Application of tracer method and hydrochemical analyses regarding the investigation of the coastal karstic springs and the submarine spring (Anavalos) in Stoupa Bay (W. Mani Peninsula)

The study of the SW Taygetos Mt. karst system, based on the implementation of tracer test and hydrochemical analyses, is aimed at the investigation of the geohydraulic characteristics and the water quality of the coastal and submarine springs at Stoupa region (Peloponnese). The study area is formed by intensively karstified carbonate rocks, flysch, Neogene sediments and Quaternary deposits. The high potential karstic aquifer is been discharged via coastal and submarine springs in Messinian Gulf. The submarine spring (Anavalos) is brackish to saline (EC: 0.023-5.438 S/m and Sal: 0.14-39.12), periodically acquires freshwater characteristics and it is not suitable for exploitation for human consumption. Among the four coastal springs, two of them having permanent flow, appear brackish, while the other two are of freshwater and flow periodically during the wet period. The tracer test pronounced a SW direction of groundwater flow and relatively high velocities, up to 150m/h, revealing the intense karstification of the carbonate formations.