EFFECTS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRRIGATION RESERVOIRS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF POLLUTANTS IN ESTUARINE ZONES OF SMALL MEDITERRANEAN RIVERS. THE CASE OF SPERCHIOS RIVER, GREECE

Authors

  • Manos Dassenakis University of Athens, Faculty of Chemistry, Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Athens
  • Eleni Rouselaki University of Athens, Faculty of Chemistry, Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Athens
  • Thanos Kastritis University of Athens, Faculty of Chemistry, Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Athens

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2281-4485/3810

Keywords:

Sperchios river, water pollution, heavy metals, salinity, phytoplankton

Abstract

Sperchios is a small river in central Greece and although its estuary has been characterised as an Important Bird Area and is included in the European network “NATURA 2000”, it is very poorly managed from an environmental point of view. The Sperchios basin is one of the most important agricultural regions in Greece but it is influenced also by industrial and urban pollution. An earthen dyke is erected b every summer about 2km upstream from the river mouth in order to collect the river water for irrigation purposes. The change in the site of the intermixing zone due to this fact affects the salinity of the water and the amount of suspended matter as well as the chemical behaviour and partitioning of both heavy metals and nutrients. The suspended matter was found to be the major carrier for most metals e.g. lead, zinc, copper whereas phosphorus was the limiting factor for the phytoplankton growth.

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Published

2009-06-20

How to Cite

Dassenakis, M., Rouselaki, E., & Kastritis, T. (2009). EFFECTS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRRIGATION RESERVOIRS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF POLLUTANTS IN ESTUARINE ZONES OF SMALL MEDITERRANEAN RIVERS. THE CASE OF SPERCHIOS RIVER, GREECE. EQA - International Journal of Environmental Quality, 1(1), 7–16. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2281-4485/3810

Issue

Vol. 1 (2009)

Section

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Copyright (c) 2009 Manos Dassenakis, Eleni Rouselaki, Thanos Kastritis

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