Rila Mountain in Southwest Bulgaria is the highest mountain on the Balkan Peninsula. During the Pleistocene ice ages, large ice shields covered higher parts of the mountain forming cirques and through glacier valleys. Maritsa Cirque Complex is the through head of one of the most powerful glaciers, carved out in the mountain. Since it was nominated for a geosite of esthetic and scientific value within Geopark Rila, in order to improve, precise, and unify the method of characterization and presentation of geomorphosites in alpine environment, it was chosen as an example description to serve as a model for characterization of the other geomorphosites in the geopark. Maritsa Cirque Complex is well outlined in its natural boundaries on an area of 5.29 km² including five composite cirques: Maritsa, Trionite, Preslap, Malak Bliznak, and Mancho. The cirque complex is incised in the Eocene granite of the Musala Body of the largest batholith on the Balkans – the Rila-West Rhodopes Batholith. The Maritsa Cirque is the deepest Rila’s cirque with a diameter of 1500 m and displacement of 572 m between its bottom and the highest peak Musala (2925 m). In the middle of it, a younger cirque is incised with a diameter of 700 m, in which two tarns (Maritsa Lakes) are formed. The other cirques are smaller and higher, hanging over the main valley. The glacial and post-glacial deposits are represented by bottom moraines and supraglacial scree slopes, representing clusters of angular granite blocks and boulders on the slopes of the cirques and glacier valley. There are large scree cones at the base of the avalanche furrows on the cirques walls which are the product of frost weathering in the active periglacial alpine belt of Rila. The cirque complex is deeply incised into the Early Miocene Kapatnik denudation surface, the highest Rila’s peneplain elevated at 2400 m above sea level, which shaped the rounded Rila’s ridge before the Ice Ages. The present slope of this surface in Zavrachitsa area shows that the highest peak of Rila during the Pleistocene was just above the Maritsa Cirque and the surrounding peaks – Musala, Maritsa Chal, Mancho, and Twin Peaks – were situated on its slopes. The reconstruction of the Pleistocene paleorelief based on a simple GIS analysis of the modern relief shows that the height of the dome-shaped Rila’s top peak Paleo Musala before the Pleistocene glaciations was more than 3000 m. Easily accessible and well-preserved glacial and post-glacial landscapes provide an excellent opportunity for demonstrating the geological processes and destructive glacial activity that shaped the highest mountain on the Balkans. The continental significance of this geomorphosite is complemented by the remarkable petrographic diversity of the granitoids of the Rila-West Rhodopes Batholith and metamorphic rocks contained therein, intersected by numerous pegmatite, aplite and quartz veins, vein-like granite bodies, diorite, and granite porphyry veins, suitable for illustrating crystallization process, magmatic/metamorphic structures, and textures and demonstrating the principle of the crosscutting relationships in geology. Standard geosite’s characterization in the form of scientific dossiers, including the most important information about the genesis and geoconservation features, will provide a reliable basis for estimation and comparison of their individual merits necessary for inclusion in the geosites inventory of Geopark Rila. It will contribute to the assessment and promotion of the geosites through development of itineraries linking geosites in alpine environment with appealing information panels containing well-interpreted scientific information directed to the general public.

中文翻译：

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以有抱负的地质公园应用档案为目的的地貌表征方法，以保加利亚西南部里拉山里拉地质公园的Maritsa Cirque建筑群为例

保加利亚西南部的里拉山是巴尔干半岛上的最高峰。在更新世的冰河时代，大型的冰盾覆盖了山峰的较高部分，形成了cirques并穿过冰川谷。Maritsa Cirque Complex是山上刻出的最强大的冰川之一的直通头。由于它是在里拉地质公园（Geopark Rila）内被提名为具有美学和科学价值的地质遗址的，因此，为了改进，精确和统一高山环境中地貌岩的表征和表示方法，它被选为示例描述作为模型地质公园中其他地貌的特征。Maritsa Cirque建筑群在5.29 km ^2的自然边界中轮廓清晰包括五种混合马戏团：Maritsa，Trionite，Preslap，Malak Bliznak和Mancho。太阳马戏团雕刻在巴尔干半岛最大的岩基的穆萨拉（Musala）体的始新世花岗岩中-里拉-西罗多彼岩基。Maritsa马戏团是里拉最深的马戏团，直径为1500 m，其底部和最高峰Musala（2925 m）之间的位移为572 m。在它的中央，切出一个直径为700 m的年轻圆形，其中形成了两个皮箱（Maritsa湖）。其他的马戏团越来越小，高悬在主要山谷之上。冰川和后冰期的沉积物由底部的冰山和冰川上的碎石坡度代表，代表了在cirques和冰川山谷的斜坡上成簇的成角度的花岗岩块和巨石。在圆滑的雪崩沟底部有大的卵石锥，这是里拉活跃的冰川期高山带霜冻风化的产物。太阳马戏团深深地切入了中新世早期的卡帕特尼克剥蚀面，这是里拉最高的平原平原，海拔2400 m，在冰河世纪之前塑造了里拉的圆形山脊。Zavrachitsa地区该表面的当前坡度表明，在更新世期间Rila的最高峰刚好位于Maritsa Cirque之上，周围的峰-Musala，Maritsa Chal，Mancho和Twin Peaks均位于其斜坡上。根据对现代浮雕的简单GIS分析，对更新世古浮雕进行了重建，结果表明，在更新世冰川之前，圆顶状Rila顶峰古穆萨拉的高度超过3000 m。易于访问且保存完好的冰川和冰川后景观为展示巴尔干地区最高山脉的地质过程和破坏性冰川活动提供了极好的机会。里拉-西罗多彼岩基岩和其中包含的变质岩的花岗岩岩石学显着的岩石学多样性，与众多的伟晶岩，橄榄岩和石英脉，脉状的花岗岩体，闪长岩和花岗岩斑岩相交，补充了这种地貌的大陆意义。脉，适合于说明结晶过程，岩浆/变质构造和构造，并证明了地质学中横切关系的原理。标准地质站点以科学档案的形式进行刻画，包括有关成因和地质保护特征的最重要信息，将为估算和比较将其纳入地质公园里拉地质站点清单所必需的各个优点提供可靠的基础。它将通过开发将高山环境中的地理位置与吸引人的信息面板（其中包含针对大众的经充分解释的科学信息）相联系的路线，从而有助于评估和提升地理位置。标准地质站点以科学档案的形式进行刻画，包括有关成因和地质保护特征的最重要信息，将为估算和比较将其纳入地质公园里拉地质站点清单所必需的各个优点提供可靠的基础。它将通过开发将高山环境中的地理位置与吸引人的信息面板（其中包含针对大众的经充分解释的科学信息）相联系的路线，从而有助于评估和提升地理位置。标准地质站点以科学档案的形式进行刻画，包括有关成因和地质保护特征的最重要信息，将为估算和比较将其纳入地质公园里拉地质站点清单所必需的各个优点提供可靠的基础。它将通过开发将高山环境中的地理位置与吸引人的信息面板（其中包含针对大众的经充分解释的科学信息）相联系的路线，从而有助于评估和提升地理位置。