Bulgarian Beach (Balgarsko Kraybrezhie \'b&l-gar-sko krI-'bre-zhi-e\) is a coast in the north part of
Hurd Peninsula
Hurd Peninsula lies between South Bay and False Bay on the south coast of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The Spanish Juan Carlos I Antarctic Base and the Bulgarian St. Kliment Ohridski Base are situated on its west ...
, eastern
Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
, extending 2.3 km from Hespérides Point to the southwest to
Perunika Glacier
Perunika Glacier ( bg, ледник Перуника, lednik Perunika, ) is an 8 km long and 3 km wide (average) roughly crescent-shaped glacier in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica situated east o ...
to the northeast, and forming the southeast coast of
Emona Anchorage
Emona Anchorage ( bg, залив Емона, zaliv Emona, ) is a roughly square embayment, the internal part of South Bay, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica used as an anchorage for ships visiting the Bulgarian base ...
.
The beach comprises four predominantly
cobble
Cobble may refer to:
* Cobble (geology), a designation of particle size for sediment or clastic rock
* Cobblestone, partially rounded rocks used for road paving
* Hammerstone, a prehistoric stone tool
* Tyringham Cobble, a nature reserve in Tyr ...
beaches, separated by a shore rock known locally as Greenpeace Rock, which rises to 6m and is located 800 m northeast of
Hespérides Point
Hespérides Point ( es, Punta Hespérides) is a rocky point of land projecting into South Bay north-northwest of Johnsons Dock, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and forming the southwest side of the entrance to Emona ...
, by
Spanish Point and by a minor nameless point lying 400 m to east by northeast of the latter. The last beach is a narrow strip under the cliff of a part of
Perunika Glacier
Perunika Glacier ( bg, ледник Перуника, lednik Perunika, ) is an 8 km long and 3 km wide (average) roughly crescent-shaped glacier in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica situated east o ...
terminating on the coast. Bulgarian Beach is surmounted by a chain of five hills comprising
Hesperides Hill,
Pesyakov Hill,
Sinemorets Hill
Sinemorets Hill (Halm Sinemorets \'h&lm si-ne-'mo-rets\) is the second most prominent (after Hesperides Hill) in the chain of hills surmounting Bulgarian Beach in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
Sinemoret ...
,
Spanish Knoll and
Belozem Hill. In summer the area is predominantly snow-free and crossed by four meltwater streams draining the north-western slope of the
Balkan Snowfield
Balkan Snowfield (Plato Balkan \'pla-to bal-'kan\) is an ice-covered plateau of elevation ranging from in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, situated south of lower Perunika Glacier, northwest of Huntress Glaci ...
, with stream mouths located at the western extremities of each beach. The first beach, locally known as Base Beach, is partly occupied by
Grand Lagoon formed by
Rezovski Creek. Access by dinghies to Base Beach, used for transfer of people and cargo to the Bulgarian base
St. Kliment Ohridski, is sometimes rendered difficult by shallow waters.
The area would have been known and possibly visited in the early nineteenth century by
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and American
sealers frequenting
South Bay and particularly the nearby
Johnsons Dock
Johnsons Dock is a sheltered 500 m wide cove indenting for 900 m the northwest coast of Hurd Peninsula on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is part of South Bay entered north of Ballester Point. Surmounted by C ...
.
Location
The beach is centred at . Bulgarian Beach was mapped in detail by the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
Servicio Geográfico del Ejército in 1991 following earlier
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an mappings.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n mapping of Bulgarian Beach and the
Emona Anchorage
Emona Anchorage ( bg, залив Емона, zaliv Emona, ) is a roughly square embayment, the internal part of South Bay, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica used as an anchorage for ships visiting the Bulgarian base ...
coast from a topographic survey carried out from 8 December 1995 to 8 February 1996, and mapping of the
St. Kliment Ohridski Base vicinity at a larger scale from a topographic survey made from January 31 to February 4, 1996.
[Ivanov, L. and N. Ivanova. Mapping. In: ''The World of Antarctica''. Generis Publishing, 2022. pp. 110-114. ]
Maps
Isla Livingston: Península Hurd.Mapa topográfico de escala 1:25000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1991. (Map reproduced on p. 16 of the linked work)
* L.L. Ivanov.
Livingston Island: Central-Eastern Region. Scale 1:25000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 1996.
* L.L. Ivanov et al.
Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005.
* L.L. Ivanov
Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009.
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated.
* Antarctica, South Shetland Islands, Livingston Island: Bulgarian Antarctic Base. Sheets 1 and 2. Scale 1:2000 topographic map. Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency, 2016. (in Bulgarian)
* L.L. Ivanov.
Antarctica: Livingston Island and Smith Island. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2017.
Notes
References
Bulgarian Beach.SCAR
Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about th ...
Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer.Antarctic Place-names Commission
The Antarctic Place-names Commission was established by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute in 1994, and since 2001 has been a body affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria.
The Commission approves Bulgarian place names in ...
. (details in Bulgarian
basic datain English)
External links
Bulgarian Beach.Copernix satellite image
Beaches of Livingston Island
Bulgaria and the Antarctic
{{LivingstonIsland-geo-stub