Pliska Ridge is a three-peaked ridge rising to 667 m in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands

South Shetland Islands

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

, Antarctica. Its central and highest summit, Pliska Peak, is located 2.48 km east-northeast of Willan Nunatak

Willan Nunatak

Willan Nunatak is an ice-free tipped peak rising to 449 m on the glacial divide between Huntress Glacier and Balkan Snowfield on Hurd Peninsula in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica...

 (449 m), 1.81 km southeast of Burdick Peak

Burdick Peak

Burdick Peak rises southwest of Mount Bowles on Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee in 1958 for Christopher Burdick, Master of the American schooner Huntress of Nantucket, who visited the South Shetland Islands in 1820–21....

 (773 m, summit of Burdick Ridge

Burdick Ridge

Burdick Ridge is a ridge rising to 773 m on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Extending for 1.9 km between Orpheus Gate in the southeast and Rezen Saddle in the northwest. Bounded by Perunika Glacier to the northeast, and Balkan Snowfield to the southwest. Takes its name from...

), 3.53 km south-southwest of Mount Bowles

Mount Bowles

Mount Bowles is an ice-covered mountain of elevation 822 m, the summit of Bowles Ridge in eastern Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Situated 3 mi north of Mount Friesland to which it is linked by Wörner Gap. Coordinates and elevation given according to 2003 Australian GPS survey...

, 3.68 km west-southwest of Kuzman Knoll

Kuzman Knoll

Kuzman Knoll is a solitary ice-covered knoll rising to 620 m in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The knoll forms a conspicuous landmark in Wörner Gap area, overlooking Huron Glacier and upper Perunika Glacier...

, and 3.61 km northwest of Mount Friesland

Mount Friesland

Mount Friesland is the summit of Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The peak is rising to 1700 m sharp, and is heavily glaciated and crevassed. Situated 12.5 km northeast of Barnard Point, 9.7 km east-southeast of St...

. The feature is 1.6 km long and 500 m wide, its axis trending due east-west, with precipitous southern slopes. It is ice covered except for segments of its easternmost peak (646 m) and is bounded to the northwest by Orpheus Gate

Orpheus Gate

Orpheus Gate is a 548 m high, 380 m wide, pass in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica bounded by Pliska Ridge to the southeast and Burdick Ridge to the northwest, Huntress Glacier to the southwest and Perunika Glacier to the northeast.The pass forms part of the...

, to the north by the head of Perunika Glacier

Perunika Glacier

Perunika Glacier is an 8 km long and 3 km wide roughly crescent-shaped glacier in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica....

, to the east by Nesebar Gap

Nesebar Gap

Nesebar Gap is a 1.3 km wide gap in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica bounded to the west by Pliska Ridge and to the east by the northern slope of Mount Friesland, Tangra Mountains...

, and to the south and west by the head of Huntress Glacier

Huntress Glacier

Huntress Glacier is a 7 km long and 3.7 km wide glacier on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica bounded by Friesland Ridge, Tangra Mountains to the southeast, Nesebar Gap, Pliska Ridge, Burdick Ridge and Willan Nunatak to the north, and Charrúa Gap and Napier Peak...

, the latter flowing 6 km southwestwards into False Bay

False Bay

False Bay is a body of water defined by Cape Hangklip and the Cape Peninsula in the extreme South-West of South Africa.- Description and location :...

.

First ascent by the Bulgarian Lyubomir Ivanov from Camp Academia

Camp Academia

Camp Academia is a geographical locality in eastern Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, named for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in appreciation of Academy’s contribution to the Antarctic exploration...

 on 18 December 2004.

Pliska

Pliska

Pliska is the name of both the first capital of Danubian Bulgaria and a small town which was renamed after the historical Pliska after its site was determined and excavations began....

 is the name of a settlement in north-eastern Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, which in the seventh century became the capital of the First Bulgarian Kingdom

First Bulgarian Empire

The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...

.

Location

The summit Pliska Peak of the ridge is located at 62°38′44"S 60°13′49"W (Rough British mapping in 1968, detailed Spanish mapping in 1991, Bulgarian mapping in 1996, 2005 and 2009 from topographic surveys in 1995/96 and 2004/05).

Maps

• Isla Livingston: Península Hurd. Mapa topográfico de escala 1:25 000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1991.
• 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. ISBN 978-954-92032-6-4

Reference

• SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer.