Alfios
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Alfios (Αλφειός) |
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 Topographic map with the Alfios river and its tributaries (highlighted) |
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| Data | ||
| location | Greece ( Peloponnese ) | |
| River system | Alfios | |
| source | Parnonas Mountains, Asea | |
| Source height | 800 m | |
| muzzle |
Ionian Sea Coordinates: 37 ° 36 ′ 46 " N , 21 ° 27 ′ 5" E 37 ° 36 ′ 46 " N , 21 ° 27 ′ 5" E |
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| Mouth height | 0 m | |
| Height difference | 800 m | |
| Bottom slope | 7.3 ‰ | |
| length | 110 km | |
| Catchment area | 3600 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Selinous | |
| Right tributaries | Lousios , Ladonas , Elissonas , Erymanthos , Kladeos | |
| Medium-sized cities | Pyrgos | |
| Small towns | Megalopoli , Karitena , Olympia , Alfioussa | |
 Alfios river near Olympia, with dam |
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The Alfios ( modern Greek Αλφειός Alfios , ancient Greek Ἀλφειός Alpheios , Latin Alpheus ; alternative Greek name Roufiás Ρουφιάς) is the 110 km long main river of the Greek peninsula Peloponnese .
The Alfios rises in Arcadia on the northwestern foothills of the Parnonas Mountains near the Arcadian capital Tripoli, southeast of the village of Assea and northwest of the village of Vlachokerasea . The ancient writers Pausanias and Strabo already described the source there. The origin lies between the peaks Agriokerasia (1,140 m) in the southeast and the Valtetsi (1,271 m) in the northwest. In the further course of the Alfios flows a short distance underground as a result of karst phenomena ( Katavothre , equal to Schluckloch). In this subterranean section of the course, it absorbs water from seepage and from Lake Taka, which is now drained .
The Alfios then flows further above ground in a south-westerly direction into the Megalopoli plain . There its course swings with the confluence of a first tributary from the south from the northern foothills of the Taygetos between the villages of Kamaritsa and Gefyra to the northwest, passing the city of Megalopoli in its west. In the area of the Megalopoli plain, the Alfios is exposed to extensive hydraulic engineering measures as a result of lignite extraction (brown coal) for the purpose of generating energy. The water from the Alfios is also used at this point for steam generation in the lignite power plants of Megalopoli. The tributary Elissonas , which comes from the northeast and runs north of Megalopoli, flows into the Alfios west of the town of Marathousa and drains the Menalo mountain , is also exposed to these construction measures.
The plain of Megalopoli is abandoned to the northwest after the confluence of the Elissonas; the Alfios enters a narrow valley on its section to the city of Karitena . To the northwest of Karitena, the Alfios receives its first large tributary, the Lousios , which has left the Lousios Gorge coming from the north- northeast and adds its water from the Pilovouni and Menalo mountains to that of the Alfios. South of the village of Vlachoraptis and north of Ano Kotili, the border line between the prefectures of Elis and Arcadia comes towards the river and then runs with the course of the river. At the village of Sekulas, the course of the Alfios swings west to the village of Tripotamia (translated three rivers ). There the Alfios receives the water of the tributaries Erymanthos and Ladonas coming from the north . The Ladonas feeds the water from the southern Aroania massif (Chelmos) to the Alfios. The Ladonas flows first, a little further west of the Erymanthos. The inflow of the Erymanthos marks another change in the direction of flow of the Alfios, now again in a north-westerly direction to the south of the village of Mouria .
At Mouria the Alfios swings to the west again and flows in arcs towards ancient Olympia. Upon reaching ancient Olympia, the Alfios flows from the north of the Kladeos . To the west of the confluence of the Kladeos, the Alfios reaches the city of Alfioussa, named after him, in the north. Before Alfioussa, the Selinous, the only major left tributary, flows into the Alfios. After the confluence of the Selinous there is a barrage of the Alfios at Alfioussa, the Floka dam, which was put into operation in 1967 (see picture). From this water is taken for agricultural irrigation. To the west of Alfioussa, the Alfios is crossed by the national road 9 ( European route 55 ; Pyrgos - Kyparissia - Kalamata ), with a crossing of the motorway 9, which is under construction, over the next five years . After the road bridge, the Alfios meanders and swings to the southeast for its very short course to the confluence with the northern part of the Gulf of Kyparissia ( Ionian Sea ). Between the village of Spiantza in the north and the village of Paralia Epataliou in the south, the Alfios reaches the sea.
