Posted: Jun 30, 2005 10:56 am EST
Late last year, Bulgaria set off for an Antarctic mission to collect coordinates, elevation, and ice cover data on the mountain massif of Tangra situated on Livingston Island in the South Shetlands archipelago.

To collect the numbers, the guys would make a first ever traverse of the Tangra Mountains, with sixteen peaks raising to 1000 m above sea level and two of them even to 1700 m. Here's their debrief:

The researcher and the 5, 8000+ climber

The mission of the topographic survey Tangra 2004/05 was to make the first exploration of certain remote areas in the mountainous eastern Livingston Island.

This was accomplished by a two-man team comprising Dr. Lyubomir Ivanov, senior research associate at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, participant in four Antarctic expeditions and chairman of the Bulgarian Antarctic Place-names Commission; and Doychin Vasilev, alpinist, film maker and climber of five 8,000-meter peaks including Mount Everest.

Heavy duty support

Prof. Christo Pimpirev and the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, base commander Yordan Yordanov and the crew of St. Kliment Ohridski base, the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the survey sponsored by Petrol Holding, TNT Bulgaria, Polytours, M-Tel, Bulstrad, B. Bekyarov and B. Chernev.

Southernmost Post office handled 517 mail consignments to 26 countries

The Uruguayan Antarctic naval ship Vanguardia, and the Russian research ship Akademik Sergey Vavilov operated by the Australian company Peregrine Shipping provided logistic support in Antarctica. The Bulgarian Posts Plc operated the post office of 1091 Tangra at Camp Academia, despatching 517 mail consignments to 26 countries.

200 km of new routes, 20 new peaks

In the course of field work carried out from the base camp Academia and forward bivouacs at Catalunyan Saddle and Leslie Hill, L. Ivanov and D. Vasilev covered on ski or on foot some 200 km, opening new overland routes in Tangra Mountains, Bowles Ridge, Vidin Heights and the glaciers Huron, Kaliakra and Perunika.

More than 70 geographical features were GPS surveyed, including the summit Mount Friesland (1700 m, third ascent). Over 20 heights were ascended for the first time, including the peaks Lyaskovets (1473 m), Miziya (604 m), Radnevo (481 m), Gleaner (531 m), Melnik (696 m), Komini (774 m), Ongal (1149 m), (Ravda 664 m) and Zograf (1011 m).

A comprehensive photographic documentation was compiled for the geographical features situated in central and eastern Livingston Island, Half Moon Island and Greenwich Island.

New Mapping

Presently, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has commissioned the publication of a 1:100000 scale topographic map of Livingston Island promoting Bulgaria’s effort and contribution to the Antarctic science.

This new map is based on the 1968 South Shetland Islands map of the UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys; the 1992 SPOT satellite image image of Livingston Island and Greenwich Island made by the Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya and the Departament de Geodinàmica i Geofísica, Universitat de Barcelona; and the 1995/96 and 2004/05 Bulgarian topographic surveys by L. Ivanov.

A word from the Minister of Foreign affairs

The guys came back heroes to Bulgaria. A letter to the expedition from Solomon Passy, the Minister of Foreign affairs had this to say:

"In times when other nations and great countries used to discover, explore, settle and name the New World lands; when New York, New Orleans, New Zealand and New Caledonia appeared on the geographical maps, the Bulgarians stayed aside from that process. They were just yearning for liberty in their own lands, and for a statehood of their own."

Bulgarian names made immortal

"Therefore, the heart of today’s Bulgarian cannot but fill with pride in knowing that at the other end of the world, on the last discovered continent, there are places having such precious for him/her names as Levski, Tervel, Tangra, St. Cyril, St. Metodius, St. Ivan Rilski, Paisiy, Yavorov, Vaptsarov, Serdica, Tryavna and Elena."

"Since 1998, small Bulgaria is in the club of 27 states that are responsible for the destiny of Antarctica, together with countries like the USA, Russia, Great Britain and France. We participate in the ultimate, most civilized and wisest land conquest – that of a continent whose fate is important for the future of the whole mankind."

"A Bulgarian contribution to a map which still has quite a few blank spots on it"

"With a modest budget, thanks to the dedication and enthusiasm of our Antarcticians, of the Antarctic Institute of Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, our country is maintaining its own Antarctic base, and has its own share in the exploration of the Ice Continent."

"The Tangra Expedition 2004-2005 is yet another proof to that. The traversing in the main range of Tangra Mountain made by Lyubomir Ivanov and Doychin Vasilev is a Bulgarian contribution to the mapping of the continent, the map of which still has quite a few blank spots on it. Therefore, I would like today to publicly express my appreciation for their achievements. And I trust that many Bulgarians share my feelings and gratitude indeed.

Dear friends Lyubo and Doychin, thank you from all our hearts! We are so proud of you!"

Geography

The geographic entity of Antarctica comprises the Antarctic Continent and its adjacent islands and polar waters. Its natural physical boundary is the Antarctic Convergence or Antarctic Polar Front, a well defined 50-km wide zone encircling the earth at about 55° south latitude where cold southern waters and warmer northern waters meet.

