Bulgaria has launched its 18th scientific expedition to Antarctica, team leader Professor Christo Pimpirev told a press conference Tuesday.
The first six members of the team left Sofia on Tuesday, Pimpirev said, and a total of 23 would reside at St. Kliment Ohridski, the Bulgarian
Antarctic base on Livingston Island, in the next three months.
The joint expedition of Bulgaria, Spain and Portugal would work for a second year on a scientific project on global warming, he said.
Research would also be undertaken on the geological structure around the Bulgarian polar base "because there are lots of ores and minerals in
this part of Antarctica," he added.
Spain and Portugal were the main funding sources for the expedition, Pimpirev said.
Bulgaria sent its first expedition to Antarctica in 1988. It is one of the 30 countries that have polar bases on the continent.
The country is also one of the 28 voting members of the Antarctic Treaty System that regulates international relations at the Earth's
southernmost continent.