Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.6
Late Pleistocene moraines in the Durmitor massif, Montenegro. These moraines
formed during the Younger Dryas (12.9-11.7 ka) (photo by the author). (
A full colour version
of this figure appears in the colour plate section
)
mainland coast nearby at Novigradsko More and Karinsko More. The glacial record
in the Balkans is not yet fully understood, in terms of both extent and chronology.
However, it is clear that this region supported some of the largest glaciers and ice
caps in the Mediterranean mountains.
3.2.7 Bulgaria
Large areas of southern Bulgaria drain into the Mediterranean Sea and the moun-
tains were extensively glaciated during the Pleistocene. Some of the first studies
of glaciation in this area were made by Jovan Cvijic (1896, 1908, 1909) and later
by Louis (1930). More recently, Velcev (1995) has suggested that multiple glacia-
tions are recorded in Bulgaria including Middle Pleistocene glaciations (during the
Mindel and Riss cold stages) as well as Late Pleistocene glaciation (Wurmian
stage). However, the timing of glaciations in Bulgaria has not yet been widely tested
using geochronological techniques. The ELA of the last phase of major glaciation
in the Rila Mountains was in the range 2100-2300 m asl, which is higher than in the
western Mediterranean and the Adriatic and may be explained by drier conditions
compared with these regions (Kuhlemann
et al.
, 2008).
