The first Arctic explorers underwent no formal selection procedure, and their personality traits were not diagnosed. Today, select in and select out procedures in systematic screening activities are common, although each country manages a polar station recruits according to its standards. The main goal of this article is to present the results of personality tests of work candidates at the Polish Polar Station Hornsund in Spitsbergen in 2019–2023. The applicants’ personality was diagnosed with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory examining the Big Five personality traits. Results indicated that candidates for work in the polar station were significantly lower in neuroticism, slightly lower in openness to experience and higher in conscientiousness than the general Polish population. Moreover, there was a significant discrepancy in neuroticism between winterers and those not selected for wintering. This result was not observed in the female group. Potential reasons for study outcomes will be discussed in the article.

Abstract Eighteen sediment samples from a 36 cm long sediment core retrieved from a proglacial lake (namely P 11) situated in the Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica, were analysed for the study of quartz grain morphology and microtexture, along with sand percentage, to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental changes in the lake during the Holocene. The age of the core ranges from 3.3 ka BP to 13.9 ka BP. The quartz grain morphology and microtexture reveal significant evidences of glacial transport along with some eolian and aqueous activities. On the basis of predominance of these signatures and the zonation from CONISS Cluster Analysis on the percentages of characteristic grain morphology and microtextures, the entire core has been subdivided into three major zones. From the paleoenvironmental perspective, it can be concluded that there is an onset of interglacial period at the advent of Holocene (12.3 ka BP), which reigned until 5.3 ka BP and thereafter, again a glacial environment prevailed until 3.3 ka BP with some variations in-between. The results indicate probable alternative colder and less colder phases in the study area, which are also well supported by the respective sand percentages in the sediments.

Abstract A two-year-long data set of air temperature from four different altitudes above Petuniabukta, central Spitsbergen, was analysed in order to assess the near-surface temperature lapse rates and the relative frequency of air temperature inversion occurrence. From August 2013 to July 2015, air temperatures at adjacent altitudes in Petuniabukta were strongly correlated. The near-surface lapse rates in all three layers differed significantly both from the average lapse rate in the international standard atmosphere (0.65°C 100 m−1) and the lapse rate calculated by linear regression. A pronounced annual cycle was detected in the lowermost air layer (from 23 to 136 m a.s.l.) with a variable near-surface lapse rate in the winter months, while an annual cycle was not apparent in the air layers above 136 m a.s.l. The lowermost layer was also characterized by a notable daily cycle in near-surface lapse rate in spring and autumn. Air temperature inversions occurred in up to 80% of the study period in the air layer below 136 m a.s.l., with the relative frequency being much lower in the other two air layers. The air temperature inversions lasted as long as 139 hours. A case study revealed that one of the strongest air temperature inversions was connected to an area of lower pressure gradients at the 850-hPa pressure level.

Abstract Filamentous types from the order Oscillatoriales, particularly the speciesPhor-midium autumnale, have widely diverse morphotypes, which dominate in Arctic aquatic microbial mats and wet soils. We cultivated 25 strains ofPh.autumnalefrom Svalbard and compared them with available strains from surrounding regions. The comparison of strains, based on 16S rDNA and 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer sequences, revealed the similar- ity of strains from Ellesmere Island, the Canadian Arctic and Abisko, Sweden with strains from Svalbard. The rate of colonization ofPh. atumnalefrom aquatic habitats is relatively high and we suggest geese as a main transmission vector from surrounding lands. Strains ofPh. autumnalewere positioned in the phylogenetic tree according to their occurrence in similar habitats. An apparent clustering factor is the duration of availability of water in lakes and long-lasting streams in contrast to rapid and repeated desiccation in soil and on wetted rock in the spray zone of waterfalls. Strains that grow in very cold waters just above the melting point of snow or ice form a distinct genetic group. The strains investigated in this study show morphological similarity in the shape of the trichomes of the studied specimens. Overall, the cell diameter, except for terminal cells, of our strains varied between 3 and 10 μm. Comparison of 16S rDNA sequences of the genusPh. autumnalewith the previ- ously published definition of the speciesMicrocoleus vaginatusrevealed the identity of these two species.

A new fossilAdamussium(Bivalvia: Pectinidae) from AntarcticaAdamussium jonkersisp. nov. is described from the Late Oligocene Destruction Bay Formation, Wrona Buttress area, King George Island (South Shetlands), West Antarctica. The unit, characterized by volcanic sandstone, is a shallow marine succession deposited in a moderate-to high-energy environment. The thin-shelled pectinids, collected from the lower part of the unit, are preserved mostly as complete valves. Shell thickness, sculpture pattern and umbonal angle suggest a free-living, inactive swimming life habit.