An about 200-m long sandstone dyke cutting through the shales of the Janusfjellet Formation (Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous) has been discovered at Janusfjellet Central Spitsbergen. The palynomorph assemblage and the character of sandstone from the dyke are indicative of the Firkanten Formation of Paleocene age.
This article aims to analyse the influence of weather types on meteorological
conditions in Petuniabukta (Svalbard) during July and August of 2016. The paper analyses
the daily courses of air temperature and humidity at four measurement points located on
the west bank of Petuniabukta near Adam Mickiewicz University Polar Station during
two different types of weather conditions: (i) cloudy and windy, (ii) calm and clear.
These weather types, distinguished on the basis of wind speed and cloudiness, allowed
for the creation of composite maps of the synoptic situation (SLP and geopotential
height of 500 hPa distribution) and its anomalies. In the study area, the air temperature
range in windy and cloudy weather conditions was larger (-10°C to 15°C) than that in
sunny and calm weather (0°C to 15°C), which contrasts the range of humidity values.
The diurnal cycle of meteorological elements in sunny and calm days is strongly related
to the sun elevation angle. In the above-mentioned weather types, the air temperature
was higher by several degrees (median 5°C to 8°C) than on windy and cloudy days
(median about 0°C to 6°C) at each measurement point. On days with sunny and calm
weather, a smaller vertical temperature gradient of air is observed (for sunny and calm
days 0.63°C and for windy weather 0.8°C).
Bryozoans were collected in Kongsfjorden (79°N and 12°E) in the summer seasons of 1997, 1998, and 1999. In the total of 44 grab, dredge, and SCUBA diving samples 143 taxa were determined: 123 species, 17 to the generic and 3 to the family level. In the investigated material were 24% Arctic species and 66% boreal-Arctic species. This suggests a rather Arctic nature of the fjord. A few boreal species indicate the influence of warm water masses (West Spitsbergen Current). The majority of species (76%) have an encrusting life form. There were 5 species with a frequency of occurrence higher than 20%. These are Electra crustulenta var. arctica (31.82%); Cylindroporella tubulosa (27.27%); Tegella arctica (22.73%); Tegella armifera (20.45%); and Hippothoa divaricata var. arctica (20.45%). Among all identified species 23 were recorded for the first time in the area of Svalbard archipelago. Most (79%) of newly noted species have Arctic distributions. The lower sampling effort of previous researchers most likely accounts for the present enrichment of the list of Bryozoa of Kongsfjorden.
In Hornsund Fiord, West Spitsbergen, the cobblees with varnish coat on their surface were found. They occur on low Holocene terraces on older and lower moraine ridges of Hans Glacier. There are two types of chemical coats: 1. corresponding to the mineral and chemical substance of the rock they occur on, and 2. independent of the rock, sedimented under influence of external activities. First type of coats is created by oxidative processes. The second type, like manganese-iron coats of intensive dark colours, does not differ from the phenomenon defined as "desert varnish". They were developed in Holocene in present conditions of polar climate. The authors lean toward biological origin of the coats.