Here are reported the first certainly indigenous agglutinated foraminifera known for the Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, West Antarctica. The specimens were identified as Textularia sp. and occur in the upper portion of the unit, just below the contact with the overlying post-Eocene deposits. Despite being rare, the specimens are interpreted as autochthonous or parautochthonous due to their overall good preservation, fragility, and lack of sedimentary filling. The La Meseta Formation seems to have passed through a major diagenetic dissolution of calcareous microfossils, but the present findings suggest that indigenous agglutinated foraminifera can be found at least in some of its strata.
This study contributes to the knowledge of morphology, biology and ecology of Euphausia crystallorophias. The structure of the filtratory apparatus and analysis of the stomach contents are described. Among 41 identified algae taxa 40 were diatoms. Benthic algae, numbering as many as 12 taxa constituted a high percentage in the total of food content, which may indicate that this species feeds near the bottom in the relatively shallow shelf-waters.
The article gives an account of a legally unprecedented instance of utilisation of offshore platform ‘Odyssey’ and her accompanying ship ‘Sea Launch Commander’ for launching satellites into orbit. The platform is operated by an international partnership company called ‘Sea Launch’, which unites commercial undertakings within space and maritime industries from USA, Russia, Ukraine and Norway. The article discusses selected legal issues arising in areas of law of the sea, admiralty and space law, as well as issues relating to coordination of partners’ efforts in legal and administrative spheres. The company eventually went through bankruptcy (Chapter 11) procedure; the author investigates legal and economic causes of this matter. Finally, the article iterates proposal for a new international convention on space transport, which would include a comprehensive regulation on launching objects into space from offshore facilities.