Researches of Field Evidence for Late Quaternary Climate Changes in the Highest Mountains of Bulgaria - Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions: Southeastern Europe - page 146

Observatory (BEO) “Musala” - a station for complex environmental monitoring
situated at 2,925 m a. s. l. on the very top of Musala peak. Although “OM2” project
has not been attended by geographers, the field and instrumental data obtained dur-
ing its performance served as a good basis for geographical studies. BEO “Musala”
is governed and managed by INRNE and since 2002 it has been obtaining climatic
and air quality data that are available online (Angelov et al., 2007 ).
In the years since 1994 a team from the Centre for landscape research in Dresden
(Germany) has been conducting systematic environmental observations in Northern
Pirin. Some of the main activities of the programme have been the dendrochronol-
ogy studies at the timberline to evaluate recent changes in tree growth of Pinus
heldreichii as a result of local climate change; and regular measurements of the size
of the glacieret “Snezhnika” in Golemia Kazan cirque (in September - during the
stage of annual firn mass minimum), which, for the period of observation, showed
variation between 1 ha (2006) and 0.4 ha (1994). In 2006 a group of researchers from
Dresden, lead by K. Grunewald, in cooperation with specialists from the Institute
for Space Research of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), made three core
drills in the firn body and took samples for absolute dating and chemical analyses.
A drill in the central part of Snezhnika registered 11 m thickness of the ice mass.
At this time, the moraine ridge that surrounds the snow patch was also studies -
layers of primitive soil were found on the crest to date from the early Middle ages,
while the formation of the ridge in its present configuration is suggested for the
Little Ice Age (LIA - 15th - 19th c. AD) when the snow patch must have been quite
larger (Grunewald et al., 2008 ). This monitoring programme is still ongoing and
in 2007 two temperature data loggers were installed in the cirque to measure local
temperature.
12.5 Our Latest Research - Review of Achieved Results
Following the 50-year tradition, the Institute of Geography has recently started an
initiative for a complex research of high-mountain environment in the context of
global change. The research is focused on two main aspects - studies of environ-
mental conditions in the past and monitoring of present environmental conditions
with an accent on dynamics of geomorphic and hydrological processes. The con-
ceptual framework of these researches was named “Bulgarian programme Himont
research”.
12.5.1 Researching Environmental Conditions of the Past -
The Glacial Evidence
Although relict glacial landforms, especially in Rila, were subject to numerous
studies, still no common interpretation of their distribution has been done for the
whole Rila and Pirin mountains, and results obtained about environmental settings