Contents of POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 1
Andrzej GAŹDZICKI and Wojciech MAJEWSKI
Recent foraminifera from Goulden Cove of King George Island, Antarctica 3
Łucja FOSTOWICZ-FRELIK
An enigmatic whale tooth from the Upper Eocene of Seymour Island, Antarctica 13
Jürgen KRIWET and Andrzej GAŹDZICKI
New Eocene Antarctic chimeroid fish (Holocephali, Chimaeriformes) 29
Rafał PUDEŁKO
Topographic map of the SSSI No. 8, King George Island, West Antarctica 53
Krzysztof P. KRAJEWSKI and Marzena STEMPIEŃ-SAŁEK
Overthrust Carboniferous strata (Sergeijevfjellet Formation) at Lidfjellet, NW Sřrkapp Land, Spitsbergen 61
Jan Marcin WĘSŁAWSKI, Maria WŁODARSKA-KOWALCZUK and Joanna LEGEŻYŃSKA
Occurrence of soft bottom macrofauna along the depth gradient in High Arctic, 79o N 73
Chronicle:
XXV Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Warsaw, 2002 — Ryszard SARKOWICZ 89
In Memoriam:
Krzysztof Kwarecki (1938–2002) — Aleksander GUTERCH 93
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 1, pp. 3–12
Andrzej GAŹDZICKI1, 3 and Wojciech MAJEWSKI1, 2
Recent foraminifera from Goulden Cove of King George Island, Antarctica
1 Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland <gazdzick@twarda.pan.pl;
wmaj@twarda.pan.pl>
2 Zakład Biologii Antarktyki PAN, ul. Ustrzycka 10, 02-141 Warszawa, Poland
3 Zakład Biologii Polarnej i Oceanobiologii UŁ, ul. Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Łódź, Poland
ABSTRACT: 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.
Key words: Antarctica, King George Island, Foraminifera, Recent.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 1, pp. 13–28
Łucja FOSTOWICZ-FRELIK
An enigmatic whale tooth from the Upper Eocene of Seymour Island, Antarctica
Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland <lfost@twarda.pan.pl>
ABSTRACT: 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.
Key words: Antarctica, La Meseta Formation (Eocene), paleontology (Archaeoceti, Mysticeti), enamel
microstructure, milk (deciduous) tooth.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 1, pp. 29–51
Jürgen KRIWET1 and Andrzej GAŹDZICKI2
New Eocene Antarctic chimeroid fish (Holocephali, Chimaeriformes)
1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Queen’s Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK
<juergen.kriwet@bristol.ac.uk>
2 Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland <gazdzick@twarda.pan.pl>
ABSTRACT: 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.
Key words: Antarctica, La Meseta Formation (Eocene), palaeontology (chimeroid fish), new species, ecology.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 1, pp. 53–60
Rafał PUDEŁKO
Topographic map of the SSSI No. 8, King George Island, West Antarctica
Instytut Uprawy Nawożenia i Gleboznawstwa, ul. Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
Zakład Biologii Antarktyki, Polska Akademia Nauk, ul. Ustrzycka 10, 02-141 Warszawa, Poland
<rafal@iung.pulawy.pl>
ABSTRACT: 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.
Key words: Antarctica, King George Island, SSSI No. 8, Arctowski Station, topographic map.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 1, pp. 61–72
Krzysztof P. KRAJEWSKI and Marzena STEMPIEŃ-SAŁEK
Overthrust Carboniferous strata (Sergeijevfjellet Formation) at Lidfjellet, NW Sřrkapp Land,
Spitsbergen
Instytut Nauk Geologicznych, PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland < kpkraj@twarda.pan.pl >
mstempie@twarda.pan.pl
ABSTRACT: 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.
Key words: Arctic, Spitsbergen, Sřrkapp Land, Carboniferous, tectonics, palynology.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 1, pp. 73–88
Jan Marcin WĘSŁAWSKI, Maria WŁODARSKA-KOWALCZUK and Joanna LEGEŻYŃSKA
Instytut Oceanologii PAN, ul. Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland <weslaw@iopan.gda.pl>
Occurrence of soft bottom macrofauna along the depth gradient in High Arctic, 79 o N
ABSTRACT: 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.
Key words: Arctic, biodiversity, macrobenthos, depth gradient.