TY - JOUR N2 - During the austral summer of 2002/2003 the author collected 38 marine and/or glacio-marine sediment samples from Admiralty Bay on King George Island (South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica). Recent “living” (Rose Bengal stained) and “dead” (subfossil) benthic foraminifera represented by 105 species belonging to 65 genera are recognized in samples from water depths of up to 520 m. They show large spatial variability. Four distinctive foraminiferal zones within the fjord of Admiralty Bay were recognized and analyzed in terms of environmental conditions. The zones are: restricted coves, open inlets, intermediate-, and deep-waters. The major environmental factors, which dictate foraminiferal distribution, are closely related to bathymetry and distance to open sea. Sediment composition and chlorophyll content appear to have minor influence on foraminiferal communities. Most diverse, deep-water faunas dominate water-depths below 200 m , which seems to be the lowest limit of atmospheric and meltwater influence. In waters shallower than 200 m , environmental features, affecting distribution of various benthic foraminiferal assemblages, appear to be sedimentation rate and hydrographic isolation. The results of this study gives promise to use the Admiralty Bay foraminiferal distribution pattern as a paleoenvironmental tool for shallow- to intermediate-water Quaternary marine research in fjord settings of the South Shetland Islands. L1 - http://www.journals.pan.pl/Content/110635/PDF-MASTER/ppr26-159.pdf L2 - http://www.journals.pan.pl/Content/110635 PY - 2005 IS - No 3 EP - 214 KW - Antarctica KW - South Shetlands KW - Foraminifera KW - Recent A1 - Majewski, Wojciech PB - Polish Academy of Sciences PB - Committee on Polar Research VL - vol. 26 DA - 2005 T1 - Benthic foraminiferal communities: distribution and ecology in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, West Antarctica SP - 159 UR - http://www.journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/110635 T2 - Polish Polar Research ER -