SummaryThe only substantial descriptions of the small, generally ice-bound archipelago in eastern Svalbard were from an expedition led by Nathorst in 1898 which landed in Kong Karls Land for fourteen days. Our paper amplifies those findings, from work with a helicopter-borne expedition in 1969. The easternmost of the three main islands, and all the small islands, are formed of basic igneous rocks of Cretaceous age. Two of the main islands, Svenskøya and Kongsøya, are formed of latest Triassic to early Cretaceous strata, protected by caps of Cretaceous lava that determine their shape and the general topography. The third, Abeløya, is basaltic throughout.

C.W. Clark, Cornell University, M.L. Tasker, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, M. Ferguson, Amerada Hess Limited, J.P. Hartley, Amoco (UK) Exploration Company, I. Fletcher, Arco British Ltd., A. Whitehead, BP Exploration Operating Company, A.A. Duff, Chevron UK Ltd., J.F. Appelbee, Conoco (U.K.) Ltd., C. Pickton, Deminex UK Oil and Gas Limited, J. Spink, Elf Enterprise Caledonia Limited, C. MacDuff-Duncan, Esso Exploration and Production UK Ltd., S.J. Knight, Kerr-McGee Oil (UK) PLC, A.H. Walls, Mobil North Sea Ltd., A. Onder, Shell UK Exploration and Production, J. Urbanus, Texaco North Sea UK Company, and I. Buchanan, Total Oil Marine PLC. Abstract It is well known that baleen whales produce a variety of low-frequency sounds. The song of the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is the most popular example, while the sounds of other species such as blue Balaenoptera musculus, fin Balaenoptera physalus, and minke Balaenoptera acutorosfrata whales remain less familiar. Assessment of the seasonal occurrence and the relative numbers of whales in an area has relied almost exclusively on visual survey methods. Such methods depend entirely on whales surfacing to breath and cannot be used at night or when visibility conditions are poor, and are only good for distances within a few miles of the sighting platform. Because of the limitations inherent in any visual survey method, broad-based, ocean-area surveys are relatively expensive and cannot adequately sample the habitats frequented by whales. Recent access to fixed arrays of bottom-mounted hydrophones has provided a novel mechanism for simultaneously documenting the presence of whales throughout large areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Such coverage would be impossible using traditional visual methods. A recently initiated project is now underway to systematically describe the seasonal occurrences, distributions, and relative numbers of blue, fin, humpback and minke whales in the UK region using passive acoustic techniques. Data from this study are intended to provide information to both document the presence of and reduce the potential impact of oil and gas development and operation activities on whales. This paper presents some existing results from the western North Atlantic and very briefly describes preliminary results from the UK region. Introduction In 1971 Payne and Webb first postulated that several species of large baleen whales, the blue and fin whales, might acoustically communicate over great distances. Their evidence in support of this hypothesis was based on the fact that the sounds from these animals are infrasonic (ca. 20 Hz), loud (ca. 188 dB re 1 Pa at 1m), and highly patterned. Using the narrowband sonar equation and a simple spherical-cylindrical transmission loss model, they estimated that in the ocean prior to the advent of modern engine-driven ships, whales could hear each other across thousands of miles of ocean. In the age of modern shipping came a resultant increase in ambient noise in the frequency band below 100Hz due primarily to propeller cavitation noise. As a result of this increase in ambient noise levels, Payne and Webb estimated that the range of communication for whales was reduced to several hundreds of miles. This long-range communication hypothesis has never been tested due to the difficulties of demonstrating communication for whales swimming in the open ocean. However, there is every reason to support the conclusion that whales rely heavily upon sound production and perception for survival. Their inner ears are remarkably well adapted for detecting and encoding low frequency sounds. They are acoustically prolific throughout the oceans during all months of the year. P. 23^

The 1978 Cambridge Spitsbergen Expedition was organized along similar lines to those of previous years by C. A. G. Pickton and was in the field from late June to mid-August. Expedition members were: W. B. Harland (leader), C. A. G. Pickton, I. J. Fairchild, P. F. Rawson, M. J. Hambrey and P. Waddams (geologists); T. H. Druitt, J. H. Barne and D. A. Waldron (geological assistants); R. Davies (engineer); N. Cox and J. Caner (boat captains).

SIR -We are grateful to Edwards et al. (this issue) for a preview of their paper in which they object to the nomenclature and classification of lithostratigraphic units that we have employed to describe the Mesozoic sequence in Svalbard. They present an alternative scheme in which they also take note of new data. In certain respects, therefore, we are bound to accept their suggestions, but in some others we argue below that their criticism is not well based.In parts of this discussion there is clearly room for more than one opinion; we debated between ourselves what descriptive scheme we should employ at the time of our publication (1975-6), and we now argue that in the interests of stability a scheme proposed as part of a new and systematic description should stand until an altogether more thorough study supersedes it. This has been policy since our group's first substantial publication on the Mesozoic geology of the region in 1965 (Buchan et al.).Our conclusions are summarized in two tables, which modify where necessary, but retain the original scheme where we consider it will serve beneficially. We also include, in anticipation, the scheme from another paper submitted in 1976 and accepted for publication as a Skrifter of the Norsk Polarinstitutt. This has already (informally) met with similar criticism, so we anticipate and attempt to justify what we have done. However, all in all, these are matters of convention rather than positive substance, and so we do not overestimate their importance. We are primarily concerned at the confusion that has arisen through the presentation of alternative schemes.In our papers we have followed current guides to stratigraphic procedure (e.g. Harland et al. 1972; Hedburg, 1976) in regarding the formation as the primary local rock unit that should be internally (relatively) homogenous, externally distinguishable and presumed to have originally been physically continuous. Other visible variations within the formation are recognized by member status. We do not regard age as a valid criterion with which to divide or combine otherwise distinctive units. We prefer to define the units by all characters (including fossils) and then begin or continue discussion on age, environment, etc. Thus a subsequent change of opinion as to the age of a particular unit does not automatically require a change in the name or rank of that unit. Indeed, after careful consideration, we decided to introduce new formational names for different, widely scattered areas on the basis of recognizable differences. A major factor in the argument of Edwards et al. is that because these formations are all about the same age they should have the same name -i.e. one should therefore extend the Spitsbergen nomenclature to the other islands of the archipelago. They argue also that it will be easier to remember fewer names, but for this function we consider that as there are already many formational names in Svalbard the memory need not be burdened with other than group names. So we unite our different formations in...

A joint geological expedition from the Department of Geology, University of Cambridge, and the Geologisch-Palontologisches Institut der Universitt Hamburg worked in Svalbard from 27 June to 12 September and was based at the building Mexico in Ny-lesund. The expedition totalled 17 members, was organized from Cambridge by Ailsa B. Reynolds, and was led by W. B. Harland.