Mountain glaciers are among the best natural indicators of short-term climatic variations. Although presently there are no classical glaciers on the Balkan peninsula, mountains in this part of Europe comprise a number of small but permanent firn-ice patches, which can be categorized as embryonic glaciers. They are subdivided into: typical glacierets (most of them) and small glaciers (a hybrid form between glacierets and cirque glaciers). Most of these features have survived the warming since the end of the Little Ice Age, and are considered to have persisted for at least five centuries without a complete melt (Grunewald et al., 2008; Gachev, Stoyanov, 2013). Researches in the last several years (Milivojevic et al.. 2008; Hughes, 2007, 2009; Djurovic, 2009, 2012; Gachev et al., 2009 and others) revealed the presence of embryonic glaciers in just three mountain ranges throughout the Balkan peninsula: Prokletije mountains (in Albania), Durmitor (in Montenegro) and Pirin (in Bulgaria) (fig. 1). They are all located in north and northeast facing strongly shaded cirque bottoms of carbonate bedrock (limestone, marble) at altitudes from 2035 to 2620 m a. s. l., and usually have areas from less than 1 ha to 5 - 6 ha.
The present study makes a comparison of the development of karstic processes and their landform expression in two representative high mountain areas on the Balkan Peninsula: Durmitor (Dinaric chain, Montenegro) and Pirin (Rhodope massif, Bulgaria).Main accent is put on epikarst and its features.On the background of many similarities: strong glaciation in the Pleistocene, pronounced cirques and arêtes, preserved moraine deposits, rough present-day topography, some obvious differences are observed.These are mostly derived by the differences in carbonate bedrock (limestone in Durmitor and marble in Pirin), and climate (damp to the west and drier to the east).The tectonic setting is also important.Such a comparison has not been done so far.It would contribute to obtain a better regional outlook on the processes in the high mountain karstic areas in Southeastern Europe.
The article presents the latest views about the origin of Hridsko lake in the mountain range Bogicevica, an eastern part of Prokletije massif (Dinaric range). Previous studies define the lake, which is situated at 1980 m a. s. l., and occupies an area about 3,5 ha, as a cirque lake, formed after the retreat of wuermian glaciers following the classical mechanism of glacial lakes formation. In result of our researches, which started in 2013, a new hypothesis evolved that the lake lies inside a large relict rock glacier, formed in the period after the termination of glaciers, which means that the lake depression has a rather periglacial origin. The new bathymetry mapping of the lake done in 2017 provides a support to this hypothesis.
Several perennial snow and ice bodies have been recently studied and monitored in three mountain massifs across the Balkan Peninsula: Prokletije (Northern Albania), Durmitor (Montenegro) and Pirin (Bulgaria), the two glacierets in the Pirin Mountains until soon considered as southernmost of their kind in Europe. In September 2022 a relatively large snow field (about 1.5 ha) was discovered and described for a first time in the glacial cirque Gryka e Kazanit in the Nëmerçka Mountains of Southern Albania. The snow accumulation lies on 1550–1650 m a.s.l. below a vertical limestone cliff with a height of almost 1000 m. The site was visited again in November 2023, when the snow field diminished its size to less than 1 ha. At the same time, multi-annual firn layers were exposed under the last year snow, with depth at least several metres, and indications were observed of ice, buried in the debris cover below. Newest findings indicate that the studied snow-firn body is a glacieret similar to those found in the Pirin Mountains. On a longer-term, nine perennial snow/firm bodies on the Balkans resemble small glaciers rather than snow and ice patches at least under current climatic conditions. Situated on 40°08′ Northern latitude, the newly discovered Nemërçka Glacieret is nominated to be the southernmost glacier in Europe.
The environment of the high mountains is very sensitive to any kind of impact; therefore they are appropriate case study areas for an investigation of the impact of global changes. The Pleistocene glaciations are the main landform and environment formation factor of the high mountains in Bulgaria. The paleoenvironmental reconstructions in these mountains would be very useful to solve issues related to contemporary impact on these complexes. Rila (2925 m) and Pirin (2914 m) are the highest Bulgarian Mountains which have been glaciated during the Pleistocene. The paleoglacial relief forms and lake sediments in these mountains contain valuable information for the paleoenvironment. Although, there are particular achievements in the investigations so far, there are still unresolved scientific issues. The paper makes a review on the state of the art of the investigation of high mountain landscapes in Bulgaria and outlines four main objectives facing the researchers studying the development of these landscapes during late Pleistocene and Holocene.
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