Quaternary continental shelf basins of Saronikos Gulf, Aegean Sea

The Thriassion Plain, the Saronikos Gulf and Eleusis Bay, Western Attica in Greece, receive pressures from the enormous industrial activity, as well as the Athens metropolitan area and the Piraeus port. Therefore, it is considered as brownfield in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The multi-component industrial activity has impacted the soil, the groundwater of Thriassion Plain and the coastal marine sediments of the adjacent Eleusis Bay, part of Saronikos Gulf as well as a brackish lagoon, Koumoundourou Lake. The industrial activity is expressed by high contents of metals, and oil products. This study presents the pollution record of selected published papers that indicate the temporal evolution of legislated polluting compounds, supporting researchers to provide solutions and policy makers to focus on the whole spectrum of potential policy alternatives.

Section: Eleusis Bay and Saronikos Gulfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Ecological Assessment of Heavily Polluted Sedimentary Basin within the Broader Industrialized Area of Thriassion Plain (Western Attica, Greece)

Makri

Hermides

Kontakiotis

et al. 2022

“…The western section of Saronikos Gulf comprises the deep (>400 m) Epidaurus Basin and the relatively shallow (<250 m) Megara Basin. The history of the eastern section of Saronikos Gulf reflects a low energy, shallow and rather stable marine basin throughout the Quaternary, with marginal faults at the northern and southern limits of Salamis basin displaying modest activity [55]. Several volcanoes and volcanic outcrops of Plio-Quaternary age, being part of the western active Aegean Volcanic Arc, are situated in the gulf [56].…”

Section: Regional Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Glacial Marine Transgression and Ecosystem Response in the Landlocked Elefsis Bay (Northern Saronikos Gulf, Greece)

Kouli

Triantaphyllou

Koukousioura

et al. 2021

Coastal landscapes are sensitive to changes due to the interplay between surface and submarine geological processes, climate variability, and relative sea level fluctuations. The sedimentary archives of such marginal areas record in detail the complex evolution of the paleoenvironment and the diachronic biota response. The Elefsis Bay is nowadays a landlocked shallow marine basin with restricted communication to the open Saronikos Gulf. A multi-proxy investigation of a high-resolution sediment core recovered from the deepest part of the basin offered a unique opportunity to record the paleoenvironmental and aquatic ecosystem response to climate and glacioeustatic sea level changes since the Late Glacial marine transgression. The retrieved sedimentary deposits, subjected to thorough palynological (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, dinoflagellates), micropaleontological (benthic foraminifera, calcareous nannoplankton, ostracods), and mollusc analyses, indicates isolation of the Elefsis Bay from the Saronikos Gulf and the occurrence of a shallow freshwater paleolake since at least 13,500 cal BP, while after 11,3500 cal BP the transition towards lagoon conditions is evidenced. The marine transgression in the Elefsis Bay is dated at 7500 cal BP, marking the establishment of the modern marine realm.

“…Its northern part, named inner Saronikos Gulf, receives the treated wastes of~5 million people from the Wastewater Treatment Plant outfall that discharges south of Psittalia Island. The enclosed embayment of Elefsis Bay, connected to Saronikos Gulf by two narrow and shallow straits (an eastern and a western one), displays a physical setting with low freshwater inflows and limited water exchange, leading to strong seasonal density stratification, high nutrient accumulation and poor environmental status [36][37][38][39][40]. The sedimentary sequences deposited between the hill of Piraeus and the floodplain of Kifissos River (Attiki peninsula, Greece) constitute the Piraeus coastal plain in the inner Saronikos Gulf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoenvironmental Evolution and Sea Level Change in Saronikos Gulf (Aegean Sea, Greece): Evidence from the Piraeus Coastal Plain and Elefsis Bay Sedimentary Records

Triantaphyllou

Tsourou

Kouli

et al. 2021

Thorough faunal (benthic foraminifera, ostracods, molluscs) and palynomorph analyses as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements performed on the Piraeus coastal plain sedimentary sequences have shed light on the paleoenvironmental evolution of the area since ca. 9000 cal BP. Benthic and palynomorph assemblages along with magnetic susceptibility suggest a typical lagoonal environment with significant freshwater inputs at the eastern part of the plain after 8700 cal BP. Between 7500 and 5400 cal BP, microfaunal assemblages, mollusc fauna and magnetic susceptibility suggest a shallow marine paleoenvironment, with Piraeus forming a tied island in the center of the bay. Since ca. 4800 cal BP a closed oligohaline lagoon is evidenced in the western part of the Piraeus plain further developed to a marsh after 2800 cal BP, while a coastal environment associated with the fluvio-deltaic system of Kifissos and Korydallos Rivers is continually developing to the west. Signs of cultivation and grazing activities in the area are evidenced since the Early Bronze Age, culminating during the Classical Period. A comparison with a well-dated marine record, recovered from the nearby shallow Elefsis Bay, provides a reasonable estimation of ~5 mm/yr for the absolute sea level rise rate in the inner Saronikos Gulf during the Mid-Holocene.