Hydrology
The Alfios drains (catchment area) an area rich in precipitation with an area of 3,600 km². The mean annual rainfall in the catchment area is 1,070 mm. The catchment area extends to the western and central Peloponnese. The catchment area is divided into the three prefectures Arcadia (60%), Elis (30%) and Achaia (10%). The catchment area of the Alfios can be divided into three geographical parts according to the section of the river: the upper catchment area on the upper reaches has an area of 250 km², the middle and largest in the middle reaches an area of 3,048 km² and the lower an area of 362 km².
The mean flow rate of the Alfios is 1.5 billion cubic meters per year due to the water volume in the catchment area. At the Alfioussis Bridge in the lower reaches of the Alfios, average flow rates of 67 cubic meters of water per second are registered. After its dam near ancient Olympia, the Alfios irrigates an area of 135,000 stremmas for agricultural purposes.
The Alfios contributed with its water masses and sediment quantities to the formation of the lagoons Kaiafa (Καϊάφα), Agoulinitsa (Αγουλινίτσα) and Mouria (Μουριά) on the coast of the Ionian Sea. Of the lagoons, after the other two were drained in 1967, only the Kaiafa lagoon remained. It is a wetland particularly worthy of protection according to the RAMSAR Convention of 1971. The annual sediment quantities of the Alfios amount to more than 2.5 million tons per year. The natural flow of the delta system and lagoons formed by this sediment entry in the Gulf of Kyparissia is interrupted by the construction of dams (for example the Ladonas reservoir). As a result, erosion phenomena occurred on the coast around the Alfios estuary; including a decline of the coastline to the east by more than a meter per year.
In mid to late August 2007 the lower and middle reaches of the Alfios river were affected by the large forest fires in the Peloponnese. To what extent these forest fires have an impact on the characteristics of the river is currently not known.
mythology
The mysterious disappearance of the river gave rise to the legend of the love of the river god Alpheios for the nymph Arethusa . She fled from him, who pursued her as a hunter, to the island of Ortygia near Syracuse , where she became the source; the compassionate gods transformed Alpheios into a river, which now, flowing under the sea, reappeared as a source at Ortygia (submarine) and mixed its waves with the source Arethusa.
swell
- ↑ Pausanias, Description of Greece 8,44,3 f. ( English translation ).
- ↑ Strabon, Geographie 8,3,12 ( English translation ).
- ↑ a b Giannopoulos P, Manariotis ID. The impacts of infrastructure works and gravel extraction in the lower Alfeios Basin. IWRM-WB (Apr 2005): 275-281. ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c Information on the Alfios River and its water quality from the Greek Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food ( Memento of September 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (in Greek). Last accessed September 20, 2007.
- ^ SE Poulos, M. Collins, G. Evans. Water-sediment fluxes of Greek rivers, southeastern Alpine Europe: annual yields, seasonal variability, delta formation and human impact. Journal of Geomorphology (1996), 40 (2): 243-261
- ↑ Serafim E. Poulos, George Voulgaris, Vasilis Kapsimalis, Michael Collins, Graham Evans. Sediment fluxes and the evolution of a riverine-supplied tectonically-active coastal system: Kyparissiakos Gulf, Ionian Sea (eastern Mediterranean). Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2002; v. 191; p. 247-266.
- ^ G, Poulos SE, Gialouris P, Gianopoulos T. Recent morphological evolution of the deltaic coast of r. alfios due to natural processes and human impact. 7PGC / HGS: 1-7, (Oct 2004). ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- Πελοπόννησος / Peloponnese. 1: 250,000. Road Editions, Athens. ISBN 960-8481-15-5