δ18O values between –16.0‰ and –7.7‰ VPDB. These results
suggest that the major stage of formation of the carbonate deposits occurred during burial diagenesis under
increased temperature, most probably in late diagenetic to early catagenic environments. Carbonate carbon for
mineral precipitation was derived from dissolution of skeletal carbonate and from thermal decomposition of
organic matter.
Key words: Arctic, Spitsbergen, Agardhfjellet Formation (Jurassic), diagenetic carbonate deposits, carbon and
oxygen isotopes.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 25 No. 1, pp. 45–66
Anna STYSZYŃSKA
The origin of coreless winters in the South Shetlands area (Antarctica)
Akademia Morska, Katedra Meteorologii i Oceanografii Nautycznej, ul. Sędzickiego 19, 81-374 Gdynia, Poland
<stysa@am.gdynia.pl>
ABSTRACT: The occurrence of coreless winters in the South Shetland Islands region is related to increase in the
intensity of cyclonic circulation and to the presence of massive and rapid advection of warm air northerly and
westerly. Coreless winter developments depend on large-scale oceanic processes – the presence of positive
anomalies in sea surface temperature (SST) in the Bellingshausen Sea over the range 080°–092°W and the
retreat of sea ice extent southwards. When negative anomalies of SST in the same region are observed and the
sea ice extent advances northwards, a winter with clearly marked cold core is experienced at the Arctowski
Station on the South Shetlands.
Key words: Antarctica, Arctowski Station, coreless winter, air temperature, climate.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 25 No. 1, pp.67–96
Jacek SICIŃSKI
Polychaetes of Antarctic sublittoral in the proglacial zone (King George Island, South Shetland Islands)
Zakład Biologii Polarnej i Oceanobiologii, Uniwersytet Łódzki, ul. Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Łódź, Poland
<sicinski@biol.uni.lodz.pl>
ABSTRACT: Ninety eight polychaete species were found in the shallow sublittoral of Admiralty Bay. The most
abundant were Leitoscoloplos kerguelensis, Tauberia gracilis, Ophelina syringopyge, Rhodine intermedia,
Tharyx cincinnatus, Aricidea (Acesta) strelzovi, Apistobranchus sp., Cirrophorus brevicirratus and Microspio
moorei. Mean abundance of polychaetes was estimated at 120 ind./ 0.1m2. As a result of cluster analysis several
polychaete assemblages were distinguished. The highly specific assemblage with two characteristic species,
Scoloplos marginatus and Travisia kerguelensis, from shallow areas with sandy bottom situated far from
glaciers; a distincly specific assemblage with Apistobranchus sp. from poorly sorted sediments in the bottom
areas situated on the slopes at the base of steep rubble shores; the richest and most diverse, highly specific
polychaete assemblage from the central basin of the bay with Tauberia gracilis as the most characteristic
species, as well as two assemblages from the bottom areas neighbouring glaciers and influenced by the intensive
enrichment of very small grain-sized sediments with Ophelina cylindricaudata and Tharyx cincinnatus. Clear
assemblages’ arrangement was observed along the gradient: sand, silty sand, silt towards clay silt. Other
important factors, supporting the proposed classification of assemblages and their character, include the sorting
coefficient of the sediment (So) as well as the slope of the bottom. The between-habitat diversity of polychaete
fauna is strongly connected with the phenomena occurring in the neighbouring terrestrial coastal areas.
Key words: Antarctica, Polychaeta, sublittoral, bottom sediments.