‘Political’ Antarctica is confined to the territories south of 60° south latitude proper, administered since 1961 under the Antarctic Treaty by an exclusive club of 28 nations including Bulgaria.

Livingston Island is situated in the Southern Ocean, 110 km northwest of Cape Roquemaurel on the Antarctic Peninsula, 830 km south-southeast of Cape Horn, 1000 km south of the Falkland Islands, 1600 km southwest of South Georgia, 3000 km from the South Pole and 13600 km from Bulgaria. The Island is part of the South Shetlands archipelago, a 500-km long chain of eleven main islands and numerous smaller islets and rocks separated from South America by the Drake Passage and from the Antarctic mainland by Bransfield Strait.

Livingston is extending 73 km from Renier Point in the east to Start Point in the west. Its width varies from 4 km at the base of Byers Peninsula, and 5 km at the neck between Hero Bay and South Bay, to 34 km between Williams Point and Botev Point. Livingston features six larger peninsulas: Byers in the west; Hurd and Rozhen in the south; Burgas in the east; Varna in the northeast; and Ioannes Paulus II in the north. Seven major bays indent the coast: New Plymouth in the west; Walker Bay, South Bay and False Bay in the south, Moon Bay in the east; and Hero Bay and Barclay Bay in the north.

The Island is heavily glaciated. Over 90% of its land surface is covered by an ice cap, highly crevassed in many segments. Typical of the Island’s glaciology are the conspicuous ash layers originating from volcanic activity on the neighbouring Deception Island. Ice cliffs, often withdrawing in the recent decades to uncover new coves, beaches and points, form most of the coastline.

The Island’s changeable, windy, humid and sunless weather is reputedly among the worst on earth. Whiteouts are common, and blizzards can occur at any time of the year. Temperatures are rather constant, rarely exceeding 3°C in summer or falling below –11°C in winter, with wind chill temperatures some 5-10°C lower on the average.

History

Historically, Livingston was the first land discovered in ‘political’ Antarctica. Captain William Smith in the English merchant brig Williams, after being blown off course in the Drake Passage, on 19 February 1819 sighted the northeast extremity of the Island at Williams Point. The discovery of the South Shetlands group attracted American and British sealers who took hundreds of thousands of fur seals to almost exterminate the species in just few seasons. Remains of sealers huts, boats and other artefacts are still found on the Island, which possesses the greatest concentration of historical sites in Antarctica.

Place Names

A number of local place names go back to the early sealing era and/or commemorate sealing vessels like Huron, Williams, Samuel, Gleaner, Huntress, Charity, Hannah, Henry, John and Hero, ship captains such as the Americans Burdick, Barnard, Johnson, MacKay, Inott, Leslie, Brunow, Macy, Moores and Napier, the Britons Shirreff, M’Kean, Walker, Bond, MacGregor, Binn and Bowles, the Australian Siddons, also shipowner Byers and hydrographer Hurd. San Telmo Island is named for a Spanish 74-gun warship wrecked off Cape Shirreff in September 1819 with the loss of 644 officers, soldiers and seamen. Names like Devils Point, Hell Gates and Neck or Nothing Passage are indicative of hazardous places where ships and men were lost; Robbery Beaches was the scene of a clash over sealskins etc. The origins of few early names including Livingston and Mount Friesland remain uncertain.

Recent place names generally reflect the national culture of scientists from various countries active in the region. Presently, 198 out of some 500 existing Livingston names are Bulgarian. (There are also 2 Bulgarian names on Alexander Island, making up a total of 200 Bulgarian names out of more than 17,000 Antarctic names.) New Bulgarian place names are approved by the Bulgarian Antarctic Place-names Commission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and decreed by the President of Bulgaria according to the Constitution. New names are registered with the authoritative international registry of all Antarctic place names, the Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica of the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

In connection with the Tangra 2004/05 survey, the Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria approved 60 new names of previously nameless geographical features on Livingston Island on 11 April 2005, promulgated in the SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica since 1 July 2005.

Scientific Bases

The permanent scientific bases of Juan Carlos I (Spain) and St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria) were established in 1988 at South Bay. Research at St. Kliment Ohridski is focusing mainly on geology, biology and human medicine, glaciology, geodesy and geographic information. Other base facilities are Guillermo Mann (Chile) on Cape Shirreff, and Cámara (Argentina) on Half Moon Island. Occasional field camps support research in remote areas of the Island; the Tangra 2004/05 survey in particular was carried out from Camp Academia situated in central Tangra Mountains.

Tourism

Besides the resident scientists, Livingston is attracting numerous tourists nowadays. The Antarctic shipborne tourism was initiated in 1958 in the South Shetland Islands. Since then the number of tourists in Antarctica has grown to tens of thousands annually, of whom over 95% tour the South Shetlands and the nearby Antarctic Peninsula. Hannah Point on the south coast of Livingston and Half Moon Island off the east coast are among the most popular destinations frequented by cruise ships, offering walks amidst spectacular scenery and amazing Antarctic wildlife.

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