Sediment fluxes and the evolution of a riverine-supplied tectonically-active coastal system: Kyparissiakos Gulf, Ionian Sea (eastern Mediterranean)

Abstract

Abstract Kyparissiakos Gulf, located in the southwestern part of Greece (northeastern Ionian Sea), is a riverine-coastal system that has developed over the southern flank of the Alpine orogenic belt (Hellenides). Some 4 km in the vertical separates the heights of the mountain peaks to the depths of the adjacent offshore deep-water basin. This system extends horizontally over approximately 100 km. The area experiences intensive tectonism (e.g. seismicity), a Mediterranean type of climate and microtidal and moderate wave-energy oceanographic settings. Large quantities of sediments (>2.5 × 10 6 t year −1 ), transferred principally by the River Alfios, are the product of denudation of the high relief (in excess of 2000 m), developed on erodible lithology (with siliciclastics and carbonates >90%) under moderate climatological conditions. The large amounts of sediments produced in the hinterland, in association with land-ocean process interaction, have led to the formation of a coastal zone that includes deltaic plains and coastal barriers with dune fields, which enclose lagoons. The shape and morphological characteristics of the shore zone indicate, clearly: (a) the dominance of the wave activity; (b) an overall northward longshore sediment movement; and (c) a major depocentre at the northern, naturally sheltered, end of the Gulf. Seawards, the coastal zone includes a narrow continental shelf covered with a blanket of recent sediments, which are terrigenous in origin; these extend down a steep slope, where materials is transferred to the deep (approximately 1800 m) offshore basin (the northward component of the Hellenic Trench) primarily by gravitational mass movements; these are triggered often by earthquake activity. To a first approximation, some 50% of the riverine sediment fluxes accumulate over the shelf, whilst another 25% is transported over the slope to the deeper ocean waters. The construction of (two) dams has led to a dramatic reduction in the sediment supply to the coast, having already caused the retreat of the River Alfios deltaic coastline, by >100 m. Similarly, artificial drainage of the lagoons (for the development of agricultural land) has affected the overall ecosystem (altering the the fauna and flora) of the coastal zone Thus, the Upper Quaternary (mostly Holocene) evolution of this particular coastal system is attributed, primarily, to processes and balances between sediment fluxes (e.g. terrestrial transportation, seaward dispersion) and, recently, to human interference.