Sofia University Mountains (планина Софийски Университет \pla-ni-'na so-'fiy-ski u-ni-ver-si-'tet\) are a cluster of four small

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s, long in the southwest–northeast direction and wide, rising to ca. ( Mount Kliment Ohridski) in northern

Alexander Island Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarcti ...

. They are located south-southeast of

Havre Mountains The Havre Mountains () are a large group of mountains forming the northwestern extremity of Alexander Island, Antarctica, extending in an east–west direction between Cape Vostok and the Russian Gap. They were first seen in 1821 by a Russian exp ...

, southwest of

Rouen Mountains The Rouen Mountains () are a prominent mountain range, reaching to about 2,800 m and extending 35 miles (60 km) NW-SE from Mount Bayonne to Care Heights and Mount Cupola, in north Alexander Island, Antarctica. This mountain range is known ...

, northwest of

Elgar Uplands The Elgar Uplands () are uplands rising to , between Tufts Pass to the north and Sullivan Glacier to the south, in the northern part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. They were first photographed from the air and roughly mapped by the British Grah ...

, east of the northern part of

Lassus Mountains The Lassus Mountains () are a large group of mountains, long and wide, rising to and extending south from Palestrina Glacier in the northwest part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. They overlook Lazarev Bay and a few minor islands within the ba ...

, and inland from

Lazarev Bay Lazarev Bay is a rectangular bay, long and wide, which separates Alexander Island from Rothschild Island and is bounded on the south side by the Wilkins Ice Shelf, which joins the east portion of Rothschild Island and the west portion of Alexande ...

. Bounded by

Palestrina Glacier Palestrina Glacier () is a glacier lying in the northern portion of Alexander Island, Antarctica, 11 nautical miles (20 km) long and 8 nautical miles (15 km) wide, flowing west from Nichols Snowfield into Lazarev Bay. The glacier was ma ...

to the north, Nichols Snowfield to the southeast, and McManus Glacier to the west. The mountains comprise Mount Braun to the northwest,

Balan Ridge Balan Ridge (, ‘Hrebet Balan’ \'hre-bet ba-'lan\) is the ridge rising in its southern part to Landers Peaks The Landers Peaks () are a group of peaks east of Mount Braun, rising to about between Palestrina Glacier and Nichols Snowfield in the northern portion of Alexander Island, Antarctica. They were named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Na ...

to the northeast, and the ridge of Mount Kliment Ohridski to the south. The former three mountains are divided by Yozola Glacier flowing northwards to join Palestrina Glacier, and the long, ice-filled Poste Valley respectively. The name is of national culture and was given in commemoration of the centennial of

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

. During the first

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n Antarctic campaign organized on that occasion, the southeast edge of Sofia University Mountains and foothills of neighbouring Rouen Mountains and Elgar Uplands were visited in February 1988 by a field party including two members of the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

, geologist Philip Nell and mountain guide and physician Peter Marquis, and two Bulgarian geologists,

Christo Pimpirev Christo Pimpirev () is a Bulgarian scientist (geologist) and polar explorer. Academic career He was born on Friday, 13 February 1953 in Sofia, Bulgaria. After graduating from Sofia University with a master's degree in geology in 1978 and getti ...

and Borislav Kamenov.

Location

The mountains are centred at . They were seen from the air and roughly mapped by the 1936-37 British Graham Land Expedition with more detailed British mapping in 1960 from air photos taken by the 1947-48 US Expedition under Ronne.

Maps

* British Antarctic Territory. Scale 1:200000 topographic map. DOS 610 – W 69 70. Tolworth, UK, 1971
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).
Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated

References

Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer.

Antarctic Place-names Commission The Antarctic Place-names Commission was established by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute in 1994, and since 2001 has been a body affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bulgaria), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. The Commis ...

. (details in Bulgarian
basic data
in English)
Sofia University Mountains.

SCAR A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrosis, fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other Organ (anatomy), organs, and biological tissue, t ...

Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about th ...

External links

Sofia University Mountains.
Copernix satellite image Mountain ranges of Alexander Island {{AlexanderIsland-geo-stub