Tangra Mountains (in Bulgarian Тангра планина, 'Tangra planina' \'tan-gra pla-ni-'na\) () form the principal mountain range of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The range had been nameless until 2001, when it was named after Tengri (Bulgarian Tangra), "the name of the ancient Bulgarian god."[ Tangra Mountains. SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer.]
Tangra Mountains are long between Barnard Point and Renier Point, wide, and are bounded by Moon Bay and Huron Glacier to the north, Huntress Glacier to the northwest, False Bay to the west, and Bransfield Strait to the southeast, and is linked to Bowles Ridge by Wörner Gap, and to Pliska Ridge by Nesebar Gap. The mountain is divided in three principal ridges: Friesland Ridge in the west, Levski Ridge in the centre, and Delchev Ridge in the east.
The peaks and slopes of Tangra are heavily glaciated, and drained by the glaciers Huron, Huntress, Ruen Icefall, Peshtera Glacier, Charity Glacier, Tarnovo Ice Piedmont, Prespa Glacier, Macy Glacier, Boyana Glacier, Srebarna Glacier, Magura Glacier, Dobrudzha, Ropotamo Glacier, Strandzha, Pautalia Glacier, Sopot Ice Piedmont, and Iskar Glacier.
Camp Academia in the northwestern foothills of Zograf Peak is the perfect gateway to central Tangra Mountains via Catalunyan Saddle (1260 m) to the south and Lozen Saddle (437 m) to the east. Catalunyan Saddle was occupied by a bivouac of the Tangra 2004/05 Exploration team on 14–16 December 2004.
Friesland Ridge
Friesland Ridge is 15.5 km long from
Botev Point in the southwest to
Shipka Saddle to the northeast. The summit
Mount Friesland () rises to exactly 1,700 m. It was accurately measured by GPS in December 2003 by the Omega Foundation expedition led by
Damien Gildea, which made the second ascent of Mount Friesland.
[ Other main peaks are St. Boris (1,699 m),][D. Boyanov and N. Petkov. The Peaks of Tangra Mountains: Project Report Part Two 2016/17. Sofia, February 2017 (in Bulgarian)] Simeon Peak (1,580 m), St. Cyril (1,505 m), Lyaskovets Peak (1,473 m), Presian Ridge (1,456 m), St. Methodius (1,180 m), Academia Peak (1,253 m), and Zograf Peak (1,011 m).The first ascents of Mount Friesland have been by Francesc Sàbat and Jorge Enrique from Juan Carlos I Base on 30 December 1991; Lyaskovets Peak by L. Ivanov and Doychin Vasilev from Camp Academia on 14 December 2004; Zograf Peak by L. Ivanov from Camp Academia on 31 December 2004;[D. Gildea. Mountaineering in Antarctica: complete guide: Travel guide. Primento and Editions Nevicata, 2015. 192 pp. ] Simeon Peak by D. Boyanov, N. Petkov and N. Hazarbasanov from Huntress Glacier on 15 January 2017; and St. Boris Peak by D. Boyanov and N. Petkov from Camp Academia area on 22 December 2016.
Levski Ridge
Levski Ridge is 8 km long between Shipka Saddle to the west and Devin Saddle to the east, and 8 km wide between Cherepish Ridge to the north and Christoff Cliff to the south. The summit Great Needle Peak () rises to 1680 m, and was first ascended and GPS-surveyed by the Bulgarian mountaineers Doychin Boyanov, Nikolay Petkov and Aleksander Shopov on 8 January 2015.[N. Petkov. Livingston Island, Falsa Aguja and Sofia Peak. American Alpine Journal: Climbs And Expeditions, 2016. ( Complete expedition report by N. Petkov and D. Boyanov)] Other main peaks are Levski (1430 m), St. Ivan Rilski Col (1350 m), Helmet (1254 m), Serdica Peak (1200 m), Vihren Peak (1150 m), Ongal Peak (1149 m), and Plovdiv Peak (1040 m). Other first ascents: Ongal Peak and Komini Peak (774 m) by L. Ivanov from Camp Academia on 21 December 2004, and Plana Peak by D. Boyanov, N. Petkov and A. Shopov on 8 January 2015.
Delchev Ridge
Delchev Ridge is 10 km long between Devin Saddle to the west and Renier Point to the east. The summit Delchev Peak () rises to 940 m, other main peaks are Ruse Peak (800 m), Asen Peak (800 m), Peter Peak (800 m), Kuber Peak (770 m), Elena Peak (700 m), Spartacus Peak (650 m), Yavorov Peak (640 m), and Paisiy Peak (550 m).
Mapping
United Kingdom mapping of the mountains in 1968, Spain mapping in 1991, Omega Foundation mapping in 2004, mapping in 2005 and 2009 from topography in 1995/96 and 2004/05.
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S. Soccol, D. Gildea and J. Bath. Livingston Island, Antarctica. Scale 1:100000 satellite map. The Omega Foundation, USA, 2004.
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L.L. Ivanov, N. Glavinchev, R. Tosheva and S. Naydenov. Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands (from English Strait to Morton Strait, with illustrations and ice-cover distribution). Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005.
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L.L. Ivanov. Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2010. (First edition 2009. )
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L.L. Ivanov. Livingston Island and Smith Island. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2017.
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A. Kamburov and L. Ivanov. Livingston Island, Antarctica. Scale 1:25000 map. Sofia: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2023.
See also
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Geographical features on Livingston Island
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Antarctic Place-names Commission
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St. Kliment Ohridski Base
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Camp Academia
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Tangra 2004/05 Expedition
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Bansko Peak
- Notes
- Sources
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J. Stewart. Antarctica: An Encyclopedia. Jefferson, N.C. and London: McFarland, 2011. 1771 pp.
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D. Gildea. 2003 – Omega Livingston Island GPS Expedition. Antarctic Mountains: Climbing in Antarctica.
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Antarctica: Livingston Island. Climb Magazine, Issue 14. Kettering, UK, April 2006. pp. 89–91
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L. Ivanov. Livingston Island: Tangra Mountains, Komini Peak, west slope new rock route; Lyaskovets Peak, first ascent; Zograf Peak, first ascent; Vidin Heights, Melnik Peak, Melnik Ridge, first ascent. The American Alpine Journal, 2005. pp. 312–315
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L. Ivanov. General Geography and History of Livingston Island. In: Bulgarian Antarctic Research: A Synthesis. Eds. C. Pimpirev and N. Chipev. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2015. pp. 17–28.
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D. Gildea. Mountaineering in Antarctica: complete guide: Travel guide. Primento and Editions Nevicata, 2015.
External links
